18' x 9' x 3.5' catfish tank build in progress.....

[basslover34]

I actually have some time off next week. I'll be here and able to work on the tank at my leisure over the next three weeks or so. Then I'll have to go to work for two more tours, then I am out of the military. My goal is to try and have this done by October 21 the day I am out of the military. Thanks for all the positive comments. Anyone who is bored by my thread can expect what you can expect in any thread where someone is building a tank this size from beggining to end, and on a major budget. I think this is really good progress considering I've not used any of the money made at my regular job.

Needless to say you guys will probably see a week or two of a ton of progress, and then almost nothing till I can get some more funds up. I'll be selling some of my skeletons over the next month or so to get some funds up. Hopefully I get enough to complete it on time.

Uhhhh... Necro... forget something???? ... LIKE OUR UPDATE???? What did you do all day you pansy?

 

[catman]

Love ur build necro. I guess when u build that big of a tank for ur catfish u could be called a psycho. JkI guess u can count on necro to have a cat for life.... or death.

 

[necrocanis]

Uhhhh... Necro... forget something???? ... LIKE OUR UPDATE???? What did you do all day you pansy?

Yesterday nothing happened. I was a little busy had to go in to work for some training. Today however I made the frame for the first window now that I know exactly how big they will be. The viewing area will be 22" x 45".

Love ur build necro. I guess when u build that big of a tank for ur catfish u could be called a psycho. JkI guess u can count on necro to have a cat for life.... or death.

Thanks man. Plan on keeping all my cats for life. Hopefully they will thrive in their new environment.

Here are a few pics of what the window frame looks like. I really like the size of it. I thought it would look kinda small, but it's actually quit large. And two fo them is even better. I did a few more rows of 2x4s after these pics, but didn't get any pics yet. Just imagine two more rows. Need one more row to bring it to the edge of the window frame. I have to make the row on top of the frame so that I can go past the frame. I had to cut off the three that I had on top to modify it for the frame. Now I can add in the top and really get to work on this thing. Adding the frame like this also helped me square up the tank some more.

There's also a pic of one more of the future residents. My baby jau. He's 10" of pure evil.

 

[basslover34]

Good Lord... that Pic from that back really shows just how Big this thing really is LOL

Good Job Buddy!!

 

[cvermeulen]

I am going to do a coat of fiberglass on top of the plywood, and then seal it up nice with sweatwater epoxy. I'll have to buy like 2 more gals of it, but I'll have some leftover from my 200 gal build. Thinking of coating the inside black for the fish' sake. Would look erie all black on the inside with those side mounted lights in it. I think black with light colored rocks/sand, and maybe a few pieces of driftwood.

I know this is going back a ways... Might I just throw in though... it may be easier and more durable to topcoat your fiberglass with polyester gelcoat - it comes in black, it can be sprayed or rolled on, and it's been tested fish safe a few times by DIYers here. The reason I suggest this instead of the sweetwater stuff, is that polyester (fiberglass resin) and epoxy don't always agree with each other. Maybe sweetwater is different than the stuff I used, but when I built fiberglass caves for my tank, I coated the inside of them with epoxy just to be 100% sure it wouldn't leech... and a lot of the epoxy has flaked off. (and it still doesn't seem to be bothering my fish)

If you get some black tooling gelcoat from USComposites.com it will be tough as nails, and look awesome. Just a suggestion!

 

[ALLafricancichlids]

i cant wait to see this project finished

 

[Lil_Stinker]

....Did my price check on the glass and going with two 2' x 4' x 1" acrylic windowns. ....

.... Today however I made the frame for the first window now that I know exactly how big they will be. The viewing area will be 22" x 45". ....

So you will have only 1 inch relief(set) on the top & bottom & 1.5 on each side ????

I cant remember seeing it, but are you using a (SS)steal frame inside the wood or setting it against the wood?

 

[necrocanis]

It will be set against the wood once the inside and outside are lined in plywood, and then coated in fiberglass. There will be an internal frame for the window to sit on top of. This wall will be 3" thick of wood. Is this not sufficient for my window? There will also be an external frame around the window on the outside of the plywood for even more added support. So with the ply, and external frame the window will be pressed against nearly 4.5" of wood. Any reason I should be worried?

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I'm by no means a structural engineer, and I don't promise that this will be sucessful. I'm sure that many things about my plan will change along the way as many have already. Please everyone rememer that what you see of what I am building is mearly the skeleton of the tank at this stage. This will be the longest part of the entire build, and there will be much more to come after it's finished. Next step after this is plywood and top supports. Anyone that has suggestions please come forward. I am looking into the gel coat as I do not wish for my tank to chip as mentioned.

 

[necrocanis]

I know this is going back a ways... Might I just throw in though... it may be easier and more durable to topcoat your fiberglass with polyester gelcoat - it comes in black, it can be sprayed or rolled on, and it's been tested fish safe a few times by DIYers here. The reason I suggest this instead of the sweetwater stuff, is that polyester (fiberglass resin) and epoxy don't always agree with each other. Maybe sweetwater is different than the stuff I used, but when I built fiberglass caves for my tank, I coated the inside of them with epoxy just to be 100% sure it wouldn't leech... and a lot of the epoxy has flaked off. (and it still doesn't seem to be bothering my fish)

If you get some black tooling gelcoat from USComposites.com it will be tough as nails, and look awesome. Just a suggestion!

That stuff costs a pretty penny, but maybe with the money I am saving on the glass I can afford it. I'll definitely look into it. Wonder if 5 gals would be enough. I don't see a chart for sq ft coverage though. Never delt with a gel coat before. Curious on how well silicone adheres to it.

 

[Lil_Stinker]

... This wall will be 3" thick of wood. Is this not sufficient for my window? There will also be an external frame around the window on the outside of the plywood for even more added support. So with the ply, and external frame the window will be pressed against nearly 4.5" of wood. Any reason I should be worried? ....

I am thinking of the amount of glass in contact with the wood, not the thickness of the wood. There will only be 1 inch of overlap, that's what got me thinking.

I have not yet done a wood/acrylic tank, but I have 3 sheets each 8 foot long 1 inch thick in the garage just waiting on me to make plans. I will soon be asking myself just how much overlap I will want. I asked the question so we both do it right... I was tossing around 3 inches at the ends & 2 top & bottom.