# WP's 55gal to 270gal plywood tank conversion



## Wasserpest

*1 The idea*

A long time ago I read about large plywood tanks. Fools, I thought... wood and water? A couple of years back I started wondering about it some more, comparing a plywood tank to a commercial glass tank. The economics didn't add up, so I bought a 55gal tank and forgot about plywood. More recently, the idea surfaced again. Now I am less worried about the economic side of it, but thrilled with the idea of a large home-built tank, with lots of invisible plumbing, water change system, and a generous depth, to fit exactly into a place where a 100gal tank sits now.

I am no professional wood worker, and before attempting something like that, I wanted to first get some on-hand experience to reduce the risk of a major screw-up, like flooding my house with several hundred gallons of water. So I started looking at my neglected 55gal tank with it's lack of depth and figured the nice big front and back glass might work well in a larger plywood construction. 










Sitting in the garage, it wouldn't have to be perfect, and if it catastrophically failed, the worst that could happen is a lot of water draining out of my garage door.

In this journal I am going to show pictures of what I did step by step and the results of it. I don't want to challenge your patience, and had no clear idea if it would work (still don't) and how long it was going to take to finish. So by now I am a few steps ahead, and some of the epoxy is already drying.

But this is how it started...

1 The idea (this post)
2 Planning and preparation (next post)
3 Smashing a perfectly fine tank and building a foundation
4 Plywood, screws, glue and sand paper
5 Epoxy
6 Glass & Silicone
7 Plumbing & Filtration
8 Lighting
9 Moving it into place
10 Wet Day
11 Substrate
12 Conclusion
13 Top Lessons learned


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## Wasserpest

*2 Planning and Preparation*

The more careful planning is done upfront, the smoother everything will work in the end. Since I was not in a rush, I took several months to think about it, read other successful and unsuccessful projects on the web, measure things here and there, evaluate the space and create a very detailed plan with a computer. Here is the schematic of the setup, created in Visio:










Along with that, I created a plywood cut plan, which helped to minimize waste. Going back and forth between the schematic and the cut plan, I optimized the size for my future tank construction. Originally I wanted to keep the length of the tank to 48" to take advantage of the plywood sheet size, but that would have meant to cut the glass panels, and I figured some additional length to build filter compartments into the tank itself would be cool too. Basically I ended up with two tanks, each of them LxWxH 60x22x24", resulting in two stacked 135gal tanks.










My collection of woodworking tools is fairly basic... We will need a drill or two with a selection of drill bits, a circular saw, some clamps, measuring tape, and a square. I also own a table saw which isn't necessary, but comes in handy sometimes. I often jump on super cheap deals at Harbor Freight, and my collection now includes cheapo jig saw, finishing sander, and grinder/cutoff wheel. And a rotary tool for different purposes.










Financially, I don't think this will save a lot of money over buying an off the shelf glass tank, especially when counting the hours that go into the project. I don't count them, because this is a fun/spare time project for me. Plywood gives us flexibility with regards to the size and plumbing which gives it an advantage over store bought tanks. And if it holds without leaking, there will be a large confidence boost... hey, I made this! Of course that can go the other way too.










One thing to consider... if not in a hurry, expenses come gradually, which is easier to swallow than one big lump sum. I bought the Epoxy months ago, the plywood over time, usually it didn't cost more than $60 a pop. Having the glass was a large saving for me. 2x4's and wood glue are very cheap items, and over several months I looked for deals that helped me to keep all of this fairly inexpensive.


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## tusk

You can probably guess my thoughts on this Sounds like you are going about it the right way. I had a LOT of trials and a coule of errrors, but I'm SO glad I stuck it out. Let your imagination go wild, because that is your limitation. Feel free to pm if you think I could help with a question

Ultimate DIY FTW!


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## Wasserpest

Thanks tusk, your awesome monstrosity build is definitely part of my inspiration. Don't hesitate to speak up if you see something go the wrong way. :wink:


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## Wasserpest

*3 Smashing a perfectly fine tank and building a foundation*










Once the 55gal tank was emptied, the question became how to separate the glass panels. A razor blade and a lot of tooth floss are a good starting point. The first seam is the hardest, once it is unglued all the other seams are comparatively easy to separate.










After half an hour with the razor blade, my patience ran out and I grabbed a hammer. Since I didn't need the side panels, smashing them carefully sped up the process immensely. The bottom panel of this 55gal tank was tempered, and to compare some I took the hammer to it as well. I found that tempered glass is much, much harder to shatter, and once it broke, it broke into hundreds of little pieces as expected. They are still very sharp... ouch.










As a side note, it might seem a bit weird to cut up a nice 55gal tank, until you realize how expensive glass panels can be if you buy one or two. With applied economies of scale, buying a complete 55gal tank is cheaper than buying the separate glass panels!










The floor in my garage is angled towards the street, and curved towards the center. Not a good base for a large tank. Therefore, I decided to build a concrete base. Soon I realized that this wasn't as easy as it seems, but after a couple of layers it was all built up fairly straight and level.










I am planning to add another layer of fresh thinset just when lowering the plywood construction onto the base, to make sure it is well supported and level.










To keep energy costs reasonable, I removed the drywall and filled the space with insulation. This should help to keep the tank temperatures cozy during icy winter nights. The plywood should insulate a little bit, and I will cut a fitting piece of styrofoam insulation to cover the front glass. As you can see, I also painted the garage floor with epoxy paint. Very easy to do, and makes a big difference in appearance.


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## youareafever

plywood tanks are awesome! my friend has a 500 gallon plywood tank and the thing is huge!

one concern that comes up is the glass, do you think the 55 gallon glass panels are enough to hold the extra weight?......also if ur 55 gallon was a standard 55 shouldn't all the panels be tempered? 

w/ those dimensions i get a minimum thickness of 0.31" @ safety factor 2 for non-tempered and .10" @ safety factor 2 for tempered glass.


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## tusk

I forgot the size of my piece of glass, but it was atleast $200 for the hunk with polished edges. Not cheap. 

Keep the pics a comming


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## Wasserpest

youareafever said:


> plywood tanks are awesome! my friend has a 500 gallon plywood tank and the thing is huge!


That's one nice thing about plywood tanks, they can be easily scaled up. Plus you can make them to fit perfectly into any nook/cranny.



youareafever said:


> one concern that comes up is the glass, do you think the 55 gallon glass panels are enough to hold the extra weight?......also if ur 55 gallon was a standard 55 shouldn't all the panels be tempered?
> 
> w/ those dimensions i get a minimum thickness of 0.31" @ safety factor 2 for non-tempered and .10" @ safety factor 2 for tempered glass.


It's about 50/50, some 55gal tanks come with tempered sides, others (like mine) have only the bottom panel tempered.

To be honest, I haven't given much thought to whether the panels are thick enough. I figure additional depth of the tank does not add a lot of weight (and I am probably wrong about that), and the height and length of the glass panel won't change. Instead of small silicone seams, the whole panel will rest against a (hopefully square) plywood frame, which IMO should not add much or any stress.



tusk said:


> I forgot the size of my piece of glass, but it was atleast $200 for the hunk with polished edges. Not cheap.
> 
> Keep the pics a comming


Your glass was a bit larger and probably thicker. One nice option is to use low iron (Starphire etc) glass for improved clarity. Not cheap though.

I have some more pictures lined up, stay tuned. :smile:


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## youareafever

if i remember correctly my friend paid $2000 for his glass.


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## chuukus

I am building a plywood glass tank right now its 80% done. I purchased 1/2 starfire glass for my veiwing window dimensions of tank are 97 1/2" by 24" by 24" 240 gallons I believe. The glass is 95" by 23 1/2" the glass is 95" by 23 1/2" the glass cost me $320.00 with beveled polished edges. I used fiberglass resign and cloth to seal it then I painted it with sweetwater epoxy paint from aquatic eco systems one gallon came to $110.00 that including shipping. If you would like to see pics so u can get some ideas just let me know. gotta love DIY


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## CL

Very cool. An awesome project indeed


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## Wasserpest

chuukus said:


> I am building a plywood glass tank right now its 80% done. I purchased 1/2 starfire glass for my veiwing window dimensions of tank are 97 1/2" by 24" by 24" 240 gallons I believe. The glass is 95" by 23 1/2" the glass is 95" by 23 1/2" the glass cost me $320.00 with beveled polished edges. I used fiberglass resign and cloth to seal it then I painted it with sweetwater epoxy paint from aquatic eco systems one gallon came to $110.00 that including shipping. If you would like to see pics so u can get some ideas just let me know. gotta love DIY


Sweet, I'd love to see pictures, why don't you start a thread for your project? I am sure there are many that would like to see that. Thanks for sharing your materials and prices, I'll get into these details very soon.

Did you use the West System epoxy? Why do you use Sweetwater epoxy paint, as an additional seal for the epoxy? How did you deal with the fumes?



clwatkins10 said:


> Very cool. An awesome project indeed


Thanks for your kind words! :smile: I'll agree with you if it holds water...


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## Wasserpest

*4 Plywood, screws, glue and sand paper*

To build the box, I used 8x4ft 3/4" plywood panels. When it comes to plywood, there are many choices, from very cheap (~$25) to better quality (~40) to really expensive hardwood (~$55). The main drawback of the cheap boards is that they come with lots of imperfections that might need considerable time to fix, and can even negatively impact their strength. This usually surfaces when you cut the boards and spot gaps.










For front, bottom, and sides I went for the middle-of-the-road, better quality plywood from a lumber place, where they also helped me with some of the long cuts. There is nothing that can't be cut just as well with a circular saw at home, but it is definitely easier to have this done with a large industrial saw, especially if they only charge like 50 cents a cut.










For the back, I was going to join two sheets, but then decided to use a different approach. I bought four very cheap, thinner boards (0.45") and doubled them up, so the join runs vertically on the back and horizontally in the front. Gluing the 60x60 board together was quite an interesting experience. I used a door as the base, since my garage floor isn't straight. Then I collected all clamps, buckets, concrete bags, and water bottles to press it all together.










It turned out alright, but like I mentioned, with cheaper plywood you get a lot of imperfections, and it took a couple of hours with wood filler and sander to get it all nice and smooth.










I bought 2" drywall screws at the local hardware store, and I used a couple of 18oz bottles of Gorilla glue to keep it all together. One very inexpensive way to increase the structural strength and assure the weight of the water does not pop the glue seams is to add triangular pieces of wood, ripped 45 degrees from 2x2's. This is where the table saw comes in handy... I glued these strips to all inside corners.










I opted for an integrated filter (and stuff) compartment. This makes applying the epoxy much harder, but I went for it anyway.










Main reasons: I don't want to use a canister or HOB or any such external filter. With the tank sitting in a garage that is not insulated, I think external filters would aggravate temperature swings, I would need more wattage in Winter, and the tank would heat up faster in Summer. Plus, with the tank design as it is, I wouldn't really know where to place it. Internal filters in the tank look ugly, and are messy to clean. Thanks to plywood I just added some length to the tank for 3 compartments (see schematic in second post): One for the pump (as well as heater, overflow to lower tank, and fertilizer reservoirs), a second center compartment for filter sponges, and a third "dry" compartment for some equipment, micro fertilizer, maybe maintenance supplies.










Braceless tanks make maintenance much more fun, and no light is reflected by dirty glass braces. For the top tank, I used a steel angle to add the necessary stiffness to the plywood.










The bottom tank is mainly planned as a fancy water reservoir at this point. It will get a shorter metal angle, combined with a threaded rod that goes from the front to the back panel to prevent any bowing.

One of my main concerns about possible weak points is that the top tank is mainly floating in air. When full of water, this is going to be a lot of weight supported by the sides panels. To prevent the bottom from bowing and ripping the front glass out of it's silicone bed, I added a 2x4 in front, 2x6 in the center, and a 2x2 in the back (where it connects to the back panel). Hope it will hold! I might add some more support from the outside.










Here is another shot adding the 45deg strips:










For easier access and handling, I am keeping both tanks and the back panel separate while applying epoxy. When done, I will screw the back panel to the tanks and apply epoxy to all the joins. The 60x60 double plywood back panel is very heavy, and when combined with the tanks I need another person to move it around.










At this stage I -cough- started to sand everything really smooth. Sanding sponges are my favorite tool, even though I used a finishing sander for some of the larger areas. Well, almost ready for some epoxy!


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## chuukus

looks verry nice, I know i need to start a thread and im working on it. Its going to be a diy thread. The thing is im building some acrylic tanks some opent top frameless glass tanks and the monster 240 gallon plywood glass tank. When these projects are all done i will have an all in one thread. 

To answer your questions the reason I used the sweetwater epoxy paint is because when I started this project I diddnt know about west systems epoxy so I used fiberglass resign and cloth that I bought by the gallon at the auto parts store. It worked great but then I was worried about the resign poisning my plants and fish so I put 3 nice thick coats of the sweetwater epoxy over the fiberglass resign so all together the fiberglass resign is about 6 mm thick with another 4 mm of epoxy paint over that, guarenteed not to leak and verry strong 
when you apply your epoxy if you buy it by the gallon I suggest only mixing up 1/3 at a time so its not setting up on you before you use it up it does stink so I opened the garage door turned on the exaust fan and used 3 other fans to blow the fumes away as I painted and I also suggest buying cheap brushes and dont try reusing them and wear rubber gloves.


