Plywood Tank 10ftx3ftx2.5ft

[stuart.mcclure]

hey guys,

Im new around here i live down on the gold coast.

Im looking at making a moster marine tank 9x4x5ft dimensions. Im just wondering where you found out what size glass is required for particular sized tanks. i was thinking of buying a 8x4 sheet of 3cm acrylic iv found it priced at around $700 a sheet AU but was looking at using glass to save a few pennies.

also are you able to tell me where you purchased you sheet of glass from and what sort of price youd be looking at.

Cheers

Stuart

 

[noiesmo]

Where abouts in Brisbane are you? Its good to have some home grown people build monster tanks. Unfortuantely, many people on this thread don't know what it takes ($$$) to own huge monster fish. Your selection is fine by me. However, you might want to buy the Red Tail Black Shark fairly large.

I think Ultimate Aquarium has a 5"er.

I'm western suburbs, near Darra. The largest fish eating fish is my oscars at around 5inches, but they will be staying in a 6x2x2 until the other fish get slightly larger and I have found over the years if a fish is in the tank when an oscar is added they don't tend to eat the smaller tank mates, I also never feed any of my fish live food, for more reasons than one....

Yep the $$$ cost for things here in aussie compared to say the u.s.a sucks we defiantly pay the premium for having a small population and smaller market place.

 

[noiesmo]

hey guys,

Im new around here i live down on the gold coast.

Im looking at making a moster marine tank 9x4x5ft dimensions. Im just wondering where you found out what size glass is required for particular sized tanks. i was thinking of buying a 8x4 sheet of 3cm acrylic iv found it priced at around $700 a sheet AU but was looking at using glass to save a few pennies.

also are you able to tell me where you purchased you sheet of glass from and what sort of price youd be looking at.

Cheers

Stuart

Welcome to Monster Fish Keepers!!!

I have a mate who owns a LFS here in Brisbane, so that's who I got my glass from.

He has a mate who makes huge tanks and he was the one that advised me on the glass size for my tank, which if all glass would have been 19mm base and 15mm sides and back.

However I know that the higher the tank the thicker the glass, so if your tank was to be 9x4x3 say then it should be fine in 19mm base and 15mm sides I would imaging that if you went to 5ft high the thickness would need to be a minimum of 19mm.

I can check this for you and also see if me mates mate is interested in suppling you with the tank or just the glass

 

[noiesmo]

O.K I've got the glass in..... late yesterday, Here are some Pictures

We (5 Adults) lifted the plywood/timber structure while my son removed the saw horses, We had some timber on the ground ready to put it on. Once it was on the ground two of us lifted the glass and handed it to two people in the tank, it got put down on a couple small pieces of timber.

I then pumped 8 tubes of Dow 999-a glue in and the glass was moved and pressed into the silicone.

Once it was in, we flipped the tank on it's face and put some buckets of water on top of the glass to give a bit of pressure. I removed the buckets today and took the pictures.

Next Saturday I will pull down my 6x2x2 and get some friends over to help move the 6x2x2 and then put the 10 footer in place, I'll fit the overflow fittings and the piping at the back.

I should be filling up the tank in 1 -2 weeks, I am thinking of leaving it for 2 weeks to cure instead of just one.

 

[AttackFish]

I know this might be a stupid question, but how much did all of this cost, USD?

It's way cool!

 

[noiesmo]

I know this might be a stupid question, but how much did all of this cost, USD?

It's way cool!

Cheers Attackfish

Well as for the cost roughly as follows

Timber and Plywood $1145 AUD or $1050 USD Approx
Glass Front 2740 x 685 x 15mm $500 AUD or $460 USD Approx
Pond Shield (way more than needed) $926.00 AUD or $850 USD Approx
Assorted Items Screws, glue etc $300 AUD or $275 USD Approx

So about $2871 AUD or $ 2635 USD Approx.

I went overboard on the pond shield coating and spent twice as much on this as I should have... but still spent it so it's part of the cost.

I have to get the filtration sorted will probably spend about $ 450.00 AUD ($415 USD) including 12000 L/hr pump for the wet and dry trickle system.

Fortunately I already have lights sorted....

 

[salty joe]

Quite the impressive build.
Wonder if you could answer a few questions about Pond Shield?
When it is cured, is it tough enough to mount a bulkhead on it?
What is the pot life? I was told an hour by the guy at PS.
Is it hard to get 10 mills thick on the first coat on a verticle surface?
Did the silicone stick to it very well?
I realize that the tank is not full yet, but at this point, would you use PS again?

 

[salty joe]

How do you plan on using styrofoam for the back?
I plan on making a scaffold of cement board or something and then using a concrete or mortar mix to achieve a reverse slope on the back wall. I'm hoping that making the top of the back wall about 6-7 closer to the front of the tank than the bottom of the back wall will create shadows and an illusion of greater depth. We'll see.

 

[noiesmo]

Quite the impressive build.
Wonder if you could answer a few questions about Pond Shield?
When it is cured, is it tough enough to mount a bulkhead on it?

Thanks

Yep no Problems, I don't think there would be a problem, I drilled some holes in the plywood prior to coating and then coated the inside of the hole. On a test piece of plywood I had to really smash it with a hammer to get the PS to crack, mind you I do have quite a thicker coating than recommended. Also search forum for article by johnptc, he used it on a 5000gallon tank and then again on upgrade of 5000 gallon tank to 10000 gallon.

What is the pot life? I was told an hour by the guy at PS.

Yep about an hour max, depending on the temperature

Is it hard to get 10 mills thick on the first coat on a verticle surface?

No the product is thick like grease and found it was ok, as I did not quite understand the thickness required I went overboard with the coating and did use 3 times the required amount. In one of the photo's is a blue tool I used to apply PS to the sides and base etc.

10 mils isn't 10 mm, it's the plastic gauge.

1 millimeter = 39.3700787401575 mils so he's well above the needed thickness.

Did the silicone stick to it very well?

I put some on a test piece of plywood I had and I have found that the Dow 999-a Silicone is sticking very well, I should be doing test fill this week end, I'll let you know how well I think it sticks after that lol

I realize that the tank is not full yet, but at this point, would you use PS again?

Yes, I would use again, at this stage.



I hope that helps you out

 

[noiesmo]

How do you plan on using styrofoam for the back?
I plan on making a scaffold of cement board or something and then using a concrete or mortar mix to achieve a reverse slope on the back wall. I'm hoping that making the top of the back wall about 6-7 closer to the front of the tank than the bottom of the back wall will create shadows and an illusion of greater depth. We'll see.

At this stage I have scrapped the styrofoam backing and will stick with just the PS as I quite like the blue anyway and my wife ( ) is getting a little p***ed at how much I've spent so far.......