4300 Gallon Plywood Build (3600+ Take 2)

[Egon]

I agree 100% !!

1/2" 125s are nice tanks to use to make bigger... I'm making three 180's out of one

LOL I agree too!

I have two old 125's I'm going to disassemble and make a big 6' square tank with a plywood/fiberglass bottom Should be a perfect ray tank! I'm going to euro brace the top for easy access and suspend the lights from the ceiling. Basically it will be an open top.

 

[nolapete]

Picked up two liner pieces from Jack's. The one with holes in it is filthy, so I'm going to cut a section off the clean one. It already has a 6' square cut out of one corner, so no big deal. It'll leave me with an 11' x 20' piece to make a pond with.

 

[bonesb66]

could you actually build a plywood tank and just line the inside with pond liner rather than epoxy paint? im fairly new to all this but already would like to build a monster tank and am just trying to explore every avenue before hand

 

[fishbum]

I think the saying,"Patience is a virtue" was made for you Pete.

Can't wait to see water in it.

 

[Arkangel77]

could you actually build a plywood tank and just line the inside with pond liner rather than epoxy paint? im fairly new to all this but already would like to build a monster tank and am just trying to explore every avenue before hand

I think some of the builds have bin done this way. Someone else chime in here

 

[nolapete]

could you actually build a plywood tank and just line the inside with pond liner rather than epoxy paint? im fairly new to all this but already would like to build a monster tank and am just trying to explore every avenue before hand

Yes, you can. A friend has a 2600 and a 2200 gallon tank; both are 26' long and have pond liners over plywood and dimensional lumber construction. The windows are attached with Dow 795 to hard rubber gaskets that have been rubber cemented to the pond liner.

I was originally going to use the same technique until I discovered Permadri's products which are basically a paint on pond liner.

The Permadri products contain no VOCs (volatile organic compounds), are water-based, have 850% elasticity, and are self healing. Meaning if it is punctured it will bond back together.

 

[nolapete]

I think the saying,"Patience is a virtue" was made for you Pete.

Can't wait to see water in it.

Unfortunately, I have ZERO patience. The only reason this has taken so long is the few setbacks, many other side projects, and most recently the gf. She's out of town working this week and has demanded I get the tank done while she is, but said I can't water test it until she gets back. She wants to be here for that.

Charles will be here at 8 am to work on the ceiling. My plan is to get him to finish everything over the actual tank then work on the rest if he has time.

Tomorrow I'll have some pics of the liner folding for the pond. It'll be a smaller version, about 1500 gallons, but the start of the dig for the 5K pond later this year. Also, new pics of the ceiling and the piece of pond liner on the floor in the tank. I'm cutting it big enough for us to work, but it will allow the corners on the floor to be finished out. This will be a real test to see if pond liner and permadri bond after it's cured. Definitely will be nice to walk around in there without it sticking my shoes to the floor.

I'm confident the main floor has enough coating on it. When I do the walls, I dump the Permadri on the floor and load my roller from there so the floor gets more than the walls do. I still want to trim out the corners more.

 

[greengiant]

sounds great pete we all look forward to sharing in the progress.

 

[nolapete]

Today's progress so far:

Ceiling above tank done except for trim and another coat of paint.

Liner pieces on bottom of tank. Easy to pull up. Like velcro kind of bond.

55 Oceanic I have for sale $75

Liner folding example on the 11' x 20' liner section I picked up from Jack Saturday.

Where I'll be this afternoon...

 

[snakeguy101]

very nice. Keep the updates coming.