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## CL

Very nice build. The quality of it is top notch. I can't wait to see the direction this tank is going in.


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## Wasserpest

chuukus said:


> looks verry nice, I know i need to start a thread and im working on it. Its going to be a diy thread. The thing is im building some acrylic tanks some opent top frameless glass tanks and the monster 240 gallon plywood glass tank. When these projects are all done i will have an all in one thread.


Sounds like your are a busy person! Takes me months just to get one little project started.



chuukus said:


> To answer your questions the reason I used the sweetwater epoxy paint is because when I started this project I diddnt know about west systems epoxy so I used fiberglass resign and cloth that I bought by the gallon at the auto parts store. It worked great but then I was worried about the resign poisning my plants and fish so I put 3 nice thick coats of the sweetwater epoxy over the fiberglass resign so all together the fiberglass resign is about 6 mm thick with another 4 mm of epoxy paint over that, guarenteed not to leak and verry strong


I never thought of checking out Auto Parts store... So is fiberglass resin and epoxy two different things? Is fiberglass resin aka polyester resin? May I ask how much a gallon of that stuff costs you?



chuukus said:


> when you apply your epoxy if you buy it by the gallon I suggest only mixing up 1/3 at a time so its not setting up on you before you use it up it does stink so I opened the garage door turned on the exaust fan and used 3 other fans to blow the fumes away as I painted and I also suggest buying cheap brushes and dont try reusing them and wear rubber gloves.


I am in the final stages of applying epoxy, I went a different route (not West Systems) and we'll see how that pins out. I am going to describe the details in a separate post with some more pics. :smile:


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## chuukus

Wasserpest said:


> Sounds like your are a busy person! Takes me months just to get one little project started.
> 
> 
> 
> I never thought of checking out Auto Parts store... So is fiberglass resin and epoxy two different things? Is fiberglass resin aka polyester resin? May I ask how much a gallon of that stuff costs you?
> 
> 
> 
> I am in the final stages of applying epoxy, I went a different route (not West Systems) and we'll see how that pins out. I am going to describe the details in a separate post with some more pics. :smile:


Yeah I stay busy. Me and my father have a good sized shop with every tool u need for cabinet making so im verry lucky. Thanks to this wonderfull forum addicted to this hobby my goal is to get good enough at building tanks that I can build custom tanks someday.

Yes i think its a little bit different but not by much. Ive seen lots of guys use it for sealing tanks and ive heard of people just using the fiberglass resign alone with good luck. Ive also heard it can kill fish and I believe it could if u did not give it time to cure properly. the exact brand I used is BONDO fiberglass resing the can says its for reparing metal, wood, fiberglass and masonry it cost me $29.99 for one gallon and I used the fiberglass cloth in the corners for strength.

I wish you the best of luck and I cant wait to see how the filter system works. Its definetly a great idea


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## Hoppy

All I can say, is thank God I no longer have a place where it would even be possible to make one of these! I don't think I could resist the urge if I did. This is really interesting!


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## FastTimes

looking great so far. I'll stay tuned to see it filled.


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## Wasserpest

chuukus said:


> Yes i think its a little bit different but not by much. Ive seen lots of guys use it for sealing tanks and ive heard of people just using the fiberglass resign alone with good luck. Ive also heard it can kill fish and I believe it could if u did not give it time to cure properly. the exact brand I used is BONDO fiberglass resing the can says its for reparing metal, wood, fiberglass and masonry it cost me $29.99 for one gallon and I used the fiberglass cloth in the corners for strength.


That's cheap! I remember checking out Bondo something in HD and it was more like 50-60 a gallon. Your tank is going to be "bullet proof". I am more experimental at the moment but if I build one day a tank inside the house I'll probably go the proven way.



chuukus said:


> I wish you the best of luck and I cant wait to see how the filter system works. Its definetly a great idea


I'll keep everyone updated!



Hoppy said:


> All I can say, is thank God I no longer have a place where it would even be possible to make one of these! I don't think I could resist the urge if I did. This is really interesting!


Come on Hoppy, you must have a garage or basement that could be cleared... :smile:



FastTimes said:


> looking great so far. I'll stay tuned to see it filled.


Thanks for stopping by, and welcome to the Planted Tank!


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## tusk

I've read that the fiberglass resin is no good for fish and that it really is not water proof, more water resistant without a sealer/top coat of some sort. 

You should shop around for the fiberglass resin, I use it frequently in car audio stuff and I don;' think I could bring myself to spend $50 on a gallon of it.


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## Wasserpest

I didn't get the fiberglass stuff, I went with epoxy which is hopefully waterproof for extended periods.

Seems like some go with the West System and then in addition to that paint it with Sweetwater Epoxy paint, which seems like expensive overkill. But it makes sense to paint the fiberglass resin.

I'll post some of my epoxy adventures over the weekend, just need to sit down with Mr Photoshop for a little while. :icon_roll


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## chuukus

any news? I cant wait to see how it turned out.


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## Wasserpest

Thanks for asking... Worked on it over the weekend, but no time for pictures yet. Possibly tomorrow I will find time to write up my Epoxy adventures. :fish:


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## Wasserpest

*5 Epoxy!*

Honestly, I was a bit scared of epoxy. Fast setting time, almost explosive heat development, and brain cell damaging smell was what I had read. None of that was quite the case. After a while I figured out that it is just some glorified glue. I spent some time to research which epoxy would be the best for my situation, and ended up with Coat-It made by Goop.










Compared to the more obvious choice (West Systems) this epoxy comes in at half the cost, has a dark coloration, and requires only 1 to 2 coats. It has a very syrupy consistency, wetting out fiberglass mats would be almost impossible. It also makes painting vertical surfaces quite easy. The smell is very benign, I suffered no immediate brain damages besides a very light headache in my not so aerated garage. After 12 hours Coat-It starts to get less tacky, and after 2 or 3 days it feels dry.










Important things with epoxy - take the right proportions, and mix well. I got an 8lb kit of Coat-It which covers around 80sqft (about the size of my project). 7lb resin and 1lb hardener, so it needs to be mixed 7:1, which was simple enough with a little scale that otherwise weights fertilizer powders. One of the things to avoid with epoxy is to get it on your skin... can you say itch & burn? I wore two pairs of gloves, thin latex underneath some heavy duty ones. The latex ones help to get the thicker ones off without touching any epoxy.










The dark coloration makes it easier to see where the coat is too thin. I did two layers in most places. To apply it, a fairly stiff bristled brush that didn't shed hairs worked best for me. Neither freezing the brushes nor keeping them submerged in paint thinner kept the epoxy from hardening, so I just threw them out after each painting session.










Like I mentioned earlier, kept both tanks and the back separate to make painting easier. With the filter compartments, it would have been difficult to paint with the back panel attached.










After silicone-ing the front glass panels, I will screw/glue the back to the rest of the construction and paint just where the corners meet. Already drilled a hole into the garage wall for the overflow. Time to think about how to lift the whole thing up onto its concrete base. I'd like to suspend it in the air somehow, while adding some thinset, and then lowering it down into the fresh mortar to provide the most level surface.


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## CL

Great build so far! Keep it up


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## chuukus

lookin good, can I ask where you purchased the goop coat it ive never heard of it and if its halph the cost I would like to get some? Where you able to buy it locally at a home depot or lowes or did you have to order it online? In my case I ordered from aquatic eco systems that charged me a $30.00 hazmat fee on top of the regular shipping fee. 

I just have one suggestion you might want to mix some more epoxy up after you screw the back on. I tipped my tank so it was kind of like balancing on the corner shim each side so it stayes then pour a nice bead of epoxy all the way down where the back and bottom meet. when I did it the epoxy leveled it self and made a verry strong seam. its just a suggestion I did mine like this on every seam. Just a little easy insurance that it wont leak. good luck and nice job


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## tusk

What is a few brain cells here and there 

How thick did that go on? Going to hold up to rocks moving around and such? Just thinking aloud.


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## Wasserpest

chuukus said:


> lookin good, can I ask where you purchased the goop coat it ive never heard of it and if its halph the cost I would like to get some? Where you able to buy it locally at a home depot or lowes or did you have to order it online? In my case I ordered from aquatic eco systems that charged me a $30.00 hazmat fee on top of the regular shipping fee.


Here is where I discovered Coat-It first. They also have some more information about it. Here is another sheet with some information. I bought it from this place, cheapest incl shipping for me.

Aquatic Eco is nice, but for a budget conscious DIY'er like me a bit too rich. Their shipping charges are not competitive for small orders.



chuukus said:


> I just have one suggestion you might want to mix some more epoxy up after you screw the back on. I tipped my tank so it was kind of like balancing on the corner shim each side so it stayes then pour a nice bead of epoxy all the way down where the back and bottom meet. when I did it the epoxy leveled it self and made a verry strong seam. its just a suggestion I did mine like this on every seam. Just a little easy insurance that it wont leak. good luck and nice job


Most of the seams in this construction are reinforced with triangular 2x2s, which should add a lot of strength. But for those that are not, I will do that... if I have enough Epoxy left over.


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## Wasserpest

tusk said:


> What is a few brain cells here and there
> 
> How thick did that go on? Going to hold up to rocks moving around and such? Just thinking aloud.


Good point there... Doing several layers of glassfiber mats and epoxy will create a much stronger/better protection against falling rocks. Heavy, sharp edged rocks would probably puncture the epoxy layer that I painted over the relatively soft plywood. Knowing that, I will not use large rocks in this tank, and be careful when working with pokey objects inside the tank.

I can't say how thick the epoxy layer exactly is. I hope thick enough. :smile:


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## lauraleellbp

How many layers of epoxy and glassfiber are you planning?


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## jinx©

Well I've been waiting for this project to take off. roud: (I remember reading/posting in another thread discussing the idea months ago)

Looks like you're off to a great start and I'll be watching this one.

The scary part for me is that I have two ancient thick glassed 55g's sitting in a corner of a four bay garage that are beginning to call out to me when I walk past them....:eek5:lol


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## Green Leaf Aquariums

Awesome. A Jedi Master of DIY.

-O


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## Naja002

Sweeeeeet. Glad to see you are still pursuing this....:thumbsup: See what happens after ya drill that first hole through a wall......:biggrin:


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## Wasserpest

lauraleellbp said:


> How many layers of epoxy and glassfiber are you planning?


Basically just one layer of epoxy. I painted a second time in areas that seemed to light. This stuff sticks really well to anything, including itself, so I skipped the sanding-in-between.



jinx© said:


> Well I've been waiting for this project to take off. roud: (I remember reading/posting in another thread discussing the idea months ago)
> 
> Looks like you're off to a great start and I'll be watching this one.
> 
> The scary part for me is that I have two ancient thick glassed 55g's sitting in a corner of a four bay garage that are beginning to call out to me when I walk past them....:eek5:lol


Yeah, only took me like two years to get this started. :icon_roll If this works out, I have a larger project already lined up... now that's scary.



Orlando said:


> Awesome. A Jedi Master of DIY.
> 
> -O


Thanks O, hehe, plenty of satisfaction if I can make something and it works afterwards. I don't save money, but I always learn something in the process (even if it is "never do THAT again").



Naja002 said:


> Sweeeeeet. Glad to see you are still pursuing this....:thumbsup: See what happens after ya drill that first hole through a wall......:biggrin:


Yep, that semi-automated waterchange setup seems so innocent now...


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## tusk

There was one swed guy or something of the likes that used a weird "backed" plywood and that was all. He just used a piece of foam under the gravel of the larger objects in the tank. 

You plan on any plecos? I never really found the answer I was looking for with them in "DIY" tanks, just a remote horror story or two that could have been made up. Any thoughts? I'd REALLY love a small school of clown plecos but have always been worried about it.

Looking good BTW


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## Wasserpest

Thanks tusk, I guess there are many ways to seal a tank. I recall a Norwegian guy who had some interesting approaches.

Not sure regarding plecos. I know they can do quite some damage to acrylic/plexiglass. Possible that some might start to chew epoxy... lol. I had bristlenoses before, but they turned against my swords.


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## BichirAddict

If you need help go to Monsterfishkeepers.com/forums and their are dozens of pages full of the same subject or similar including a homemade 15,000 gallon tank.


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## Down_Shift

Man Wasser, your DIY's get deeper and deeper.. So sick!


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## chuukus

I have a few questions.
1. Is this gonna be a planted tank?
2. If it's gonna be planted is it going to be high light&CO2?
3. What brand silicone did you use to seal the front glass?

My reason for asking is I am about ready to put my glass in my ply-glass tank and Im thinking of using the tank to breed fish and grow out plants. Im debating on a large sump with a built in hamburger matten filter or a large homeade canister filter. 

I just wanted to pick your brain a little about what kind of lighting can penetrate the 24" deep water and still grow the hight light plants. Like you im on a budget and I really dont want metal halide lighting. Im thinking diy T5HO and see how cheap I can get all the parts to light a large tank. 
Sorry about asking all these questions im not trying to hijack your thread. I just thougth you might be pondering some of these same questions and I know you have more experience growing plants than me. Im dying to find out what your gonna come up with.


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## Wasserpest

*6 Glass and Silicone*

With most of the epoxy applied, the next step before assembling was to glue the glass panels into the front frame. From my dismantled 55gal tank I had two 48x20" sheets of untempered 3/8" glass, which I beveled a little bit with a sander to prevent nasty cuts. The cutout in the front plywood sheet was 46x18", leaving 1" of overlap and glue surface all around. 










