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Project: 350 gallon plywood tank


bottomdweller_fan
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Well, it is finally done!

First off, a few thank yous – to Frogfan23 (for putting up with my “small” projects ;) ), Doc_Polit, Ruadh, African_Fever, Sam_Chicklets, and Jvision for their support and help. It is very much appreciated.

This is the first time I have ever tried something like this. After much research and thinking I decided to line the tank with pond liner rather than use epoxy (I had to build this in the basement and I have heard the epoxy fumes are terrible so I chose the pond liner).

I used the plywood and acrylic plans that are available at www.garf.org

The tank is: inside dimensions 94.5" x 36" x 24" (353 gallons)

Supplies

The cat was no help in this project :rolleyes:

Tank1.jpg

Tank3.jpg

3 sheets of 3/4" marine grade plywood (had the store cut the wood for me)

9’ of composite decking plank (had the store cut into 3, 3’ lengths)

¾” clear acrylic

2 boxes of 6 x 2 drywall screws

1 bottle of Titebond III (a wood glue that is waterproof, has a strength of 4,000 PSI, and is FDA approved for indirect food contact)

Loctite® Super Glue

Sandpaper

16’ of 1 x 2 spruce lumber

Finishing nails

40 mil EPDM pond liner

3 tubes of silicone (GE Silicone I Window and Door)

Exterior wood varnish

Assembly of the tank

I had the first 8’ sheet of plywood cut to 37.5” to ensure the inside dimensions of the tank would be 36” wide. With the help of my husband I attached the back sheet to the bottom (as in the garf instructions) added a bead of wood glue, placed the screws at 3” intervals, and wiped off any excess glue. I then did the same thing for the two side pieces.

Tank5.jpg

The front was a bit more work. The plywood store cut the front piece but were unable to cut out the viewing area. I measured the front to ensure that there would be a border of about 2” around 3 sides and 8” on the left side (I am installing a filter in the tank that will take up that space). I cut out the area for the acrylic and then attached the front piece to the tank.

Tank6.jpg

I then varnished the entire tank both inside and out. I did 3 coats on the outside (sanding between each coat) and 2 coats on the inside.

Tank7.jpg

I then put the pond liner in and made sure it fit flat on the floor of the tank. The big challenge was how to put in the acrylic window and not have it leak. First, I attached the acrylic to the pond liner using a super glue that I tested on some scrap pieces of acrylic and pond liner and it worked well. Then I found an idea on a forum (don’t remember which one now) and modified it for my needs. I sat the acrylic in the tank on the pond liner and then placed the 1 x 2 lumber under the pond liner as close to the acrylic as possible. I then filled the area on all 4 sides between the pond liner and the acrylic with lots of silicone (both on the inside and the outside).

Tank8.jpg

Tank9.jpg

The acrylic is behind the pond liner. I had to fold the pond liner over the acrylic to properly place the 1x2's

Tank10.jpg

More to come......................
Edited by bottomdweller_fan
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Looks good so far. Are the Garf plans tried and tested? I do custom woodworking and I'm not sure I like some of the methods so far... especially putting 3" screws into the edge of plywood.

Is this gonna sit on it's own or against a wall?

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Looks good so far. Are the Garf plans tried and tested? I do custom woodworking and I'm not sure I like some of the methods so far... especially putting 3" screws into the edge of plywood.

Is this gonna sit on it's own or against a wall?

You sure do complain about a lot I noticed.....

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Very cool. I can't wait to see the out come of this because I've thought about it but haven't built up the nerve yet. Step-by-step instructions like this might help.

Hey Boom, I may be wrong as I don't work with wood but I don't think bd_fan mentioned the length of the screws. She did say they were 3" apart not 3" long. She called them 6X2 screws. Now what that means I haven't a clue? :unsure: Maybe that they're 6" screws?

Anyway, great job so far. :thumbs: Can't wait to see more.

Edited by DaveDude77
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Ha ha. I must be tired.

First off, I'm not complaining.

Second, I'll admit my mistake when I'm wrong. I do now notice the size of the screw is 6x2. The 6 refers to the gauge, or thickness of the screw (it's girth) and the 2 is the length. 2". I also now notice that they're drywall screws, which should be fine in this application, as they have wider "teeth" (the spiral part) and will grab well. Especially using Titebond 3, that glue is great. The term "waterproof is somewhat misleading though as it's more water resistant than proof.

Sorry if it seemed like I was complaining or being negative about your project. It does look great and seems like it's being very well done. I'm just very anal about working with wood and making things like this as strong as possible, when necessary. I'll offer my experience when asked so if you need any suggestions or have any questions, let me know.

Keep up the good work and keep us updated! :thumbs:

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Boom - the GARF plans have been done by thousands of people, probably even more. They work; I've had my DIY ply/epoxy tank up and running for at least 8 months now with no problems (I also did a step by step in this folder) at all, and know personally of a couple people who've had ply/epoxy tanks up and running for over 10 years with no issues. I'm still planning on doing another 1 or 2 tanks as soon as I have some free time (possibly 96x48x22 and 60x20x24 for now) because they work and are quite easy to do.

Good work on the construction; my biggest worry would be the long-term bonding of the acrylic/silicone/pond liner and leaks. Super glue can be nasty stuff, and I've found in the past it eats away or melts plastic.

I never even thought of using the composite decking; great idea! I think that depending on how well it works for you, I'll have to use it for my top braces and supports when I do my next tanks.

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Boom, thank you for your concern.

All the research I conducted (and it was about 3 weeks worth) showed me that the garf plans have been used by a great many people with very satisfactory results.

As you discovered :), I used 6 x 2" drywall screws spaced 3" apart. The Titebond III worked so well that when I tried to get some that dripped off after it set, I ended up taking a layer of plywood instead!

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Very nice ... I'm looking forward to part 2 for sure ... keep us posted all these DIY treads are making me wish I was done renovating so I could start playing LOL

Done renovating? A novel concept, but I don't think it exists. At least not when you're married.

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Very nice ... I'm looking forward to part 2 for sure ... keep us posted all these DIY treads are making me wish I was done renovating so I could start playing LOL

Done renovating? A novel concept, but I don't think it exists. At least not when you're married.

Tell me about it we moved into this house on Sept. 2nd ... I started doing renos that night with a tap that wouldn't turn to hot and a retaining screw that was stripped not to mention that the "master renovator" didn't seal the grout or tiles ... yep I've been having all kinds of fun ... If I ever meet the guy who suposidly fully remodeled the house :boxer:

But the good news is, the fence is done (atleast the part were doing this year), the upstairs is almost done and once its done then I can start playing with all the empty tanks I have laying around ... and the number of them keeps going up. :smokey:

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