Plywood tanks

[canucklehead]

Lookin for peoples experiences with building plywood tanks, is it worth it? do you sleep well at night? Lifespan?

[Oxquo]

I love plywood tanks. A majority of my store will be ply tanks. As with anything wood structure and under constant pressure, I would say 10 years is a good safe estimate although I know of one guy with a 25 year old tank which has never leaked. The two that I had did leak though but very slowly unlike a leaky glass tank. Where is ply better than glass? Rock structures, for sure also it is cheaper to shape the wooden tank. For the store I already have a design for a corner diamond shaped tank. Things you can do to strengthen the tank to ensure less chance of leaks? Add more bracing, use strong fir plywood, 3/4" x 2 and stagger your joints. don't be afraid to use alot of glue or lumberlock in between plywood. Use good screws not cheap deck screws, brad nails are excellent for helping the glue set but add very little strength to the structure. overlap your glass in the front with atleast 1.5" on all 4 sides, this way the glass pushes against more of the lumber causing a pressured seal also remember that silicone will stick better to glass if the glass is rough sanded first your wood at the joint should be rough as well. Using marine paint goes a long ways don't skimp 3 coats is the minimum it isn't that expensive considering that fir plywood is only about $25.00 for a 4x8 sheet and making a 50 gallon tank from one sheet is very possible. Another solution is buying the finished pine shelving which comes in 12, 18 and 24" widths makes a great and strong outer layer for two ply tanks the finishing value is priceless given you are handy with a router or at the very least moulding. The biggest fault of wooden tanks is that people seldomly finish the outside, even 2 years of water on dry wood whether there is pressure on it or not makes for a bad structure, finish the tank completely.

Best part of all, when and if your glass gets unbearably scratched up and i am most talking to those african rift keepers and their sharp corals and rocks, replacing 1 pane of glass is as easy as it could get, you just need to get a blade in along the front pane from the outside till the seal has broken free, a few minutes of scraping silicone and sanding the edges of the seal and you are there. best part is that if you have just built 2 or three tanks out of the glass from an old glass tank you may still have the sides left for either dividers or else glass for your new wood canopy or stand doors.

Oh okay I was wrong, wood tanks are actually better because if people say what kind of tanks do you have? and you say glass, it is kinda boring but to stand up proud and express to the group that" I HAVE WOOD!!! yes, that is best part of a lumber sided tank. Exhibit A the 800 gallon koi pond made all from scrap lumber I kinda miss the old pond but intend on doing a pond of the same volume in Saskatchewan except raised and with a glass front. As for sleeping well at night, A well reinforced wood tank can be several times stronger than all glass, remember that it is only the silicone that holds a glass tank together, the only problem I really had was the desire to make the biggest tank possible out of wood and without saving anything for a lid. My pond would evaporate at a rate of 3-5 gallons per day, that is alot of humidity. Keeping your sizes modest will prevent the problem. I won't even mention the pride of being able to say hey I built that myself. Even for those with limited tools, for a few bucks, you can have your pieces cut to size at all of the major lumber yards for a small price. Leaving you with nothing more than sanding, painting glass install and silicone.

[Smokey]

I have build many, many , many glass tanks. up to 1" thick.

and I can say ... the major difference is the amount of personal labor involved in building either one. Glass / Wood.

I would say wood is more personal labour intensive.

which can be a plus!!!! A wood tank can be built by the average person with good wood working skills. eg > count you fingers before and after operating the POWER TOOLS .. lol..

Glass is much higher in inital material costs. eg> new 3/8" or 1/2" thick glass is very expensive. ~ $10.00 to $20.00 per square foot.

Whereas plywood ~$ 1.00 to $2.00 per square foot.

It is the extra material . high quality screws, marine paint, 2x4's, bandage's; that may raise the cost to $4.00 per square foot.

Still very cost effective.

Now, like Oxquo said > build strong. Plywood / wood needs more bracing/thickness than glass.

How big a tank did you have in mind[???]. Dimension wise. 6 foot / 8 foot ?

Smokey

This is going to be a good topic.

[canucklehead]

Thanks for the info guys, sounds like I'll have lots of expertise available to me. I was thinking of an 8 foot tank, might as well go big.

I would do the plywood box with 5 coats of epoxy paint plus some fibreglass cloth allong the seams. I was also thinking of adding 2x2"s allong the top for bracing, from front to back.

[Smokey]

Take a look at this posting. May be of interest to you.

cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_1700g_tank_1.php

Edited September 29, 2004 by Smokey