This one got a bit snug and I had to use some weights to push it down onto the frame. The lesson I learned here was not to put heavy buckets and such on an unprotected glass surface, because it will leave some very ugly scratches. :confused1: Luckily this was the lower tank which isn't going to be a showtank anyway.










For Silicone, I chose the cheapest, DAP 100% Clear Rubber Silicone Sealant. I could have gone with GE RTV108 (or 103) but I think this isn't really necessary in this situation. In another thread it was mentioned that the glass needs to be joined with the industrial strength silicone in 2 minutes or less, and I am not that quick in applying it.










To prevent the weight of the glass pushing out all the silicone between glass and epoxy coated wood, I cut short sections of silicone airline, cut them length-wise, and duct taped them to the front frame. This worked pretty good. When the silicone was dry, I just pulled them out.










As you can see, I also taped off the sides of the glass to make removing the spilled out silicone a bit easier. I haven't done this so it remains to be seen how difficult it will be without pulling any silicone out of the seam.


----------



## Wasserpest

chuukus said:


> I have a few questions.
> 1. Is this gonna be a planted tank?
> 2. If it's gonna be planted is it going to be high light&CO2?
> 3. What brand silicone did you use to seal the front glass?
> 
> My reason for asking is I am about ready to put my glass in my ply-glass tank and Im thinking of using the tank to breed fish and grow out plants. Im debating on a large sump with a built in hamburger matten filter or a large homeade canister filter.
> 
> I just wanted to pick your brain a little about what kind of lighting can penetrate the 24" deep water and still grow the hight light plants. Like you im on a budget and I really dont want metal halide lighting. Im thinking diy T5HO and see how cheap I can get all the parts to light a large tank.
> Sorry about asking all these questions im not trying to hijack your thread. I just thougth you might be pondering some of these same questions and I know you have more experience growing plants than me. Im dying to find out what your gonna come up with.


All good questions, without feedback this thread would be extremely boring. With regards to silicone, please see the previous post.

Here is what I am planning to do with the tank. Currently I have a 100gal tank that I would like to replace with a larger plywood/starphire etc homebuilt tank one day. This garage tank project serves to give me some experience and hopefully confidence to tackle a larger project. When the day comes, whatever plants and fish and substrate that are currently in the 100gal tank need to move somewhere, and that will be most likely this garage tank. Also, I have a 10gal tank that I want to take down and basically move its contents to this new tank.

The new garage tank will be medium light, with pressurized CO2 and fertilizers. I haven't really finalized my lighting plans, but I will probably build my usual slim canopies with 4 T5HO 54W bulbs. Instead of expensive reflectors, I will paint the canopy white. It will be covered from the bottom with a removable sheet of acrylic. There will be fans to keep the temperature in the canopy down.

I will buy cheap endcaps from Reefgeek, and use two 128W Advance ballasts (one each to drive two bulbs) from Home Depot. Overall, this is probably as inexpensive as it gets. So, less than 2W/gal, but medium light level since this is a comparatively large tank. If you want to go high light, you can probably add more bulbs, or overdrive them using (expensive) Icecap ballasts.

No experience when it comes to sumps, so I can't comment on that. Planning to use big sponges to filter this tank, I will go into more detail soon.

Next steps are to assemble the tank, finish epoxy, paint the remaining wood surfaces with some water repelling spar polyurethane varnish, get the plumbing started, and place the tank on its concrete base. I was planning to get all this done this year, but the little things always take more time than expected, so this tank might not see any water until next year.


----------



## D-007

I'm watching this as I am curious as to how well the Coat-It does.

I read on their site that it is *Reinforced with Kevlar fibers for Extra Strength* so I'm hoping that it'll be just as good (if not better) as if using epoxy and fiberglass.

Fingers crossed also that it'll not be toxic to any fish.

Great job so far :thumbsup:
D


----------



## chuukus

Yeah the sheet says it has ceramic beads, graphite and kevlar fibers if this stuff was thick enough I bet it would stop a bullet. This sounds like some amazing stuff and it must be seein how they reccomend it for truck bed liners the bottom of kyacks. This stuff is designed to take a serious beating.
I wish I was like wasserpest I thought I did my homework when buying epoxy. Then he comes up with this stuff that is made to stop a bullet and for halph the price. 
Yes I hope its non toxic to fish also it sounds like its gonna have a long time to cure. If its not worst case sinerio hell just have to buy like a quart of non toxic epoxy and go over this goop.


----------



## Wasserpest

Thanks guys, it did take me quite a while to figure out which epoxy to use. Remains to be seen if this stuff is toxic or not. One of the suggested applications is for coating animal troughs, which indicates that there are no extremely poisonous things leaching out. I'll do some extended testing with shrimp to determine if it is safe for fishies. :fish:

Just finishing up the last epoxy touches on the lower tank before attaching the top tank, which will limit access to the lower filter compartment somewhat. Also started to coat the remaining wood surfaces with Spar Polyurethane. Now that stuff stinks...


----------



## mistergreen

when you build a shower, you lay down a water-proof membrane over an adhesive/mortar. When cure, it's water proof. The tiles set on top is only to make it pretty.

the membrane might be another good option.


----------



## tusk

Looking good.

I personally used 100% Silicone by GE. Also used AH supply lights for 28" or so of depth.


----------



## Wasserpest

mistergreen said:


> when you build a shower, you lay down a water-proof membrane over an adhesive/mortar. When cure, it's water proof. The tiles set on top is only to make it pretty.
> 
> the membrane might be another good option.


Before I started this project I did quite a bit of research about various ways to cover plywood. There is a reason why most of this builds are done with epoxy or polyester resin. 

I remember I read something about waterproof mortar too. Couple of problems... you will have to cover it with something (epoxy paint), and it is not very flexible, which can lead to cracks and such over wood.



tusk said:


> Looking good.
> 
> I personally used 100% Silicone by GE. Also used AH supply lights for 28" or so of depth.


Power Compacts and T5's are very similar, with comparable wattage either type will get the tank to whatever light levels are desired.


----------



## sewingalot

Looking great! I'm excited over this project. How many hours have you put in so far?


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## Wasserpest

I keep track of costs fairly well, hours not so much. If I had to guess, I'd say maybe 60 hours in the garage? Plus a couple more to run around and purchase the materials.

In the end I hope it is time well spent, not wasted. Fun project.


----------



## redman88

okay if you don't mind me asking how much have you spent on it so far


----------



## Wasserpest

Sure, let's see...

Plywood $130 (2x38, 4x13)
Glass $60 (from 55gal tank)
Epoxy $60
Silicone $5
Angle iron $15
Wood glue $18
2x4/2x6/2x2/1x2 $20
Screws, sanding, misc $15
Spar Urethane $15
Paint brushes $10
Concrete for base $15

So about $375 so far, incl the glass which I already had. One could build a much bigger single tank construction for roughly the same amount, apart from the glass pane which gets more expensive with added size. Using West Systems epoxy, fiberglass mats, and/or epoxy paint would up the total as well.

I have pretty much finished up the lower tank, ready to attach the upper tank to the back. With the glass and back panel, this beast is getting VERY heavy. My back is not happy about the latest attempts to turn and move it around, I am going to delay the final assembly until early next year. Vacations coming up!


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## Naja002

Vacations? Man, you don't get no vacations.....get back to work. What are you talkin' about....???? :eek5:


----------



## Hoppy

You need to take a few more photos, then dole them out every few days, while on vacation, just to keep us happy here Then, I think we can give you permission to take the vacation.


----------



## Church

You might want to invest in a good forklift-style hand truck before you kill your back! I am enjoying this thread very much. Keep up the good work!


----------



## Wasserpest

*Cheapo bulkheads*



Naja002 said:


> Vacations? Man, you don't get no vacations.....get back to work. What are you talkin' about....???? :eek5:





Hoppy said:


> You need to take a few more photos, then dole them out every few days, while on vacation, just to keep us happy here Then, I think we can give you permission to take the vacation.


Since ya'll been asking nicely, here is one more photo :angel:










This is what I am using instead of expensive bulkheads. #1 is a 1/2" Cutoff Extension Riser, found at the sprinkler parts isle for a whopping $0.38. It has 3 areas with threads that can be cut to fit. #2 shows the same part with one thread cut, leaving two of them, and now fitting nicely through a 3/4" plywood panel, allowing for some epoxy thickness and a nice fat rubber O-ring. To fit them through the back wall which is almost an inch thick, I had to mess around with some cut-off plastic part, resulting in #3. #4 is a female/female connector that would go on the outside of the tank, with #5 being a plug in case it needs to be plugged. #6 is a female/slip connector to combine the bulkheads with some 1/2" plastic pipe, say a filter spraybar or overflow something. #7 is a 1/2 female/barb to connect things with flexible vinyl hose. Basically 1/2/3 go inside the tank, with 4/6/7 screwed against the outside. Of course some of my bulkheads connect the different chambers and it isn't crucial which way they go. #8 would be a male/slip adapter to extend things with 1/2" plastic pipe, #9 is just a female 1/2" plug if necessary. #10 is what I am going to use with #3 as the overflow regulation for the lower (mainly water holding) tank. If the level rises above the plastic pipe the water will drain outside. Hopefully. roud:


----------



## Wasserpest

Church said:


> You might want to invest in a good forklift-style hand truck before you kill your back! I am enjoying this thread very much. Keep up the good work!


Thanks Church! I need something... just kinda greedy when it comes to things that don't get regular use. Maybe some sort of hoist?


----------



## chuukus

You are way too good at do it yourself. I wouldnt of even thought of looking in the sprinkler section. Those are some nice diy bulkheads, definetly worth the $0.38. I might use this idea. good thinking


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## D-007

Seems the project is coming along nicely :thumbsup:

Oh and btw, you mentioned #6 twice in your parts list above :confused1:


----------



## Wasserpest

chuukus said:


> You are way too good at do it yourself. I wouldnt of even thought of looking in the sprinkler section. Those are some nice diy bulkheads, definetly worth the $0.38. I might use this idea. good thinking


If 1/2" is enough diameter for your project it is definitely a money saver. Only thing is that you can't really tighten it up too much (with pliers and such) because it might snap the areas between the threads.



D-007 said:


> Seems the project is coming along nicely :thumbsup:
> 
> Oh and btw, you mentioned #6 twice in your parts list above :confused1:


Thanks for the tip, it was meant to be #7 the second time around. I am glad someone is reading my stuff! :icon_mrgr


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums

roud:If there was an award to give somebody for the fine art of DIY aquarium projects,
Wasserpest would be the undefeated championroud:

A true inspiration to all aquarist.

-O


----------



## jinx©

Orlando said:


> roud:If there was an award to give somebody for the fine art of DIY aquarium projects,
> Wasserpest would be the undefeated championroud:
> 
> A true inspiration to all aquarist.
> 
> -O


x2...I often have things like "Aquatic MacGyver" and "Frugal Aquarist" pop into my head when I get reading WP's posts...lol roud:

Good thinking on those bulkheads WP. I may have a use for those myself.


----------



## tusk

Ha, nice work with the sprinkler items


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## Gatekeeper

well.... how we doing here? Do we have a successful conversion?


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## Nilraf

Seriously, could the vacation possibly still be going on? It sounds like this might be a project for yours truly to try out soon! Keep up the great work!


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## Wasserpest

Thanks for bringing this up again. 

Vacation is over, job has kept me busier than usual, but I continue to work on this project. I haven't updated the thread earlier because there isn't much to show in terms of pictures. Meanwhile I took some, just need a couple of days to upload them. :icon_roll

Both tanks are now connected, all the Epoxy is applied, and the other wood surfaces treated with PU Spar Varnish. Plumbing is almost finished, and I am working on the canopies.

I ordered a bunch of T5 end caps and lost them... Someone might have put them accidentally into the plastic recycling bin. :eek5: Expensive mistake.

I'll post some new pictures coming Thursday...


----------



## Wasserpest

As promised, a quick picture... I'll probably get to work on the canopies over the weekend, and will document the progress with my camera.










Finally... a fish tank for the whole family! It's pretty solid... and very heavy. There was no movement, flexing, or squeaking when I jumped around in the top tank.


----------



## brion0

This is a realy cool project, Ive been watching for it to come up again. If I owned a house, would be making a plywood tank along with you!


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## CL

Wow! Very nicely done! I can't wait to see these babies filled up with h2o!


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## monkeyruler90

that last picture loooks awesome!!! if it can support you and your kids then it should be sturdy enough!! have you leaked tested it yet?


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## Wasserpest

Thanks for the comments! I am going to finish up the canopies (while having better access to the back) before I move the tank to its final resting place and start to fill 'er up. I'll do a final check for flaws in the epoxy layer, and then it will be time for wetness. So exciting!


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## Gatekeeper

Glad to see she held up!!! I can't wait to see it filled.


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## eyebeatbadgers

gmccreedy said:


> Glad to see she held up!!!


Me too! Would have been bad to squish the little guy in the lower tank!


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## Wasserpest

Hehe, my wife took the picture, and it never occurred to us that there was that danger. (For some reason she didn't want to join us upstairs). I could have invited a couple more folks up there, added a few filled 5gal buckets, and it would still have held up well. No worries... 3/4 plywood, reinforced with some 2x4s and such, is pretty strong stuff.


