206G Plywood Tank...Done - Part1

[Buckdog]

Looking foward to the new post, hope this weeks progress goes well. Im liking where your going with the stand but want to see more....are the sides going to be shelves? why the indent?

Thanx.
Ah, the indents. That was one of those situations where you draw up the stand, overwhelmingly approve it in your head (beer in hand) and start to build it. Then, as you get to a certain point you look at it and go, "what the?...I didnt just do that."
I think I was more concerned about it being sturdy than pretty. Also, I was just trying to use as much scrap that was lying around too. I'm planning to just cover it in a ply.

The next stand, as well as the next tank, will have design changes.

 

[Bosa]

Awesome Job...Projects like yours keep me motivated to build one of my own, soon I will build mine, like you said i'm going to research and learn as much as I can before actually starting it. In Hawaii we don't have tanks larger than 210Gal without paying an arm and a leg plus tax and shipping for it, that's why I am looking into building my own monster tank. Keep up the Great Work!!!

 

[thomast77]

Very nice. I never even thought about building a plywood tank before I found this forum. But I have seen many examples of it being done and looking good. And if fiberglassed and built right, It seems to me it would be tougher than an all glass tank. I think I will be building one of these someday.

 

[Buckdog]

Awesome Job...Projects like yours keep me motivated to build one of my own, soon I will build mine, like you said i'm going to research and learn as much as I can before actually starting it. In Hawaii we don't have tanks larger than 210Gal without paying an arm and a leg plus tax and shipping for it, that's why I am looking into building my own monster tank. Keep up the Great Work!!!

Very nice. I never even thought about building a plywood tank before I found this forum. But I have seen many examples of it being done and looking good. And if fiberglassed and built right, It seems to me it would be tougher than an all glass tank. I think I will be building one of these someday.

Thanx guys.
I really hope you guys get to do your projects. It's a lot of fun. Thinking back I probably should have built a tiny one out of cheap stuff just to get the feel of it. It's not really cost effective but will help you get familiar with all the steps, tools, etc.
For instance, what caught us off guard was the siliconing. I couldnt believe how fast the stuff was setting up - probably due to the primer. We really had to move quickly to set the glass.
The best part is sitting down with a couple of cold beers afterward, looking at your project and going, "Yeah".

 

[chico3611]

Love the explination for the indents. Good to see that not only the building stage was sponsored by Beer but also the planning stage. lol. I have thought about making my first plywood tank a smaller one to get the jist but i keep thinking 'if im going to go through with the expense I might aswell go big (200g min)" Is it worth making a quick 30-50g tank just to iron out the process? or you think its best to just go for it?

 

[MistirE]

Fantastic DIY tank cant wait to see it finished....Looking great

 

[Buckdog]

Love the explination for the indents. Good to see that not only the building stage was sponsored by Beer but also the planning stage. lol. I have thought about making my first plywood tank a smaller one to get the jist but i keep thinking 'if im going to go through with the expense I might aswell go big (200g min)" Is it worth making a quick 30-50g tank just to iron out the process? or you think its best to just go for it?

Maybe a 10-15G. Really. I'm no expert at this by no means but it had been years since I fiberglassed or used a router. I was re-learning stuff as I went along. You just need something big enough to get the feel of all the materials while keeping your costs down. That part I highly recommend for those who havent worked with epoxy resins and glass cloth. Get as much scrap (of everything) as possible and practice first. Measure three times and cut once. Take notes.

But, if you feel comfortable with your skills...then go baby, go. Lots of folks here have done that.

Fantastic DIY tank cant wait to see it
finished....Looking great

Thanx.

 

[chico3611]

Well now you have me wanting to go big right away. Iv'e been putting it off for 2 years but no more! Keep trucking, we all want to see pics of the finished product.

 

[Buckdog]

Thanx. I'll get there but it may take awhile. Hopefully this weekend I can sneak in some work on the stand.

 

[CJH]

After some discussion, a little disagreement, and couple of bets (cold ones) later it was time for the 1st coat. We decided to fiberglass the outside of the tank instead of the inside. One reason was the chemist wanted to prove out the epoxy unsupported but bonding inside a large wood tank. The other was to prove out that encapsulating the outside was as good if not better than laying out the inside.

Naturally, I had concerns. Coming from a technical background I had a lot of them. But then these folks are sponsoring my tank and I do love a good challenge.

Wanted to bump this back up to the top and see if there was an update on the tank.

For what it is worth, I was on the phone with a technical representative from West Systems yesterday. I need to use some of their epoxy with the "Special" 207 Hardener for a woodworking project but was interested if it would be suitable for some other projects, possibly including a plywood aquarium.

The short answer is that it is, but what I found interesting was that the rep mentioned fiberglassing the outside of the tank as being the preferred way. This was said without mention of this thread or my long held belief that this approach has some signficant advantages. So now there are two epoxy companies that feel it is better to fiberglass the outside of a plywood tank vs. the inside.

His main reason what that fiberglass makes it more difficult to get a continuous cross-linked layer of epoxy. Of course one could achieve the same thing by putting on a few coats of epoxy on the inside to get a full seal and then fiberglass over that. Any inconsistencies in the fiberglass would not matter since the tank was already watertight. This would also solve the issue with a lack of moisture exchange on the outside of the tank.

At any rate, thought I would post this information here.