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We would like to thank all of our sponsors, including:
Some of this is in my tank journal, but I decided to make a special thread.
I have always been a fan of plywood tanks. Almost built my main tank out
of plywood / glass. But chickened out. Just too big.
But sumps and refugiums are great to make out of plywood.
Especially since there is really no need for any viewing window.
The big advantages:
* Pretty cheap. (About the only thing cheaper is rubbermaid bins and such)
* Can be built to pretty much any shape.
* Very well insulated. (Wood itself, but also easy to add insulation)
* Use standard woodworking tools.
* Good strength/weight (If engineered that way)
Problems:
* You need to make sure they do not leak. Especially seams.
* Opaque. (Not always a problem)
* Take some woodworking skills.
Caveat : Do not attempt a big plywood tank if you do not have a decent set of power tools.
In particular, a table saw is pretty mandatory.
THE PLAN:
Box will be 40" long, 24" wide, and 40" tall. Water level about 4" below top at max.
It ends up being 115 Gallons. A good percentage of a 250 gallon tank.
Everything except epoxy was bought locally at Lowes. Even the thin acrylic. Cheaper than Tap.
Construction: Basically, the walls will be a laminate:
* 1/8" Acrylic
* 3/8" Plywood
* 1" Stringers(studs) / insulation foam (between studs)
* 1/4" Plywood.
The Acrylic will be glued to Plywood with epoxy. (Sand Acrylic first)
Ply/stringers are glued with waterproof wood glue, and screwed.
It all acts like a big I-beam, so while plywood is only 5/8" total, it should be equivalent to 1" or more.
There will be a small top beam across the top in the middle as well, since a 40" span is fairly large.
A big bead of thickened epoxy will be used where all the walls/floor meet.
Pictures to follow.
Here is a picture of the longer wall, but this time with insulation added.
Simply glued in strips.
From Aquarium_Release
BTW: It was a fair bit of work ripping all those stringers (studs). But not that bad
with a table saw. In retrospect, probably should have set up a jig on the band saw.
For perspective, black square on left is 2 ft long.
Stringers are about 3.5" apart.
Here is a picture of the other 3 walls.
The two shorter ones have less stringers, since there is less force.
From Aquarium_Release
looks good so far I remember following a plywood build before and its just amazing looking
Quick status:
The 1/4" back is on the larger 2 walls. So they are a big solid structure now.
I epoxied the 1/8 acrylic on those 2 walls as well.
I need to assemble it before I can do the other walls.
A bit disappointed in my epoxy job. Quite a few spots with air gaps.
Not a structural issue. There is no strength needed there. But a bit ugly. Well, it is the inside of a sump...
I am clamping it overnight, but no way I can vacuum bad something that is almost 4' square, so will
have to live with it.
Pictures tomorrow hopefully when I un-clamp it all.
Here is a picture of the two main sides, on the inside, with the acrylic.
Looks rather pretty. Which for the inside of a sump is of course really critical.
From Aquarium_Release
Here is a closeup of the layering.
Top acrylic glowing a bit from light behind it.
Then 3/8 ply.
Then 1" fir stringer.
Then 1/4" outside skin.
From Aquarium_Release
Man that looks cool
By looking at the saw I assume you are a lefty?
Nice work !!
No, not a lefty.
But I did have to make an awkward saw cut with my left hand, so good observation.
Here is a picture of the longer wall.
You can see the horizontal stringers.
Stringers are really just made out of scrap wood.
All ripped to 1" wide. Important that they are all the same depth.
The thicker ones are a ripped 2x4. The thinner ones are leftover 3/4" ply from the base.
It is good to have thicker ones at edges, for screwing into later.
-Mark
Who says duct tape cannot be used as a frag mount?