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## fishsandwitch

So do you know what you are going to do with the tanks once they are done?

Planted I assume? What about fish?


----------



## Wasserpest

Like I mentioned in the OP, it's a bit of an experience collecting trip. If I can pull off this wacky two tank construction, then I will feel comfortable doing a bigger single show-tank that goes inside the house. When it comes to that, I will need to move substrate, fish and plants of my current 100gal tank into this one.

Of course it will be planted... I am not much into fish, so it'll be more of a quarantine, holding sort of tank I think. Nothing to worry about right now. :fish:


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## jinx©

Looking great and great photos as well.roud:

Good luck with the wet tests and keep us updated.


----------



## Wasserpest

*7 Plumbing and filtration*

Time for updates! I have been working on waterproofing the non-epoxy surfaces, built the canopy, and put on some overall finishing touches. But first let me share some of the plumbing and filtration details.










Both tanks have three compartments. The front one is going to be dry, and house micro dosing and other equipment. The center compartment has the sponge filters, and the back is where the pump is placed.










The filtered water will be distributed throughout the tank via a spraybar (will be hidden behind plants). The sponge you see, and its twin brother underneath, should help to keep the tank water crystal clear without too much maintenance. As they clog up, the water level in the pump compartment will go down. I am not sure yet if that is good or bad and how bad it might get. Time will tell, but I can do some minor changes to set it up differently.










A 1/2" PVC pipe serves as overflow in the center compartment. I am planning to mainly feed this tank with water from a tank inside the house, and add tap water once in a while. So every night there will be an automatic water change filling up this tank, overflowing into the tank underneath.










Here is the lower tank, you can spot the 1/2" overflow towards the back. Right now I am planning to have this as a water reservoir/recycling old tank water to irrigate the yard.








]

When the lower tank fills up, it will overflow to the outside, watering some Camellias. I can adjust the max water level via another plastic pipe that can be turned up and down.


----------



## CL

It's nice to see the good planning come together!


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## Wasserpest

Thanks Chris, it is definitely a lot of fun to put the plumbing together. Can't imagine my life without Sched 40 fittings. :wink:

Well, if anyone sees any fatal flaw it's a good time to speak up now.


----------



## CL

Wasserpest said:


> Thanks Chris, it is definitely a lot of fun to put the plumbing together. Can't imagine my life without Sched 40 fittings. :wink:
> 
> Well, if anyone sees any fatal flaw it's a good time to speak up now.


Here's a flaw: It's not at my house.
How did you know my name was Chris? lol


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## chuukus

Wasserpest exelent job ive been waiting for this to come together. I see nothing wrong once you get it up and running you will make the right adjustments and everything will work fine.

When do i get to see the diy T5 lighting go together will you do a step by step on the lighting if you have time? I have lots of ideas how im gonna light my tank but they are all verry expensive.


----------



## Wasserpest

clwatkins10 said:


> Here's a flaw: It's not at my house.
> How did you know my name was Chris? lol


I think I sent you some plants before... Didn't you win the famous WP Grand Random Act Plant Lottery? :fish:



chuukus said:


> Wasserpest exelent job ive been waiting for this to come together. I see nothing wrong once you get it up and running you will make the right adjustments and everything will work fine.
> 
> When do i get to see the diy T5 lighting go together will you do a step by step on the lighting if you have time? I have lots of ideas how im gonna light my tank but they are all verry expensive.


Yep, I am ready to write up some lighting steps, should give you some good ideas. Wow... what a productive day.


----------



## Wasserpest

*Lighting it up*

I build all my own canopies, and my goals are two-fold: I want them as invisible (slim) as possible, and I want to get the max in efficiency (lumen per watt). If I can pull it off cheaply, it's a big plus.










So, onto construction of my super-slim canopy. It is so slim that it actually goes inside the tank. I like that visually, plus it brings the bulbs as close to the water surface as possible without them getting wet.

It all starts with an appropriately sized piece of 0.4" thick plywood, a good balance between too heavy and too floppy. Sorry, getting a bit clampy here. 










For the sides, I use mostly 2x1's which are cheap and light, and give the canopy enough lateral strength. They also provide just enough room to fit T5 endcaps and bulbs in there. Since I had them left over from the tank build, I glued some of the 45 degree pieces which add more strength and reflect some light downwards.










To keep moisture out of this, I glued some plastic profiles along the rim, which will hold a piece of Plexiglas. I can pull that out whenever I need to change a bulbs. Not sure what those things are normally used for, but they are cheap and seem to be made just for my purpose. Talking about glue, that new Liquid Nails stuff is horrible, they used to have a clear adhesive that dried pretty fast and held up well, somehow I ended up with something resembling wood putty.










Normally I prefer to use nice and shiny reflectors, but to save a few bux right now I will paint the canopy white. First I primed it somewhat with a base color, then we'll move it up a notch with Ultra Pure White... does it get any purer and whiter than that?










To manage the heat that 4 HO T5 bulbs generate, I cut a nice big hole into the center of the canopy, and added an Antec TriCool 120 mm fan. The cool thing about the TriCool is that it has a high (Summer), medium (Spring/Fall) and low (Winter) setting. Since temperatures in my garage fluctuate with the seasons this comes in handy. Sure, I could use some sort of temperature controller, but this fan costs about $4 and it should work great. T5 bulbs work best at ~35C so I'll double check to make sure my assumptions are close.










On the other side of the hole, I installed some round plastic thing with some spacers to 1) cover the hole and 2) reflect some more light down and 3) pull out only the hottest air from the top of the canopy. If you look closely, you will see four smaller holes which will allow air and ballast wires to enter the otherwise closed canopy. I am planning to put some sponges into these holes to keep dust out and reduce the need to clean or repaint the canopy.










I have the ballast (Fulham Workhorse 7) on order, expecting it to arrive next week. Couple of hinges will attach the canopy to the tank, and bingo, done.


----------



## Gatekeeper

Out of curiosity, any concerns over moisture or humidity contact on the "untreated" back wall of the lower tank or underside of the upper tank?


Edit: Ninja'd

Where did you get the T-5 wiring harness and stuff?


----------



## Wasserpest

gmccreedy said:


> Out of curiosity, any concerns over moisture or humidity contact on the "untreated" back wall of the lower tank or underside of the upper tank?


The backside shouldn't get moist, it will face the garage wall insulation, and there will be a bit of air exchange with the rest of the garage.

Good point I forgot to mention - I am planning to use vinyl hose as a strip between the canopies and the tank, which will make it pretty airtight. I don't want to increase the humidity in my garage.

The underside of the upper tank, along with all the other non-epoxied wood surfaces incl canopies are painted with PU Spar Varnish, should be a fairly good barrier against moisture entering the wood. We shall see...



gmccreedy said:


> Where did you get the T-5 wiring harness and stuff?


What's a wiring harness? I usually just shove ballast wires into endcaps. I got the endcaps at Reefgeek, and the ballast at 1000bulbs.com.

This weekend I'll try to prepare the electrical connections and finish up the lower tank cover (no canopy right now). Then it is time to clean up the garage and think about how to suspend the beast in the air, over the concrete base, to apply some thinset and then lower it onto its hopefully straight destination. No ideas so far, heh.


----------



## chuukus

I have never used a workhorse 7. My workhorse 5 will run two 54watt T5ho bulbs. 

You are running all four bulbs off one workhorse 7? 

So one workhorse7 ballast does the same as two workhorse5s? 

The only difference is there is only one switch or one plug instead of two? Am I thinking right?


----------



## CL

Wasserpest said:


> I think I sent you some plants before... Didn't you win the famous WP Grand Random Act Plant Lottery? :fish:


Ah yeah, forgot about that lol. Nice canopy!


----------



## Gatekeeper

LOL. Ok, where do you get the end caps. I know you shop around and find the cheapo deals, so spill the beans.


----------



## Wasserpest

gmccreedy said:


> LOL. Ok, where do you get the end caps. I know you shop around and find the cheapo deals, so spill the beans.


I do, I do, shop around and spill beans. 



Wasserpest said:


> I got the endcaps at Reefgeek, and the ballast at 1000bulbs.com.


Those little end caps are NOT waterproof, but for an enclosed canopy like that it isn't an issue, and with $2 a pair vs $8 a pair, there are substantial savings.


----------



## CL

Wasserpest said:


> I got the endcaps at Reefgeek, and the ballast at 1000bulbs.com.





gmccreedy said:


> LOL. Ok, where do you get the end caps.


IDK if this is what you were looking for...
EDIT: Ninja'd


----------



## Wasserpest

chuukus said:


> I have never used a workhorse 7. My workhorse 5 will run two 54watt T5ho bulbs.
> 
> You are running all four bulbs off one workhorse 7?
> 
> So one workhorse7 ballast does the same as two workhorse5s?
> 
> The only difference is there is only one switch or one plug instead of two? Am I thinking right?


Yep, you are correct. The WH7 can do up to 220W, four T5HO bulbs max it out. I might run only 3 bulbs, not sure yet. True that with two ballasts and switches you can do a more gradual lights on and off, but my plants never complain... :fish:

I considered buying two cheap Advance ballasts from Home Depot... the 4 bulb flavor does 128W, so it can handle 2 T5HO four footers. But, I got a decent deal on the WH7 ($42 shipped), and my 100gal tank uses one for the last 6 years and it can't hurt to have another one as a backup. Plus in the future I am planning a larger tank that will use two WH7 ballasts.


----------



## Wasserpest

*9 Moving it into place*

This was a bit of a challenge for me, how to move this onto its concrete socket without destroying the tank, the socket, and my back.










After much pondering I figured out a solution, and with a couple of uninterrupted hours and some good luck it worked pretty well. I temporarily attached a 2x4 board to each side of the tank, trying to hit the center pretty well. This board would extend beyond the concrete socket and give me something to work with and lift it up.










For some reason I have a lot of chopped up karate boards in my garage :icon_eek: and they came in very handy. After pushing the tank in place, I raised it up, one by one, supporting all four corners, and using the center boards to push it up and up and up. Once at the right height, I pushed it all the way to the wall.










Some magic, and bam, it's floating in air!! Not quite that easy, but the 2x4's did what I thought they would do, and gave me some space to add a layer of thinset. Lowered the tank, pushed it all the way to the wall, making sure it stayed fairly level. Worked out pretty well. I filled in the gap where concrete was missing, and now it already looks like it's always been there. :fish:


----------



## CL

Wasserpest said:


> For some reason I have a lot of chopped up karate boards in my garage


AHAHA! This made me laugh so hard!

The setup looks very good so far. Good thinking on stepping it up one plank at a time.


----------



## Gatekeeper

Now that is creativity at its finest. Who needs an engineer.!!!!


----------



## airborne_r6

Great idea on how to lift it. If you or anyone else does that again leave the 2X4's shorter and you can fit a car jack under them and then it would require less effort and could go up each side all at once.


----------



## Hoppy

I have my fingers crossed for the big day when this gets filled with water, both tanks, with all the plumbing connected. It will either be a triumph for the ages, or a Homeland Security alert type disaster! But, who wants to live a dull life???


----------



## Wasserpest

airborne_r6 said:


> Great idea on how to lift it. If you or anyone else does that again leave the 2X4's shorter and you can fit a car jack under them and then it would require less effort and could go up each side all at once.


Very good point. I was playing around with car jacks, but compared to a flat board they give you much less stability. If you lift a car that still has two wheels on the ground it's not an issue, but with a wooden box with a high center of gravity, dangling in the air on two car jacks... :icon_eek:


----------



## Wasserpest

Hoppy said:


> I have my fingers crossed for the big day when this gets filled with water, both tanks, with all the plumbing connected. It will either be a triumph for the ages, or a Homeland Security alert type disaster! But, who wants to live a dull life???


Haha, not me! Well here it is:










Yesterday I finished up the last epoxy. A few smallish things still remain to be done - add some silicone to corners, give the exposed wood a last layer of varnish, build the lower canopy, and add some vinyl airline gaskets around the canopy sides to seal the moisture in.

A week from now I will probably start to add some water. I have a lot of confidence in the structure. And I think the epoxy is good stuff. I am a bit paranoid about having covered all of the nooks and crannies with epoxy. Adding the filter compartments definitely made that a challenge.

I was going to do some testing to see if the epoxy poses any danger to the animals, but at this point I am just going for it. My 100 gal tank is in great need of a plant reduction, and it has been going downhill for a few weeks due to lack of circulation. That is what pushes me a bit to get the new tanks ready.

I think all the equipment is pretty much lined up... for filtration and circulation I am going to use an AquaClear 70 powerhead. I built a little CO2 reactor, but I might be able to just inject the CO2 into the AC impeller.

And I've got my usual substrate mix already lined up...


----------



## Joetee

Very interesting project. I am interested in your substrate. Will you share it with us all the steps?
Joe


----------



## Wasserpest

Hey Joe, thanks for stopping by. I have used similar Peat/cat piss absorbent layers in several tanks.

I tried that first in my 36gal tank: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank-journals-photo-album/24295-wasserpests-36gal-corner-tank.html (see second post).

And I did another step by step/image by image when I redid my 100 gal tank the last time: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/tank-journals-photo-album/12971-100-gal-tank-take-2-not.html (check out post #13).

