Building a 1500 Gallon plywood & glass tank

DaveB

Fire Eel
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Feb 22, 2008
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VLDesign;2758307; said:
Butch at Pond Armor suggested it.
This was in regards to the concrete board... did he give any reasons for that? Is it supposed to absorb it better or have a better bond or something? Knowing what you know now (that you had to use double the amount) would you make the same decision? Do you think the concrete board contributed to the difficulty covering it?

When I buy (also in Naperville, most likely) I am going to copy your build almost exactly, though with the added twist that I'd like to be able to make mine removable. I'd be interested to get your input on how you'd have modified your design if that was a consideration. I'm kind of thinking that the extra layer provided by the concrete board might make it easy to build everything else in plywood as a multiple-piece shell and a move would only require breaking down the board on the inside and re-sealing all the seams when setting it back up. No clue how realistic that would be though.
 

VLDesign

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Mar 20, 2007
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The logic is pond armor sticks to wood just fine, but also stick to concrete board even better. And after haing done it with the concrete board and without (Sump), I am pretty sure without it would be just fine, but in the end I have to say that the no leaks right off the bat was pretty nice and I might not have had that without the concrete board. The sump had may more areas that the PA didn't initially stick to and created about 5 times as many pin holes that needed to be addressed after the initial coat.

I think the wood alone would be more work actually.


And making it moveable you mean.. Yeah that is entirely possible. You're only problem would be to ensure you have suffecient support for the walls that help them also be removeable. Some sort of anchor/bolts that are strong enough to handle the load they are holding in place.

Then when it came down to time to move you'd need to cut the seams and unbolt the sections.

You would also need full access to the back of all the walls where you would bolt them together. That means more top bracing from side to side.


DaveB;2996562; said:
This was in regards to the concrete board... did he give any reasons for that? Is it supposed to absorb it better or have a better bond or something? Knowing what you know now (that you had to use double the amount) would you make the same decision? Do you think the concrete board contributed to the difficulty covering it?

When I buy (also in Naperville, most likely) I am going to copy your build almost exactly, though with the added twist that I'd like to be able to make mine removable. I'd be interested to get your input on how you'd have modified your design if that was a consideration. I'm kind of thinking that the extra layer provided by the concrete board might make it easy to build everything else in plywood as a multiple-piece shell and a move would only require breaking down the board on the inside and re-sealing all the seams when setting it back up. No clue how realistic that would be though.
 

DaveB

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Feb 22, 2008
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My idea will give me access on all sides - it calls for the tank to have several feet of space behind it, a maintenance/filter room, basically, built entirely around the tank. So I'll definitely need more supports since I won't be wedging it in to a room with three existing walls like yours.

I'm hoping to buy a place with a basement with outdoor access, and failing that I'll just dig my own (assuming that's legal. I know my uncle did this, but that was on an older house in upstate NY.) so really I would only need to break it down into two sections, if that would be easier and more stable. Probably not though... portable walls that bolt together is probably easier.

It's probably obvious by now that I'm no engineer. This forum has plenty of questions from me to look forward to either this summer or next.
 

Kcameron

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I'm working on a 6'x6'x6' cuboidal DIY design for a friend and I to build as a centrally located game room accent. I'll post what I have soon and if any of you have any specific ideas regarding such a stressful set of dimensions, I'd love to hear them. He wants huge viewing glass on all sides (and I convinced him on the SF glass :) cant wait)
 

basslover34

Jack Dempsey
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Sep 3, 2007
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Kcameron;3000865; said:
I'm working on a 6'x6'x6' cuboidal DIY design for a friend and I to build as a centrally located game room accent. I'll post what I have soon and if any of you have any specific ideas regarding such a stressful set of dimensions, I'd love to hear them. He wants huge viewing glass on all sides (and I convinced him on the SF glass :) cant wait)
Game room... as in a pool table might be present? SF Glass would be a BAD IDEA!... Game rooms typically are one place that receive their fair share of abuse... I'd be more inclined to put Acrylic in there... Half the Weight 1/4 the cost of SF and can take a pounding unlike brittle glass :D :thumbsup:
 

DB junkie

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I bet those loaches are great fun to watch.....

IF for some strange reason you are even going to contemplate anything like Armatus you'll need to wait till around the 4th of July. But them small and cheap. They will need to grow up with tankmates.... This way you can have them off live within the first month or 2 and they'll be up to size in 4-6. Plus you could have at least half but closer to a full dozen for the price people are trying to get out of them nowadays.........
 
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