Newbie from PE

C

ChrisG

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10 Jan 2010
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Port Elizabeth
Hi Everyone,
Been reading the posts religiously the last few weeks trying to sponge up as much info as possible!
I'm VERY new to marine and would appreciate suggestions/concerns etc about my setup and proposed plans.

Well, i decided to go for a plywood tank and have just finished initial construction. The reasons for plywood are low cost and I am a BIG DIY-er, and love working with wood.
The design is a corner unit measuring 1.7 across (front), 1.2 sides and 80 depth. The front viewing (glass) is 1.44 x 0.7m.
Actually i still need to buy the glass, and maybe that could be my first question! What thickness should i use? After researching I decided on 12mm, but I was hoping that 10 would be ok, as it is half the price of 12.

I'll keep my first post short, so will leave it here for now. I still have many questions eg what skimmer should i get (looking at T2 reef octopus), can i use rock from the beach for a base, etc.

oh, btw, my volume is about 500l. Here is a pic of my work in progress... gotta start sanding now and then 6 coats of epoxy resin.

Chris
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Welcome to MASA Chris.

Looks like you know your DIY. Unfortunately I have no experience with plywood tanks...search the threads I have seen some posts about them.

Just a word of caution (I have a similar size..bit bigger...) corner unit, think about your overflow setup long and hard, corner units have their own challenges ito getting flow right

BTW a TS 2 would more than suffice in my opinion

Have you thought of your "eventual" plans for the tank as this is going to impact on a few other things
 
Welcome to MASA! I'm sure 10mm glass would be fine we used 15mm on 1500L tank so 10mm for 500L tank should be enough but let's just here from the rest before I can be sure.What ar you planning to keep, reef, fish only?
 
Welcome to the forum, looking forward to watching this tank progress, lots of photo's along the way please. :)
 
Welcome to MASA!!
 
hi chris, i'm also from PE, i have a tank with similar volume and its made of 10mm glass, i have no experience with wood for a tank though. there may be some bending etc with wood. as for live rock there is definately a place in PE you can get some from, PM me and i'll give you all the details you might need(where and what type of rock)
 
Hi Chris, and WELCOME to this great hobby, and to MASA :thumbup:

I'm sure 10mm glass would be fine we used 15mm on 1500L tank so 10mm for 500L tank should be enough but let's just here from the rest before I can be sure
Click to expand...

The main thing which determines the glass thickness is the HEIGHT of the water in the tank, and not the volume of water. 10mm thickness would be fine for a 1500l tank as long as the water level is less than 500mm, BUT if the water level in Chris's tank is around 750mm (given the tank height of 800mm...) then the minimum recommended glass thickness is actually 15mm (with a safety factor of 3.8). The 12mm glass will only have a safety factor of around 2.5, which is not adequate, IMHO.

I have not built any plywood tanks (yet...), but I would guess that the wood would bend/deflect slightly more than glass of the correct thickness. I would suggest that you ensure adequate bracing around the tank, and especially on the wood against which the viewing pane will be pressing, to ensure that the water-tight seams don't pull open if the wood bends a bit.

Personally, I would also cover the inside wood with a glass-finre coating, just to make sure that it remains water proof (but then I suppose that I'm always very conservative when it comes to these things...)

Good luck with the tank, and PLEASE keep us informed of your progress.

Hennie
 
Update on build

Wow guys, I'm overwelmed with the response to this thread. I am so glad that I wont have to re-invent the wheel with everyone here!

Well, today I got the front glass panel. 1.5m x 0.8m x 12mm. The actual viewing "window" is a bit smaller, as it has to be siliconed into the front panel. I will have to be patient to fit the glass, as I need to do two more coats of epoxy.

I did the first coat yesterday, and let me tell you, I was very nervous! Have no experience with it, and was rushing the "painting" as i thought it would dry within 20min! Not so.. in fact, after 4 hours it was still wet and i thought that I had mixed it wrong! To my relief this morning it was hard as steel!

I sanded the whole thing today to prepare for the second coat, which went on better than the first. There are a couple of "runs" today, as the epoxy didn't absorb into the wood like yesterday, but that will be sanded flat tomorrow.

I've included some more pics on the progress, and also some of the joins..

Front (wet epoxy):
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Top view
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Front Panel
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Rear Joint
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Front - Joint between side and front panel
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a MESSY job!!
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Just hope it doesn't rain tonight, as everything is outside (the dungeon!)
Tomorrow will be same as today for third coat, and then the two pieces can be joined. Final coat can then be done..
C
 
Interesting build thread. So the only glass on this tank is the front pane ?

Will that epoxy make sure no water gets to the wood ?
 
Hello and welcome. Interesting tank you have going there
 
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