Let me know if there are any other questions. :thumbsup:


----------



## Joetee

Thanks Wasserpest. I've read so much negative info on using Kitty Litter. But I respect your experience and knowledge. So what, if any, are the precautions and set backs when using Special kitty?
Joe


----------



## Wasserpest

One caution with Special Kitty is that the stuff that I buy at a Walmart here might be completely different than what you buy in Kentucky. Depending on where it is mined and how it is treated afterward, yours might turn to mud in a couple of days or hours.

The stuff I buy here is pretty inert, and I have a feeling that it is the same as the Oil-Dry that some folks use, and very similar to Schultz Aquasoil, Profile, SMS, and all the other cheapo things that are successfully used in planted tanks.

Like those, Special Kitty is pretty light (compare to Flourite) which makes planting certain plants a bit of a challenge. Also, the color is not what everyone might consider as desirable. It's sorta creamy in a well lit tank.

For the price though, I deal with the disadvantages. It is supposed to have a great CEC, and I believe that since plants grow well. It does not break down at all. Actually I am going to re-use the KL from the 55gal tank that fathered this one.

Using this and topping it off with some Flourite is a good solution, still affordable, and the heavier Flourite makes planting a bit easier.


----------



## Joetee

Thanks again Wasserpest. I'll have to keep it in mind. I might be getting another tank soon. I may give it a try.
Joe


----------



## Wasserpest

If you do, buy a bag, rinse a handful and put it into a container with tap water, and stir/shake it every day a little. After a week, measure hardness, pH, phosphate, anything else you can test. And see if it is still structurally whole-some.


----------



## Hoppy

I will be watching the Homeland Security Alert level! Perhaps you could get the National Guard called out just in case?

Seriously, this is a great adventure for all of us, and it opens up lots of possibilities.


----------



## Joetee

Wasserpest said:


> If you do, buy a bag, rinse a handful and put it into a container with tap water, and stir/shake it every day a little. After a week, measure hardness, pH, phosphate, anything else you can test. And see if it is still structurally whole-some.


Good advise. Thanks again.
Joe


----------



## Wasserpest

Yesterday I got busy and finished up most of what was left to be done. Still need to add the seals, and finalize the lower canopy. After giving it a good cleanup I think it is ready for some water come next weekend. :icon_eek::smile:


----------



## Gatekeeper

Wasserpest said:


> Yesterday I got busy and finished up most of what was left to be done. Still need to add the seals, and finalize the lower canopy. After giving it a good cleanup I think it is ready for some water come next weekend. :icon_eek::smile:


That is the difference between you and me. I would have called out sick to work (last night), pulled an all nighter siliconing all the final touches and been bathing in that sucker this morning. :biggrin:


----------



## Wasserpest

Patience, young grasshopper. Focus on the journey, not the destination. :wink:

As wise man say: Uncured silicone, tacky epoxy, and smelly varnish are no good things to spray water upon.


----------



## Gatekeeper

Wasserpest said:


> Patience, young grasshopper. Focus on the journey, not the destination. :wink:


All I keep thinking about with that statement is my two kids in the back seat on our way home from the North Carolina road trip saying for 8 hours....

"are we there yet? how about now? are we there now? ...."

Yea. No patience here. LOL.

Good luck on the fill my man! Should be exciting to watch this all unfold!


(BTW: Thanks for the end caps!)


----------



## Wasserpest

gmccreedy said:


> All I keep thinking about with that statement is my two kids in the back seat on our way home from the North Carolina road trip saying for 8 hours....
> 
> "are we there yet? how about now? are we there now? ...."


Heh, but better than a screaming infant. I had to pull out my noise cancelling earplugs a few times.



gmccreedy said:


> Good luck on the fill my man! Should be exciting to watch this all unfold!


Thanks, I'll take pictures, and expect water rushing out of all possible gaps.



gmccreedy said:


> (BTW: Thanks for the end caps!)


Glad you got them, was just going to pm you about them.


----------



## CL

Wasserpest said:


> For some reason I have a lot of chopped up karate boards in my garage





Wasserpest said:


> Patience, young grasshopper. Focus on the journey, not the destination.


Ok, I'm convinced you are some karate master/ ninja/ whatever

lol, I can't wait for the water!


----------



## Wasserpest

Way too many hobbies for sure... if I'd lose my job I probably wouldn't even notice.

The tank is pretty much ready to go... needs a final cleaning, connecting the CO2 line to the pump (I'll inject into the impeller to start with), some covers for the side compartments. I might start to fill 'er up and see what happens tomorrow. If it all works out... time for substrate and perhaps plants on Sunday!


----------



## chuukus

I have a few questions im sorry but I have to ask.

1 Do you use the peat moss to soften the water?
2 Do you use tap water and if you do is it hard water? Ph? kh?
3 what kind of pump are you using to inject the co2? external pump? submursible pump?

Im just wondering because my well water is hard PH 8.0 When I set up my plywood tank I am going to use peat moss also under the substrate. Hopefully it will soften my water some. I have built a resiviour to catch rain water to catch rain water just for my aquariums. My rainwater is always neutral PH 7.0 im wondering how much peat moss to put under the substrate. How much affect does the peat moss have on the Ph of your water? Do you think I should use halph well water halph rain water and put about an inch of peat under my substrate. How much peat do you use and does it have a huge affect on the PH of your water?


----------



## Wasserpest

_I have a few questions im sorry but I have to ask._

Don't be sorry, this is the main reason why I post this journal, so folks can read it and ask questions.
_
1 Do you use the peat moss to soften the water?_

No, I use it as the lowest substrate layer. I think it is beneficial to add organic matter. Some use topsoil or mineralized soil or such, I like peat because it is pretty consistent (soil can contain unexpected ingredients) and I have easy access to it.
_
2 Do you use tap water and if you do is it hard water? Ph? kh?_

Yes and yes. My tapwater comes out of the tap at a pH around 7.8 and 10dkH carbonate hardness. When adding CO2, this works well for many plants and a good number of fish. Chocolate Gouramies are out, obviously. :icon_cry:

Specifically for this tank, I am going to use water change water from my 100gal tank inside the house, at least partially.

_3 what kind of pump are you using to inject the co2? external pump? submursible pump?_

Initially I am going to inject the CO2 into the AquaClear 70 pump that runs the spraybar and draws water through the filter sponges in the center compartment. See the "Plumbing" post earlier.

I also have a little reactor (water pump and plastic bottle) that I can use to dissolve CO2. I think it won't be necessary though, the AC impeller should chop them up well, and by the time the bubbles are through the spraybar and up to the surface all of the CO2 should be dissolved.

_Im just wondering because my well water is hard PH 8.0 When I set up my plywood tank I am going to use peat moss also under the substrate. Hopefully it will soften my water some._

I think it is beneficial for nutrient availability to have a slightly acidic environment where roots grow, but it will not soften the tank water notably. You would have to add it to your filter, and then humic acids will turn water to a yellowish tint. The best way to soften water is to cut it with RO/DI water... if you feel that is necessary. 

_ I have built a resiviour to catch rain water to catch rain water just for my aquariums. My rainwater is always neutral PH 7.0 im wondering how much peat moss to put under the substrate. How much affect does the peat moss have on the Ph of your water? Do you think I should use halph well water halph rain water and put about an inch of peat under my substrate. How much peat do you use and does it have a huge affect on the PH of your water?_

I'll use maybe half an inch (the substrate on top compresses that somewhat). Like I said, no effect on pH of the tank water, unless you use peat as a filter medium. I am not sure about the rain water, there is always the fear of contamination, and where I live it doesn't rain enough to collect. But it might be a good option if you have the means to catch and store and perhaps filter it.

All depends on your goals... There are plants and fish that do exceptionally well with hard water, and there are many that do alright. Now if you want to breed Discus and Cardinals, you'll need to get soft water somehow. If not, maybe try to go with the hard water and CO2, and see what grows for you. :fish:


----------



## Curator

African Cichlids do awesome with hard water and a PH around 8...^_^


----------



## chuukus

Wasser thanks for explaining you have helped me understand. Im thinking of trying mineralized soil in the left 48" and peat under the substrate on the right 48" of the tank. Maybe mix some laterite in with the peat side of the tank. Just for comparison I would like to see if there is any difference in growth.

I have a homeade filter tray above my rain barrel with a few sponges and some charcoal. So the water will be somewhat filtered going in and on the water line coming out Im using one of those charcoal canisters that you would use in your house plumbing for your drinking water. Im just gonna try this and might end up using my tap water. I really dont want to buy a RO-DI because of the water they waste.


----------



## Gatekeeper

Did it hold WP?


----------



## Wasserpest

*10 Wet Day*

Finally... the exciting day has come! Slowly I started to add some water to the filter chambers, to test the home-made bulk heads.










Not entirely unexpected, one failed completely. When I drilled the hole with a 7/8" wood spade drill, I should have placed some wood on the back of it, or drilled from the other side. As the drill broke through, it broke out a piece of wood along with it. I hoped that the epoxy would smooth it out, but the rubber gasket wasn't flexible enough.

So, after removing all the water, and drying it off well, I epoxied the bulkhead into the hole. We shall see if the 5 minute epoxy bonds and holds well. For now, things are dry.










Without further incidents, I filled up the tank. Had a little issue priming the powerhead, which sits on the bottom of the back chamber connected to the spraybar. I just need to disconnect it to purge all the air. This might be an issue if the GFCI for this tank trips, but the CO2 still bubbles and fills the pump up with gas.

Since I mentioned GFCI... really good little life insurance to have for a few bucks. With one hand in the water, trying to wiggle the pump, and the other plugging and unplugging the power chord, I managed to trip the GFCI once. Without it... who knows.










Filled up the tank to the top. There was no sagging, and just a tiny little bowing of the brace-less top rim (4mm).

After a night without incidents, I siphoned all the water from the top tank to the bottom. And ran into another, again not entirely unexpected, issue. The "dry chamber" in front had a little leak on the bottom. It couldn't be from the main tank, which was epoxied all the way around. Sure enough, I missed a little spot on the bottom of the second chamber. I quickly removed the water from there and now I am pondering if I should silicone it or use some more of the 5 minute epoxy to repair the spot.


----------



## chuukus

Awesome! Its amazing how strong plywood is. I love these diy projects. Im always excited to see this thread updated.

I cant wait to see some plants in there new home.


----------



## eyebeatbadgers

Wasserpest said:


> I am pondering if I should silicone it or use some more of the 5 minute epoxy to repair the spot.


I'd just duct tape it.


----------



## Wasserpest

chuukus said:


> Awesome! Its amazing how strong plywood is. I love these diy projects. Im always excited to see this thread updated.
> 
> I cant wait to see some plants in there new home.


Stay tuned, might have something later today.



eyebeatbadgers said:


> I'd just duct tape it.


Do you suggest to use some spit along with that? :confused1:


----------



## yikesjason

I think there is some law written in the stars that things can't go smoothly on the first try. But if there are a few small problems, maybe that means you won't have any big problems.

It all looks great. You have done a fantastic job. Congratulations.


----------



## eyebeatbadgers

Wasserpest said:


> Do you suggest to use some spit along with that? :confused1:


Nah, just some elbow grease :tongue:


----------



## Gatekeeper

Elbow greese?!?!? What happened to good old chewing gum!!!

Looks good WP!


----------



## Wasserpest

*11 Substrate*

Was hoping to get some pro's and con's of 5 min epoxy vs silicone... maybe I'll sand the area a bit, should give the epoxy something to grab onto.










In any case, yesterday after draining the tank I added the substrate. Started with some peat, about 1/2 to 1 inch thick. To give the substrate something nutritious, I spread out a couple of Jobes Ferns & Palms sticks, and pushed them all the way down to the bottom.










On top of that, I built up the Kitty Litter substrate. I started with some that was not rinsed (much), and then changed to rinsed (and previously used) one. About 3" layer in total.










The little plastic tube in front helps me to remove most of the water that has collected from cleaning/spraying the glass and sides. Siphoning that out moves some of the dusty particles to the bottom.










When adding water very slowly, there is not much of foggy water to complain about. Of course, it is very hard not to open the faucet and "fill that sucker", but that would make a diatom filter necessary.










My other tank needed a bit of a pruning, and it is always good to start up tanks with lots of plants, so there you go. I started planting some Crypt lucens in front, but it got late and that's how things look right now.










I added a few Cherry shrimp too and they survived the first night alright. This morning the water was pretty clear. As I plant some of the larger plants, there will be dustiness, but it should settle down fast. Once the planting is complete, I'll wait a bit longer and then start up the filtration.


----------



## A Hill

Well there is one more fantastic DIY to add to your book.

I almost laughed when I saw your substrate picture, I think you may be the last one clinging to the jobes sticks (I've got some left sitting under the stand of my 55g though) That was like the first substrate mix I ever used after reading those old posts.

-Andrew


----------



## legomaniac89

WP that is amazing. When you're done with yours, can you come to my house and build me one? 

Can't wait to see it all planted and fish'd up


----------



## Wasserpest

yikesjason said:


> I think there is some law written in the stars that things can't go smoothly on the first try. But if there are a few small problems, maybe that means you won't have any big problems.
> 
> It all looks great. You have done a fantastic job. Congratulations.


Thanks J, and I totally agree... I would have worried if there were not a couple of smaller issues.



