Has anyone built thier own tank?

G

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Guest
[??? If so how thick would the glass need to be. I noticed that they have glass company posted. Tank would be 125 or 150. Anyone have any suggestions or experience to share.



thanks,
Christy]
 
[there are a few people who have made their own tanks...but mostly out of acrylic. Most people who can build tanks on here build sumps instead. Sumps can be a little "off" and noone cares because it's under your tank, while someone building a display tank has that pressure of knowing that it will be out in the open and any flaw will be seen. A tank around 125 or 150 would need to be made out of 1/2" glass. Hope this helps]
 
[??? I didn't think about acrylic..Has anyone used LD glass and mirror to build the tank? I read that acrylic scratches easy.

Thanks for reply,
Christy]
 
[HI Christy
I have thought about it, But the prices just don't make any sense to do it. Just for a giggle call any glass place you like and ask for a quote on a piece on 2' X 4' X 3/8" plate glass, with sanded edges. Now mulitiply that by four. That will build a 75 gallon that you can get at petco for $159 any day of the week. So unless you really want to say I did it myself! Let them.
Joe]
 
[Christy,

I'm building a 360g plywood tank now. We are doing a tank tour on Saturday, and I'm the last stop. Join that, and I can show you everything I've done so far, and my future plans. Just really quicly, it doesn't make sense $ wise to build a smaller tank. (<100g) You really want to go plywood when you have a specific space to fill. However, a majority of the inwall big tanks are plywood. The glass thickness depends mostly on the height. Search for plywood tank on Reefcentral or reefs.org and you can find this chart. My tank is 7'LX32"Wx34"T, and I'm planning on using 3/8" glass. (Possibl7y 1/2 inch)

Sam]
 
[sides back and bottom are plywood (yes wood from home depot), the only piece of glass is the front side. Cheapest way to build a large tank for sure. Plenty strong since you can just add studs / bracing to the back sides of the wood for support.]
 
[It takes a while to get your head around, but yes plywood. Even people that see it say, what do you mean this IS the tank? :)

You coat the inside with an exoxy paint that basically turns into plastic. The wood never gets wet. So basically I'm building a big box, and I used 1" birch plywood because of the height, and then I'm going to cut out 2 windows, epoxy the whole thing, and put glass on the inside of the box. I'm also going to add 1/4 acryllic to the bottom and possibly 1/4 glass to the back so no rocks scratch through the epoxy. I could do glass on the back but I like using the scraper to remove the film.

I'm not doing any external bracing around the tank, Im joining the panels with deck screws and biscuts. Then I do have a 1-1/4 aluminum channel bar around the top and I'm having that welded with 2 1-1/4 center braces.

I need to just start my thread with all the pictures. . . hummm....]
 
[Christy -
I've checked around different places for glass prices, including LD Glass. The cheapest I've found is at a place called Mann Glass in Dallas on Ferguson Rd. I was only looking for one side piece for my 135 gal tank, which is 1/2" thick, and measures around 23"x17". They quoted around $52 for that piece, and that was only the smaller end of the tank. Buying glass for all sides will definitely add up, so I think a new tank would be better worthwhile. I know you can find a 125 gallon brand new for $250, and wouldn't have to worry about leaks either!]
 
[IMO when you consider time and trouble invovled in building a standard tank like a 125 or 150 your better off just buying a prefab. tank. The money you save by building it yourself isn't all that much unless you have a friend or relaltive in the glass business :eyebrows: . If you have a custom size in mind then you might be better off doing it yourself. It isn't that hard to do you just need to make sure the bonding surfaces are completely clean. Here is a link to my custom 55. I built it to fit on an end table my wife had in the living room.
DIY 55 gallon glass tank]



Edited By bulldogger1 on 1092883520
 
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