plastic laminate tank experiment

[phuture1]

hi folks. i saw a website where this guy built an aquarium out of sheets of plywood with plastic laminate on them. it just so happenes that i have aquired a couble of sheets of this material from a jobsite i was recently on. i also got a premade box made of the same material. the box will hold aprox. 10 to 12 gal. of water. i am going to seal the inside corners with silicone and cut out an opening in the front of the box and silicone a piece of glass into it. this will be my experiment. if the small box holds up i'm going to start production on te larger tank. if all goes well i should be able to make a 75 to 100 gal. tank. i will post some pics for those that are curious. stay tuned.:mrgreen:

 

[yote]

Waiting on the pics.

 

[ndepratt]

plywood tanks are pretty sweet. :P

 

[Bifferwine]

Oh I'm staying tuned in for this one! Good luck -- I hope you are handier than I am at DIY projects!

 

[phuture1]

i just filled up the experiment tank with about 5 gal of water. i'm going to give it a few days. i'll post some pics tomorrow.

 

[phuture1]

ok guys, here are some pics.....

 

[yote]

Thats slick.
Holding water good?

 

[phuture1]

yes. no problems. i all ready started on a larger tank. i have enough material to make a 60gal. so far it's much nicer than the prototype. check it out.

 

[yote]

That should be a sweet tank.

 

[phuture1]

i'm all ready for silicone. as you can or can't see in the pictures i have all the inside corners of the tank masked for silicone. i will be picking up the glass for the front and makeing the face frame tomorrow. then once i have the tank all together and sealed, i'll start thinking about plumbing. i'll keep posting updates. thanks.

 

[BigH55]

How do you keep the wood from leaking?

 

[phuture1]

the whole inside of the tank has plastic laminate (formica) on it. silicone will take care of the corners. when i find my real camera i will take some better pics.

 

[BigH55]

Nice. So I couls build one out of an old counter top if i wanted? Sounds too good to be true i could build a monster tank, or some cheap frag tanks when i get my frag farm going!

 

[Bifferwine]

Yet another use for Ryan's boomerang counters! The potential is endless.

 

[phuture1]

ok guys. here are some pics with the face frame on th tank, glass in place (temp) and a small light on for the pics. let me know what you think.

 

[phuture1]

hi all. last night i sealed all the corners of the tank and installed the glass. once the silicone cures i'm going to start my plumbing. i would like to do a couple of durso stand pipes. the only thing i'm not sure about is if i should install 2 corner overflows or if i should do a back wall overflow. if anyone has any ideas on this matter i would love to hear them. thanks again for all the help....

 

[mng777777]

I would think that either way you are going to have to the potential of getting the wood wet which could harm the integrity of the tank. As long as you plan for that issue, your plumbing should be the same as a glass tank would be. I think most would agree that if you have the means and the space, drill it and go with the corner overflows, it's way better than dealing with the siphon on a HOB system, you'll get better surface skimming, and you can place your tank closer to the wall.

 

[phuture1]

thanks for the advice Justin. i am taking precautions to seal any exposed wood with epoxy before installing any bulkheads and in turn am also sealing the bulkheads. i wasn't referring to an HOB overflow when i said "back wall". i meant installing the overflow in the center of the tank along the back wall so i would only have to drill one hole as opposed to two holes, thus minimizing potential leaks. what do you think?

 

[Alexander]

waiting for ryang on this one. there are tons of locals in ny doing this and having success with it. im sure he will have some helpful tips

 

[mng777777]

thanks for the advice Justin. i am taking precautions to seal any exposed wood with epoxy before installing any bulkheads and in turn am also sealing the bulkheads. i wasn't referring to an HOB overflow when i said "back wall". i meant installing the overflow in the center of the tank along the back wall so i would only have to drill one hole as opposed to two holes, thus minimizing potential leaks. what do you think?

Oh...right I assumed the worst, sorry for not giving you the benefit of the doubt.

You are right about minimizing potential problems but at the same time I think that if your design is good enough for you to have reasonable confidence in one hole, you should be able to duplicate it for the other, so my question is, which one do you like better? I think it's a question of aesthetics more than anything.