A Hill said:


> Well there is one more fantastic DIY to add to your book.
> 
> I almost laughed when I saw your substrate picture, I think you may be the last one clinging to the jobes sticks (I've got some left sitting under the stand of my 55g though) That was like the first substrate mix I ever used after reading those old posts.
> 
> -Andrew


Really? I must be out of touch... They are awfully cheap, but that doesn't keep me away. 



legomaniac89 said:


> WP that is amazing. When you're done with yours, can you come to my house and build me one?
> 
> Can't wait to see it all planted and fish'd up


Heh, that would be some expensive tank. It's really much easier than you'd imagine... some plywood, glue, screws and epoxy, not much to it. :thumbsup:

For some reason I found a lot of Echinodorus "Kleiner Baer" in my tank, so I planted these in the new tank, plus a lot of Bolbitis, Crypts, Anubias and a few others. I'll fill it up a little bit more, and then wait a couple more days before starting up the filter. Hopefully the plants will anchor themselves a bit and not get blown all over the place. :icon_eek:


----------



## Hoppy

Wow! Congratulations! (I phoned the Governor and had the National Guard stand down). For people trying to grow plants, or breed shrimp or fish for sale, this idea could be a real winner. And, of course, those blessed with an aquarium room, in the basement, nothing could be much better.


----------



## CL

A Hill said:


> Well there is one more fantastic DIY to add to your book.
> 
> I almost laughed when I saw your substrate picture, I think you may be the last one clinging to the jobes sticks (I've got some left sitting under the stand of my 55g though) That was like the first substrate mix I ever used after reading those old posts.
> 
> -Andrew


nah, I used 'em in my 20 gallon tank


----------



## Wasserpest

Hoppy said:


> Wow! Congratulations! (I phoned the Governor and had the National Guard stand down). For people trying to grow plants, or breed shrimp or fish for sale, this idea could be a real winner. And, of course, those blessed with an aquarium room, in the basement, nothing could be much better.


Thanks Hoppy. Keep in mind that I skipped most of the beautification since there is no need for it in a garage. But adding some veneer to cover the screws and give it some classic style isn't hard, and would make it acceptable for a nice show tank as well.

If I don't run into any unexpected problems, I am planning to do a similar, larger tank inside the house. One nice thing is that you can adjust the size easily. There is a spot in my house that is 71" wide, and you just so can't fit a 72" standard tank in there. A custom plywood tank can be a good solution for that.


----------



## Gatekeeper

Wasserpest said:


> One nice thing is that you can adjust the size easily. There is a spot in my house that is 71" wide, and you just so can't fit a 72" standard tank in there. A custom plywood tank can be a good solution for that.


I can just here the conversation.

"Hey sweetheart, this spot is only 71" wide, I know you wanted that new hutch for your China, but honestly, this spot is perfect for a custom plywood tank"

I need to find some awkward areas in my house to justify building some new tanks!! LOL!!


----------



## jinx©

Congrats WP!roud: All said, I'd say things are going pretty smoothly. <Knocks on wood...lightly...lol> Looking forward to updates.

x3 on the jobes sticks btw.


----------



## joy613

These posts of yours Wasserpest can make me use up a lot of my time, every moment is well spent. I have went through every one of your journals picking up information.


----------



## Wasserpest

joy613 said:


> These posts of yours Wasserpest can make me use up a lot of my time, every moment is well spent. I have went through every one of your journals picking up information.


That is about the best compliment I could hope for, nice reward for the time taking/posting pictures and describing everything in detail. Thank you very much! :fish:


----------



## Regloh

Actually, you are the reason, why I registered here 
I was looking for some information on Hamburger Mattenfilter and google found your thread on that here... from there I basically did a search on everything you posted here and quickly became a Wasserpest-Fan  
This is completely off topic, obviously, but you should know that you have fans out there


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## D-007

Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!

Next time my wife gives me that questionable look about plywood tanks I'm showing her the proof :hihi: 

Thanks WP roud:


----------



## tazcrash69

Congrats Wasser, She is looking good. I've really been enjoying the read, and always watching you build your substrate layers are amazing to me (did you also do this in your corner tank?). 

The part that scares me is:


> It's really much easier than you'd imagine... some plywood, glue, screws and epoxy, not much to it.


That's always how I get myself into trouble.


----------



## Wasserpest

Regloh said:


> Actually, you are the reason, why I registered here
> I was looking for some information on Hamburger Mattenfilter and google found your thread on that here... from there I basically did a search on everything you posted here and quickly became a Wasserpest-Fan
> This is completely off topic, obviously, but you should know that you have fans out there


Thanks very much, I think we need to move all of this to a "hail wasserpest" thread. :wink:



D-007 said:


> Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!
> 
> Next time my wife gives me that questionable look about plywood tanks I'm showing her the proof :hihi:
> 
> Thanks WP roud:


Thanks for stopping by. I think the trick to get by with this sort of thing is to do it gradually... I started with an old scratched-up 37 gal tank in the garage, then two years later replaced that with a brand new 55gal tank (same footprint, just taller) and turned that into this monster, again, just a slightly bigger footprint.

But look honey, I am getting rid of this 10 gal tank! :icon_lol:



tazcrash69 said:


> Congrats Wasser, She is looking good. I've really been enjoying the read, and always watching you build your substrate layers are amazing to me (did you also do this in your corner tank?).
> 
> The part that scares me is:
> 
> That's always how I get myself into trouble.


Yeah, I used (and still use) that layering in my corner tank as well as in my 100gal tank, but in both I added a small layer of Flourite on top, for better looks and heavier weight.

I tend to overestimate the difficulty of things, and then afterward I realize that there wasn't much to it. Applies to repairs around the house, oil changes, as much as epoxy.

Well the tank has been planted, filtration is working good, water is glassy clear, shrimps and Endlers are very happy inside. Just need to plug some hole in the bottom tank compartment, and do a bit more waterproofing on the covers. I'll post a "Planted" picture over the weekend, there are still some floaters that need to be planted.


----------



## Hoppy

Wasserpest said:


> I tend to overestimate the difficulty of things, and then afterward I realize that there wasn't much to it. Applies to repairs around the house, oil changes, as much as epoxy.


There is a pendulum involved here - once you realize that things aren't as difficult as you thought, you shortly thereafter find that the appendectomy you tried to do on yourself was much more difficult than you thought.:icon_lol:

I couldn't begin to list the things I tried that were much more difficult than I thought - thankfully my pendulum swung back before I had my appendectomy.

I once volunteered to make a carnival game, where you slam a big hammer on a target and it causes a bell to ring. Shortly after it went into service a really big guy tried it - well, I learned about chopping wood from that.


----------



## Wasserpest

*12 Conclusion*

Time to bring this thread to its conclusion... This picture is right after planting:










Seems like most of it worked out as expected. I found the source of the little leak in the bottom tank compartment. Missed to apply epoxy to a small stretch in a corner. Difficult to find, eventually I got a small mirror, connected to a wire, and with a flashlight and that mirror was able to inspect everything.

Since that picture things have been growing nicely. Shrimp and Endlers are alive and well. It has been cold here (down to freezing), and the 150W heater struggles a bit, but overall I am happy with the insulation. I cover the front glass with a sheet of 3/4" styrofoam to prevent heat losses there.

Need to move the heater into the filter chamber, clean the surface which is a bit scummy, and do some final waterproofing on the covers. Need to cover the walls with drywall, and figure out how to lock the top cover to work in the tank. Right now two bungee cords do that, but there must be a better looking way.

Currently I have only 2 of the 4 bulbs running, it is probably time to add a third one, as the plants start to get established.

Anyway, thank you for reading this thread, and special thanks to those that provided feedback and asked questions! Keep asking questions if you should have any, and I will update this thread if anything interesting happens with my new tank.


----------



## jargonchipmunk

good to see this thing have some water in it. congratulations on the payoff for all your hard work on this project.


----------



## Hoppy

That is a beautiful tank now. I'm ashamed to think I would harbor any doubts at all about one of your projects. I can see the possibility of picking up a big tank on craigslist that is "cracked in one corner" and using that to do something spectacular with, like this. Thank you for taking us along for this ride.


----------



## Wasserpest

Well thanks guys, and that's very nice of you to say Hoppy. I half expected the National Guard come knocking down my garage-door, luckily I avoided it this time.

This is my biggest tank (water volume wise) so far, and I must say, the 21 inches of depth are still nowhere enough. When you look at a tank from the front, it just seems soooo much more shallow than it is in reality.

So for my next project (larger show tank) I am pondering whether to go for 24in (ideal to minimize plywood scrappage) or 30in or even 36in (making it impossible to reach the bottom back without diving in :icon_eek.

BTW when I start up new tanks I don't do any sort of aquascaping... I just stick plants where/ever and then see how things grow and adjust from there. So don't think the picture represents my usual tanks. :redface:

In a couple of weeks when things have grown in a bit and the lighting is maxed out I'll post an updated picture.


----------



## Gatekeeper

Dude. That is awesome. Can't wait to see the full shot of both in action.


----------



## Porkchop

Looks pretty good to me to be something you "threw together" in terms of your aquascape. Now my junk looks like thrown together stuff and doesn't even look nowhere near as good as yours. So I can't wait either to see it when you make your adjustments and get it up to par with your other tanks. 

I have to say that I've doubted these plywood tanks since I first saw them. So this is pretty amazing to see it holding water and all, very nice and neat...good job. I still don't think I'll tackle this though...I'm not as lucky or talented as you are.


----------



## Wasserpest

gmccreedy said:


> Dude. That is awesome. Can't wait to see the full shot of both in action.


You'll have to wait... I am not planning to plant the lower tank until maybe later this Summer when I take down my 100gal tank.

The lower tank catches the overflow from the top tank. So the drain water from the inside 100gal tank goes into the top tank, and from there into the lower tank as a reservoir, and from there a pump pumps it into buckets etc for watering the yard. Not letting any fish-poop and fertilizer rich water go down the drain. :wink:



Porkchop said:


> Looks pretty good to me to be something you "threw together" in terms of your aquascape. Now my junk looks like thrown together stuff and doesn't even look nowhere near as good as yours. So I can't wait either to see it when you make your adjustments and get it up to par with your other tanks.
> 
> I have to say that I've doubted these plywood tanks since I first saw them. So this is pretty amazing to see it holding water and all, very nice and neat...good job. I still don't think I'll tackle this though...I'm not as lucky or talented as you are.


Yeah, I had my doubts too. But I kept telling myself, that's how they make boats, out of wood... same thing... just one tries to keep the water out, the other tries to keep the water in. 

I think the epoxy is pretty good stuff... but ask me again in 10 years, heh.

Thanks for your comments on the "aquascape". I am lucky in a way as I have a lot of spare plants that I used to fill up the new tank. If you start from scratch it is much harder.


----------



## tusk

Nice work :thumbsup:


----------



## MikeS

:icon_eek: WOW!!!!!!! That is just awesome.


----------



## Regloh

I love it. You do a better job "aquascaping" by not trying than I do by thinking about it a bunch  
To the point that I am too embarrassed to post pictures. :icon_redf

I am also very jealous that you live in a climate where you can afford throwing a tank in the garage. That would never fly in New England here, which greatly limits my MTS expansion potential :icon_roll


----------



## Wasserpest

*13 Top Lessons Learned*

*1) From the "I shouldn't have done that" department*

Creating some compartments on one side of the tank seemed like a good idea at the time, and it makes the whole thing visually more appealing. But it sure added a lot of complexity, hard to reach corners, and added epoxy area. Pumping the water out of one compartment works, but whenever the sponges start to get filthy, the water level goes dangerously low. I added a U tube that creates a bypass, but making it one compartment where the pump sucks water directly through the sponges would have been better. Each time I reach down to the bottom of the center filter compartment the water tends to overflow into the dry compartment. 

*2) From the "I didn't think of that" department*

Having a center-brace-less tank is nice for maintenance, and no light blockage. I thought if for some reason it starts to bow, I will just add a small steel rod to fix that. With the canopy going into the tank, that isn't possible anymore. Ooops.

The back of the tank is reinforced with a 3x1 brace. To be able to access the pump chamber, I cut out some wood in a half circle. However, after screwing the canopy to that top I can not access the chamber at all, without removing all screws and the canopy. Uhm, ooops.

*3) From the "This was not expected" department*

Sliding the acrylic bottom into the profiles glued to the canopy was fairly easy. After a few days of moisture, it is near impossible to remove it. Either the wood somehow moved, or the moisture makes the acrylic stick to the plastic profile, either way, changing bulbs isn't going to be fun time. I still had the protective film attached to it, removing that might make it easier to slide. At least I hope.

*4) From the "Not sure if that's good or bad" department*

It has been cold during the first two weeks of this tank, down to freezing in the morning, and very brisk inside the garage. The Stealth heater that I am using is failing. And still temperatures in the tank have been pretty good, between 72 mornings and 74 evenings. That means that the insulation is excellent, and perhaps that the pump and lights add quite a bit of heat. I hope the latter isn't the case, because that would mean some unbearable temperatures in Summer, when we get our 3 weeks of hot weather. One thing that could save the day is the second tank without lights and pump at a much lower temp, I could just pump the cold water up to the hot tank. We shall see though, hopefully it is just great insulation, and the tank will maintain its temperature well.

*5) From the "That worked out well" department*

The AC70 powerhead only draws 17 Watts, but it provides good circulation via spraybar throughout the tank. I like efficient things, and this thing is super efficient.

