Plywood Tanks
 

Hello Canreefers,

Just curiuos if any one onboard has a plywood tank? If local I'd like to see if not could you post a few pics. Plus general thoughts and experiences appreciated.

Thanks

Jamie

Randy ( ranz ) on this board build himself a beautiful plywood tank. If I remember correctly it is about 300 or so gallons and has glass on 2 sides. I think he has a link to pictures of it in his profile.

Hey Jamie ... no pics for ya but I built a 300G 1" thick MDF tank lined inside and out with fiberglass ... dimensions 96Lx24Dx34H ... 31" waterline and 5/8" glass for viewing area ... 5" brace around the top and 2x2" bulkheads with overflow ... 2x closed loops at back ... all built " in-wall " in my basement with a 70G sump underneath and " soon to be installed " ( thanks Tony :) )
55G refugium as well ... if you plan it correctly then it is easy to do ... a 3" wide trim around the front to help support the front glass ( 45 degree bevelled edge ... look like a picture frame ) ... 3" screws every 2 " for all wood joints along with construction grade glue ... 3" x 1/2" center brace

If I had it all to do over again ( and I might :smile: ) ... I would build it 96Lx48Dx34H ( 31" H waterline ) ... 2 overflows ( 1 on each side with 2" bulkheads on each ... that way it would only have to " skim " 4 ' each into each overflow )

If you have any questions on the construction just let me know

Cheers

Dale, Thanks. Just stopped by his site. Hope he stops by and reads this thread. I like the double thickness for the plywood idea. wondering if he has center braces or trim at all?

Rasta, Sounds good thanks for joining in. Do you have a rough cost on your project? Also was it a big PITA or not bad? The 3"x 1/2" center brace are you meaning 1/2" thick ply? How many coats of resin? Whats your thoughts on plywood vs glass tanks? Any pro or cons you would like to mention?

I think it was about 40 a sheet for the 1" MDF ( 3/4" marine plywood would work just fine ) ... the 3" x 1/2" brace is made of glass ( oops ... hehehe ... I did glass here because I did not want a " shadow " in the middle of the tank ) ... the whole project was not too bad as long as DIY is your bag :smile: ... depending on what product you use for the coats I would recommend using West Systems epoxy ... it costs a bit more than the rest but you will be very happy with the results ... I actually built a arogrocrete wall around the exterior ( approx 3/4" thick with eggcrate as the base ) of the tank for extra filtration and also to protect the tank from the live rock accidentally scratching the surface

As to pros and cons ... the wood tanks are great insulators and cost way less than the glass counterparts ... you could get a starphire viewing glass which I would have done had I known about it at the time ... drilling can be done with simple hole saws for alot less than glass ... I guess I cant really think of a con and if I were to do it again I would just go bigger and plan ahead for circulation a bit more ( I had to drain part way to install closed loops )

Cheers

Rasta, Thanks again, I appreciate you taking the time to help answer the questions. As I'm sure you have figured out I'm thinking of biulding one myself. You don't have say a rough total project cost do you? Also how long has the tank been up and running?

Depends on how big you go for cost ( mine was built 5 yrs ago so prices have gone up since then for wood and have not looked at the epoxy in that time either ) ... I think mine cost about 600 beans at the time I built it including stand and almost half of that was the front glass ( call local glass manufacturers as some will sell direct to you )

I took it offline for almost a year and a half and moved everything into the sump and the 50G ( live rock caused a leak in back panel so that is when I decided to make a arogrocrete wall around the perimeter ) ...

If you are serious about building one Jamie then the 3 most expensive components are ... 1) the front glass 2) West Systems epoxy ( the best IMO ) 3) the plywood

A few phone calls will give you a good idea what your project will cost today ... my only advice is the epoxy is no place to skimp and after hours of research I found West Systems to be the best ( local boat store should carry it )

Cheers

Is there any set rule as to the minimum trim required around the front. If you wanted a viewing pane of 24" you would have to make the tank 31-32 inches tall to hide the frame if it was in-wall.

Jamie, I have been looking at this also but I have pretty much concluded it would be hard to make it look nice if it was a free standing tank(by this I mean it would not look as good as a glass tank with out a lot of work) .
If it was built into a wall it would be the way to go though, unfortunatly the new house I bought does not lend its self favorably to a "In wall" tank.

Steve

I would leave at least 4" of frame at the bottom for a DSB. That way you would only see the top of the DSB and not the grungy stuff lower down.