Building a 2-300 gallon wood tank

[karfixer]

I'm in the planning stages for building a tank and would (wood :p ) like to hear from some people who have done it, what to watch out for, ect. I've found a thread on the krib that got me thinking about it. Has anyone used MDF in place of plywood? Thanks, Steve

[karfixer]

This fell off pretty quick :eek: Thanks to Cichlid Guy for the pics of your clean looking DIY 300 gallon monster :D Anyone else :confused:

[jtrei]

you should talk to scottie...

[cichlid_guy]

I'll try to answer any questions you have.

I'll ask and look around about the MDF.
I'm sure it will work! the thing i'm worried about is the added weight. MDF is some heavy stuff!

a 300gal tank is heavy already! what is it, 8lbs a gallon of water?
then the tank, glass, Cabnet. Ya! the cabnet, how were you going to build the cabnet? I have a 2x4 frame (alot of people said 4x4's but thats overkill!
I'll try to get a pic of just my frame to help you see what it is going to tank to hold that weight!
I'm still going back and forth, redesigning the top canopy.
I have two "Dual 48" shop lights" with aqua bulbs in them for light.

OH! and NOISE!
THIS TANK WILL NEED ALOT OF FILTRATION SO A BIG PUMP IS NEEDED! AND THE DRAINS ALSO MAKE NOISE TOO!
(sorry for yelling :) but I'm hard of hearing after sitting in the room with the tank, not really! but it is loud!)

What are you planning on putting in the tank?

If i can finish, i have been making a set of plans up for my tank.
so people can have a look at how it was built.

I'll try to get it done and get a copy to you!

Well like i said, if you have any questions, i'll try my best to help.
and If i can't i'll do some research to help you.

scottie

P.S. this was the only pic i can find showing the cabnet frame.
there are 5 - 2x4 spans all the way around.

[Ozone]

Very good site how you can build one plywood tank check it out :)
very good site
http://www.athiel.com/lib6/tank.htm
http://www.garf.org/140.gallon.html
one more:-
http://fp.marksfish.f9.co.uk/diy/plywood.htm
http://www.garf.org/news18p2.html#plan
.

[karfixer]

Thanks for the replies and links everyone! :D The tank will probably be 7'x3'x2' but the water level will be lower, so the Gouramis will have some air space. MDF weighs about 70 lbs per 4'x8' sheet, I built a speaker box for my previous car out of the stuff, it's much denser than conventional regular grade ply. Home Depot has some high grade-multi layer ply that is pretty spendy, but looks beautiful. This tank is going to be a S.E. Asian Biotope- 10 Gold Gouramis, 6-8 Clown Loaches, 10-15 Harliquin Rasboras, 6-8 Zebra Dainos and 6-8 Cherry Barbs. About the filteration, I'm thinking fluidized bed systems, or possibly a wet/dry sump system. There will be plenty of live plants as well. The lighting is still being finalized-I found a 175W white Mercury Vapor "security" light for $26 and figure to use that in conjunction with a couple of pairs of 4' shop lights....shudders @ the electric bill for 600W lighting system :eek: This weekend I'm going to do some research on the spectrum of the MV lamp, I've been checking industrial supplies for MH lighting stuff as well. My dad is retireing to his garage woodshop next month, so his #1 son will have some plans for him...just so he won't get bored ;) I'm looking to buy my own place, so this isn't going to start until after that happens, but why wait until the last minute. Steve

[Huyzel]

wow... makes me want to go out and build one !!

but i dunno if my 8th story cement floor can hold the weight.

[tyler]

i've read that mv lighting is pretty useless as far as planted tanks go...you could get a few of those lights of america 65 watt compact flourescnet security lights though. they're at 6500k, and replacement bulbs were 7 bucks at the hardware store.

[JSchmidt]

Maybe there have been dramatic improvements in MDF of late, but I was under the impression it doesn't have much structural strength. It's got a very stable surface but doesn't seem like it would handle much pressure. Also, there are probably water resistant versions available, which would be a must; wet MDF would lose any strength pretty quickly.

I'd think you could get much better strength for cost if you went with plywood.

Jim

[slipknottin]

agree with that

MDF is not anywhere near as strong as plywood.

want an example?

take a piece of MDF and a piece of plywood, and put each one so its spread out across two sawhorses. then stand on each one. the plywood will bend but not snap. The MDF will snap.

[karfixer]

The MV bulbs are 5700K, don't see any problem with that :confused: 2 of these with 2x4' shop lights. My fry tanks plants grow like crazy with "screw-in" flourecent bulbs, the color is pretty much yellow and not very visually pleasing. I talked with my Pop the other day and he has a discount deal with a local wood supply warehouse :D :cool: I'll spring for the Ply- the really nice stuff was $30 a 4'x8' sheet :eek: Still deciding on glass vs acrylic vs Lexan for the front. On another tangent :rolleyes: Wet/dry sump vs Fluidized bed? Thanks to ALL for your input, I'm doing a LOT of research and trying to keep an open mind. Ultimately I want to create as good an enviroment for my fishes as possible.

[Mcdaphnia]

Use either marine plywood or plywood core signboard coated both sides. Marine plywood is called that because there are no voids inside. Ever notice those little eye-shaped things on a plywood sheet. That's where a knothole or other missing wood was. Most grades of plywood don't fill the voids inside, just on the surface. Marine grade fills them all the way through. Sign board is used to build bill boards. Only a few lumber yards in a given area carry it. The nice things about signboard are that it is smooth and flat. Because of the coating it takes less paint on the first coat. Because it's flat, the finish looks better. Signboard is also stiffer than plywood of the same thickness, but not really stronger. It does not bow as much under a given load, but the breaking point is still the same.

A nice touch if you are using four coats of two phase epoxy coating: Embed embroidery cloth ( a thin plastic grid) in the first coat of epoxy on the bottom. After the next few coats, it will create a neat looking pebbled look, but even better, it will provide a bit of protection from objects resting on the bottom.

[slipknottin]

glass is easier to use... silicone bonds very well to both glass and epoxy.

silicone doesnt bond to acrylic at all.

[Mcdaphnia]

Acrylic does not stick to silicone. You would have to make a gasket and have some way to tighten it. Glass would be a better choice. It is heavy though; the glass front on my plywood 600 weighs 250 pounds. When I bought it almost twenty years ago, it cost $250. The tank is still running. There are several female Kaiser Tropheus and one O. ventralis with mouthfuls in that tank right now. The silicone is still sticking.

I saw a brand new home made wet dry filter that was acrylic glued together with silicone. It popped before it was even filled with water.