Having a standpipe as an overflow is neat. No worries of water level going too high or too low, and surface skimming is a snap. There is some stuff on the surface, probably from the Kitty litter that I did not rinse too well, and watching it disappear after a few minutes is neat.


Besides all that, the tank is establishing itself pretty well. Going through the first few algae cycles, some brown and a little GDA, some fuzzy stuff, no problems with lots of plants, CO2 and ferts and light. I did get an outbreak of cyanobacteria (happens sometimes in new tanks), and luckily I had some EM tablets on hand for just this reason. Now at day 5, the BGA is hit hard and flaking off the plants, a few more days and nothing will be left of it.

For some reason I ended up with my little nieces Goldfish which she got from her teacher and lived in a plastic bag :icon_roll So that one is now living there along with a bunch of Endlers and Cherry Shrimp. I will send it off to the pond once temps get up a bit... if it behaves nicely and doesn't eat all the plants.

Once plants have grown in a bit more I will post an updated picture. Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions!


----------



## Joetee

If everything went as planned it might be a little scary for a while!!!
How are your RCS doing with Endlers. Don't your Endlers eat them?
Joe


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## Wasserpest

Endlers, especially mature females, might snatch a Cherry baby here and there, but in a large planted tank, the shrimp multiply quick enough to make up for it. Grown-up Cherries are safe from Endlers.


----------



## adamprice271

**bows down repeatedly**

Absolutly wonderful, spectacular writeup and tons of good info here. Thanks for sharing everything with us, and congrats on making such a great setup. I want one!


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## Wasserpest

Thank you Adam, I am glad you like the write-up.  Building the tank has been a lot of fun, and I am missing that "disappearing in the garage for hours" thing.

As I mentioned earlier, there was a BGA (cyanobacteria) outbreak, which I nuked with some Erythromycin. Since yesterday, all the previously covered plants are clean, and it is a pleasure to see all the new growth, the pink of Alternanthera and Sunset Hygro, the fresh green of Ambulia and Hottonia, and the bronze red of the Kleiner Bar Swords.

Another week and I will post an updated picture... I think.


----------



## aquanut415

Looking forward to seeing the latest update! 
I cant believe you actually filled'r up.


----------



## Wasserpest

As promised, here are some recent shots of the tank. Plant growth has been good, except for the ferns (Bolbitis, Java) which are a bit affected by various algae.

This is from a couple of days ago, after I added some more Ambulia:










Here is a detail shot:










Went hiking recently and grabbed some plants from a local river. I have no clue what they are, but there seemed to be two distinct stem plants (1 and 2) and a grass (3). One of the stem plants had narrow, long, bronze leaves, the other round, light green ones. Well turns out that they looked very different when growing in the shade and in the sun... now after a couple of days of rapid growth they look exactly alike.










I love my Lagarosiphon, besides Ambulia the only fine-leaved plant that doesn't mind my hard water and medium light. Isn't it pretty?










Last week I added four Otos to the tank. They were in bad shape as usual, but seem to eat and poop so I think they will all make it. Once they are past the two weeks or so mark they should last for several years.










Anubias didn't mind the change and started flowering right after being placed in the new tank.

Only a couple of days later, that Ambulia has totally taken off and over. Need to do some major trimming, and place it in the back, to replace some of the not so happy Bolbitis.


----------



## Naja002

I never should have helped talk you into drilling that first hole in the wall. Never....




You've become a Madman.......




:thumbsup:





:tongue:


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## lumpyfunk

Looks great! . . . .Too bad it gets so cold here in MN, I think the garage is about the only place my wife would let me try something like this!


----------



## Wasserpest

Naja002 said:


> I never should have helped talk you into drilling that first hole in the wall. Never....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You've become a Madman.......
> 
> 
> 
> 
> :thumbsup:


Before you know it, I'll bulldoze the house, and dig a basement to get another place to put more tanks. :icon_roll

But seriously, I find myself looking at your PC cooling solution, and pondering if this is something that could be used to cool tanks as well. :thumbsup:


----------



## Wasserpest

lumpyfunk said:


> Looks great! . . . .Too bad it gets so cold here in MN, I think the garage is about the only place my wife would let me try something like this!


One of the surprises with this plywood tank is how well it holds the temperature. It has been in the upper forties last night, and the temperature dropped only about 2.5 degrees. And that is with the heater disconnected!

Plywood is a much better insulator than glass. I use a styrofoam sheet to cover the front glass at night, to reduce heat loss further. And I could do even better. There is a rather large hole in the top, where cables and water line and CO2 enter the tank. With some more thinking and planning, I could have closed that off as well and keep temps even better.

So theoretically, if you build a plywood tank and in addition to the wood use styrofoam sheets all around it, use a tight cover, plus a good heater, it should be possible. Whether it is a good idea in -20F weather is a different issue.


----------



## Naja002

Wasserpest said:


> But seriously, I find myself looking at your PC cooling solution, and pondering if this is something that could be used to cool tanks as well. :thumbsup:



It definitely could...either the rad setup or the geothermal. :thumbsup: I'm adding Bong Coolers now....:tongue: Let me know when you're ready....:thumbsup:


----------



## Wasserpest

If I put a radiator into the window, I'll get evicted. :redface:

But running a pipe underground seems like a possible undertaking. Ah well, got enough projects lined up at the moment, we'll see what mid summer does to the tank temperatures.

Also considering some sort of fan that sucks out the hottest air from the garage attic, and expels it through the vents.


----------



## Wasserpest

It has been 3 months since I filled this tank, and while no news is good news when it comes to wacky plywood boxes filled with water, I thought I'd post a couple of tank shots.










Most of the initial algae is gone now, and plants are growing fast. In a few weeks the older leaves that still have some green fuzzies growing on them will be replaced by new growth.










I enjoy looking at this tank from above... hey, I made this! :fish:










The 4 T5 bulbs provide plenty of light for my plants. I am waiting for one of them to die (they are old/used ones) and reduce the light to 3 or even 2 bulbs for a slower growth and less maintenance.










A twig of two-leaved Pearlweed (that's what I call it anyway) must have fallen on one of the Riccia cushions. It is growing nicely emersed, the roots poke through the Riccia, visible from below.










While hiking back in April, I pulled this plant out of a small river that dries up in Summer. It looks very different there, in this tank it grows much larger leaves. Pretty, but not sure what it is. Hygro perhaps?










After some initial whining, this Alternanthera is finally taking off, and soon I can replant the upper half and get rid of the older leaves.










There is a bunch of Kleiner Baer swords in this tank, one of them is showing the appreciation for the added space by having some babies. Others were growing crippled leaves for a while, and I was about to rip them out. But patience, now they start taking off with their beautiful reddish new growth.

Endlers are having (too many) babies, and the Otos are doing fine, Cherries are running over each other, so I think the epoxy is safe to use from that perspective.


----------



## sunfire99

The tank looks awesome. Glad to see an update, and hear it is still holding water. :icon_wink


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## Hoppy

Great report of great results!


----------



## sewingalot

Fantastic. That sword baby totally looks like a butterfly about to land on a plant.


----------



## Regloh

Wasser, if I remember correctly, you have a spray bar that is 1/3 of the way up the back wall across the whole back, right? How do you like the water distribution that it provides? 

Your plants seem to like it  
It's a beautiful tank. I'm glad to see it still holds the water. Most other plywood tanks I see documented use a lot more epoxy than I remember you showing. Most even line the tank with a layup of fiber composite. 

What's in the bottom tank. Do you still just use it as a holding tank for water changes? I remember thinking that that plan wouldn't last long with you  Soon enough he'll have some plants growing in there


----------



## tusk

Nice work. Glad to see to see its working great!


----------



## Wasserpest

Thanks for the comments guys, very much appreciated!



Regloh said:


> Wasser, if I remember correctly, you have a spray bar that is 1/3 of the way up the back wall across the whole back, right? How do you like the water distribution that it provides?
> 
> Your plants seem to like it


The spraybar is sitting just on top of the substrate (about 4" from the tank bottom). Let me list some pro's and con's of this outflow type:

+ Very evenly distributed flow, no "dead" spots
+ No surface disturbance
+ Injecting CO2 into the impeller, the CO2 is distributed well

- After some time, plants might block the relatively gentle flow
- Depending on the pump, there might be some reduced flow towards the end of the spray bar
- If the pump is too weak, overall circulation will be insufficient (compared to a "nozzle" output, where you have at least a limited area of good flow

Overall I am happy with the solution. There is less circulation towards the left part of the tank, not a problem atm, but at some point I might use a slightly stronger pump, or add a little powerhead for some more flow.



Regloh said:


> It's a beautiful tank. I'm glad to see it still holds the water. Most other plywood tanks I see documented use a lot more epoxy than I remember you showing. Most even line the tank with a layup of fiber composite.


Many large plywood builds that I studied are for reef tanks. The heavy rocks/corals pose a real thread when they fall over and poke into the comparatively soft wood. In that case, lining the whole tank with fiberglass and many layers of epoxy is a sound idea. I know and keep in mind that the epoxy coat in this tank is thin and vulnerable, so I am not using rocks at all, nor am I poking it with screw drivers and scratch ales. :wink:



Regloh said:


> What's in the bottom tank. Do you still just use it as a holding tank for water changes? I remember thinking that that plan wouldn't last long with you  Soon enough he'll have some plants growing in there


I still use it as a water reservoir at the moment. When I break down my 100gal show tank later this year, it might get converted into a tank, or maybe just a place to keep the substrate and a few plants for a couple of weeks. If most of the plants from my 100gal tank grow alright in the top tank, I might not even have to do that.

One consideration... There are a few weeks (September) when it gets pretty hot here. During this time, the garage and the tanks in it could see some life threatening temperatures. Having a reservoir of cold water (not heated by lights or pumps) might become a life saver during that time. I also purchased some good fans that will help via evaporative cooling.


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## jargonchipmunk

I'm filing a lawsuit Wasser! I'm buying my first home in November, and I'll finally have my own garage/space to do what I want with. This post is clearly endangering my wallet and/or relationship! Darn you and your inspirational DIY's!!!!


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## Wasserpest

Congrats on your home purchase. This is clearly a good time to buy if you have some cash available.

Check out my latest plywood built for a larger experience. :icon_bigg


----------



## Coltonorr

Wasser,
wow! that tank looks fantastic.
Your 'hygro' plant looks alot like the Limnophilia 'wavy'


----------



## lauraleellbp

Your "two leaved pearlweed" looks a lot like Bacopa... Bacopa... shoot, I totally forget the species, but I had some from Aaron Talbot at one point... Macclellan had some too, maybe he'll remember?


----------



## Wasserpest

Haha, would be nice to give it a better name after all these years as "two leaved pearlweed". It grows well emersed, and there it looks almost like HC.

Looking at Kasselmann, none of the described species resemble what I have in my tank. So who knows.

Edit - in the photo above it's in emerse form, looks quite a bit different growing under water.


----------



## lauraleellbp

Oh really? Probably not the same plant, then, b/c the Bacopa I had looked like that in sumbersed form.

Do you have any pics of the submerged growth? (I'm sure I'll not be the one to give you an ID, so I'm just being curious... :biggrin


----------



## Wasserpest

Here is a tank with this plant towards the front left.

I had some better close-ups but noticed that some of the PT hosted images are gone. Sooo...


----------



## CL

The two leaved pearlweed is most likely _Micranthemum umbrosum_
Sold as baby's tears. I used to have some.








It is also incorrectly called Hemianthus callitrichoides


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## Wasserpest

I don't think so... the leaves of my TLPW are much narrower than what I remember from M.u., making it look a bit different.


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## Wasserpest

Just an updated FTS... 

A bit unkempt, since I am working on the big tank I don't spend that much time to prune back things.

Amazingly, there are absolutely no algae issues in this tank. Well, now that I said it I probably jinxed it...


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## CL

What a jungle!
It looks great


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## JDowns

Wasserpest said:


> I don't think so... the leaves of my TLPW are much narrower than what I remember from M.u., making it look a bit different.


 
I had a quite a bit of HM that was of the two leaved variety and looked exactly like your photo's. 

Great looking tank W.


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## CaliEAB

Wow! I just spent a very nice lunch break enjoying this great thread and your absolutely fantastic (and plywood !!!) tank. Thanks for posting this. :icon_surp


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## Wasserpest

Thanks for the comment, I am glad you liked the write-up.

If everything goes as planned, I am going to start filling my 250gal plywood tank in a month or so. The plants from this tank will move over there, and I will empty this tank to inspect and repair it, and perhaps re-design a couple of things.

Planning to remove the compartments in the top tank, and add a coat of the leftover black epoxy paint from my other build.

This tank will then catch the water change water from the big tank, which should make dosing unnecessary. Not sure what else will be in it's future... I might just grow some plants in it, without much maintenance. roud:


----------



## Hilde

[/quote]

Are you going to shellac the wood for protection? Will the lights cover the entire length of the tank?


----------



## Wasserpest

I used Polyurethane Spar Varnish to cover all the wood surfaces. It has been working pretty well so far.

And yes... the bulbs cover the entire (planted) tank at the moment. The area to the right is where the canopy covers the compartments.


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## mistergreen

Wasserpest said:


> Amazingly, there are absolutely no algae issues in this tank. Well, now that I said it I probably jinxed it...


no way are you going to get algae issues. There's no room for algae.


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## airborne_r6

mistergreen said:


> no way are you going to get algae issues. There's no room for algae.


Lol so thats the secret.


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## Mjc20

WOW...just wow.

you make me want to go buy a house so i can try this out! How many hours do you think you put into this building it?


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## Wasserpest

mistergreen said:


> no way are you going to get algae issues. There's no room for algae.


Ya know, you could be right. Lots of plants always seem to be detrimental for algae. Provided they are growing. Lots of dead plants don't help much.



Mjc20 said:


> WOW...just wow.
> 
> you make me want to go buy a house so i can try this out! How many hours do you think you put into this building it?


Thanks... you should! Living in your own house, and building wacky plywood tanks is well worth it.

How many hours... that's a tough one. I didn't keep track well. If I had to give you a number, maybe 100? Now I know someone is gonna multiply that by some dollar number and say that's nuts, but it's a hobby, and the time spent with this was almost priceless. roud:


----------



## Mjc20

Wasserpest said:


> Thanks... you should! Living in your own house, and building wacky plywood tanks is well worth it.
> 
> How many hours... that's a tough one. I didn't keep track well. If I had to give you a number, maybe 100? Now I know someone is gonna multiply that by some dollar number and say that's nuts, but it's a hobby, and the time spent with this was almost priceless. roud:


i was never intending on putting a monetary value on it....like you said, its priceless. the mere satisfaction of building something yourself is reward enough IMO. I was just curious to see how much time it would take to build something of similar dimensions, lets say working on it for a few hours a day (although there are variables that would need to be accounted for too much for me to want to delve into for one post ). Although, id like to talk to you more about this once the day comes that im a home owner .

once again....WOW!!!


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## Wasserpest

There are many variables that determine the time you spend on a project like this.

If you are (unlike me) an experienced woodworker, and have high quality tools available, putting together the box will go very quickly.

Depending on the materials you choose, things can go fast or take forever. For example, high quality plywood doesn't need much prep time for painting. If you go with the cheap stuff, allow for some added hours of filling voids and sanding.

Likewise, the choice of sealant will make a huge difference. Painting two or so coats with Sweetwater Epoxy paint is really quick. If, on the other hand, you take the fiberglass route, you will be applying several layers of West (or such) epoxy, with sanding in between, and spend many days doing that.

Last but not least, consider the time hunting/buying all the materials. If you have a big box store like Home Depot just a couple of minutes away, it will save you many hours of driving and gathering those last O-rings that are missing. :fish:

Having a supportive significant other makes all the difference in the world. If you have to secretly sneak away to spend a few minutes with the project it will not be as much fun as if you get several weekends to yourself, and maybe even an additional pair of hands here and there.


----------



## Wasserpest

Time for confessions...

A week ago I set up my new plywood tank, and emptied this one out. Starting to cut out the compartments I realized that the plywood is in bad shape: waterlogged in some places.

This could be for three reasons -

1) I missed some spots with the Coat-It epoxy
2) The epoxy layer was too thin
3) The epoxy isn't entirely waterproof

The bottom tank has the same issues.

Now I have a fan running in the top tank to dry out the wood. In a week or so I am going to re-coat it with Sweetwater Epoxy paint. I hope the wood underneath is not too compromised by the moisture.

Anyway... Knowing what I know now, I would not recommend using a thin layer or two of Coat-It to waterproof a tank. Hopefully the Sweetwater paint will hold up better.


----------



## Hoppy

I've been thinking about epoxied plywood as a waterproof material for some time now. I'm still confused about what properties the epoxy resin selected should have to work well in an application like this. For example, should it remain flexible vs. hard and brittle, or should it match the temperature expansion coefficient of the wood, or is there water permeability in the equation, etc.? How does a person recognize an epoxy as being great for this type of use? Intuitively I would pick an epoxy resin typically used with fiberglas/epoxy coatings, but I suspect that isn't a good choice.

I'm highly unlikely to ever use this knowledge, but knowing the answer would make me stop wondering about this.


----------



## Bayfield

For what it is worth epoxy coatings are used in the marine boat bussiness to act as a water impervious barrier to replace or aid the gel coat on fibre glass boats. I did my sailboat 10 years ago with West System epoxy because of what they call osmosis where water passes through the polyester gel coat and causes blisters under it. No problem since with blisters or cracking due to hull flex or thermal changes. Plywood by design is quite stable unlike lumber. Unless the tank was built in an extremely cold dry envirornment and the water added and heated quickly I doubt much expansion would take place, I'd be more concerned about settling and pressure on corners and would be inclined to use a layer or two of expoxy re enforced mat or cloth in those areas.


----------



## tusk

Ack. Sorry to hear about the old tank.

I used some epoxy paint from Eco-Complete. It worked awesome. It wasn't cheap, but well worth it. I managed to get 7 coats out of the 1 gallon kit. 

Close to 3 years up and running.


----------



## Wasserpest

Hoppy said:


> I've been thinking about epoxied plywood as a waterproof material for some time now. I'm still confused about what properties the epoxy resin selected should have to work well in an application like this. For example, should it remain flexible vs. hard and brittle, or should it match the temperature expansion coefficient of the wood, or is there water permeability in the equation, etc.? How does a person recognize an epoxy as being great for this type of use? Intuitively I would pick an epoxy resin typically used with fiberglas/epoxy coatings, but I suspect that isn't a good choice.
> 
> I'm highly unlikely to ever use this knowledge, but knowing the answer would make me stop wondering about this.


Perhaps the best approach is to use something that has a proven track record, like the West System Epoxy. I took the risk by choosing something that has not been used for this purpose, and either didn't apply it correctly, or it was just not made for this purpose.



Bayfield said:


> For what it is worth epoxy coatings are used in the marine boat bussiness to act as a water impervious barrier to replace or aid the gel coat on fibre glass boats. I did my sailboat 10 years ago with West System epoxy because of what they call osmosis where water passes through the polyester gel coat and causes blisters under it. No problem since with blisters or cracking due to hull flex or thermal changes. Plywood by design is quite stable unlike lumber. Unless the tank was built in an extremely cold dry envirornment and the water added and heated quickly I doubt much expansion would take place, I'd be more concerned about settling and pressure on corners and would be inclined to use a layer or two of expoxy re enforced mat or cloth in those areas.


Agreed, thermal expansion of the wood shouldn't a problem with aquariums, which have relatively even temperature.

There are different philosophies wrt plywood epoxy tanks. Some build up a strong box (many layers of glass mats and epoxy) within the box (plywood), others build a strong wood cabinet and just apply a waterproof coat.



tusk said:


> Ack. Sorry to hear about the old tank.
> 
> I used some epoxy paint from Eco-Complete. It worked awesome. It wasn't cheap, but well worth it. I managed to get 7 coats out of the 1 gallon kit.
> 
> Close to 3 years up and running.


Do you mean Aquatic Eco? I think I got the same stuff (Sweetwater), you used blue, I chose black. I still have enough left over to re-coat this double tank.


----------



## tusk

^ Yes I did. Fixed and not sure where that came from


----------



## Burks

When I looked into doing a plywood tank, I was told to go with Sweetwater. It was used on a buddies very large coral propagation system and it worked great for him, for years.


----------



## Wasserpest

That's what I used on my other plywood tank, and what I will use to coat this tank now. I hope your buddy is right! :icon_bigg


----------



## skinz180189

I've just read this thread from start to finish, and have to say I'm really impressed. Good to see that you have learnt from your trials and errors, and are man enough to admit where you went wrong. 

I had a good laugh at the picture of you and your kids sat in the tanks too!

Top work, and keep it up. The planting out looked beautiful.


----------



## Wasserpest

Thanks Gareth, I am glad you had a good time reading this rather lengthy undertaking.

In the meantime I have recoated the upper tank, added a threaded rod in the center to prevent bowing, and while the paint is drying I am modifying the canopy.

Planning to fill it up next weekend. Then I need to dry out the lower tank and recoat that as well. Hope it is enough epoxy paint to finish up the entire project.


----------



## Wasserpest

Life is busy, and I just realized I haven't updated this journal in a while!

After drying the tank and coating it with Sweetwater Epoxy things have been going very well. Here is a full tank shot:










This has turned into a low-tech setup. The 135 gallons are lit by two T5 bulbs, each burning ~40W. The tank gets it's daily dose of waterchange - overflow from my 250gal tank.










I don't add much in terms of nutrients, whatever used water it gets from the large tank still seems to contain a bit of fertilizer. Nutrient levels are clearly low, leading to nice pink Sunset Hygro, and some hair algae growth.










There's an old driftwood in this tank that slowly starts to get settled with Fissidens and Mini Pellia. For sure I did not plant them there... maybe spores or little broken off pieces got stuck and started to grow.










Java moss has gotten a hold on the epoxy layer in the back and happily spreads on it. All natural background!










I have had a few moments when I wanted to empty this tank, to save some energy and have one thing less to worry about. But then I spend a few minutes with it, clean out the algae, and all of a sudden see things that are just amazing. The driftwood, the background, the bronze Wendtii Crypt that got stuck to the wood and grows there with roots out of the ground, the happy Endlers and White Clouds that don't even remember what fishfood looks like...


----------



## Hoppy

That's awesome! You have almost persuaded me to set up a natural low light tank too, but I'm resisting as best I can:icon_eek:


----------



## sewingalot

Love this tank! I have this exact tank setup at your house. What sword is that and how tall does it get to be? It's hard to judge size when looking at such large tanks.

Sent from my Ally using Tapatalk


----------



## Wasserpest

Hoppy said:


> That's awesome! You have almost persuaded me to set up a natural low light tank too, but I'm resisting as best I can:icon_eek:


Come on Hoppy! A sheet of plywood, some wood glue, can of epoxy, screws and a glass panel. You know you want to do this!



sewingalot said:


> Love this tank! I have this exact tank setup at your house.


At my house? Which room? :icon_eek:



sewingalot said:


> What sword is that and how tall does it get to be? It's hard to judge size when looking at such large tanks.


There is a number of swords in this tank, the light green ones are E. bleheri/amazonicus, the one towards the right is a 'Kleiner Baer'.


----------



## Hoppy

Wasserpest said:


> Come on Hoppy! A sheet of plywood, some wood glue, can of epoxy, screws and a glass panel. You know you want to do this!


I'll send the wife down to you and you can persuade her:icon_cool


----------



## sewingalot

Wasserpest said:


> At my house? Which room? :icon_eek:
> 
> 
> 
> There is a number of swords in this tank, the light green ones are E. bleheri/amazonicus, the one towards the right is a 'Kleiner Baer'.


The garage. Remember, I built the tank and you took all the credit. :icon_cool Thanks for the sword ids. I am so totally tempted to buy a large tank just for that Kleiner Baer!


----------



## Hyzer

That looks great. Amazing what you can do with just a little light.

It would look a lot better standing directly in front of it, with my nose to the glass...


----------



## Wasserpest

Thanks, and you are always welcome to drop by and check 'em tanks out.

Here is a better pic of the 'Kleiner Baer' sword:










Just a word of warning... this and other Echinodorus species have a tendency to "explode" under certain conditions. This specimen grows under low light, in not too nutritious Kitty Litter, and one would think it a very tame plant, maxing out at 8 or 10". However, I moved some of its brothers/sisters into my 250gal tank with enriched substrate, CO2 and plenty of light, and they turned into 30" monsters.

Need to be careful if reading statements like "grows only up to 12in" etc, this can be true for one aquarium, and completely off for another. Hard to define "normally" with these plants.


----------



## sewingalot

That is one beautiful plant. It will definitely be the first plant I buy if I ever get a big tank. It's funny how a lot of the stem plants even give a maximum height and we know that is pretty much not true with the majority of them. Good to know about this sword because I was tempted to get it anyway.


----------



## Wasserpest

After 3 years, I have taken down the tank. Now taken down isn't the right term... I removed the fish, unplugged the heater, and reduced the light to ~ 40W for 3 hours a day. I left the sponge filter pump running for now, it only eats 12 Watts.










I also stopped removing the hair algae, it's doing well! 










There is some hard-to-kill Hydrocotyle that is showing some deficiencies, but it's surviving.










Driftwood with Java moss... also surviving my attempt at neglect.










Temperatures fluctuate mostly between 58 and 62F. It hasn't gotten really cold yet, so they will drop quite a bit further. The Cherry shrimp don't mind.










Now that is hair alga! Easy to remove, but I figured I'd see what happens if I don't.


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## driftwoods

Just curious as to why. Are you done with this tank or?


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## Wasserpest

Main reason is to save some energy/money. The tank is in the garage, and I hardly look at it, much less do regular maintenance. So unplugging the heater and turning off the lights (almost) will just reduce my energy bill a bit.


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## 150EH

This is my first time seeing this one, this must have been the prototype to the inside tank with two layers of epoxy or two different types. I'm Glad I found this thread there are a couple of things I learned.

1. I can grow plant emersed from my floating pods of Riccia, just a cool mistake.
2. Using the airline to keep a thicker bead of silicone between the glass and wood.

I knew right away the small compartments were going to be hard to use, but I understand.

These tanks would be great for breeder, Fire Red Cherry's, OEBT, mosses, although it may be a conflict for Mods being Power Sellers, I've read the rules for my side but I'm sure yours are different.

How many tanks do you have in your house, include jars with plants if needed.

And if I put my fat head in the "Face behind the Name" why are you always blurring yours, don't make me call your mother.


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