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In my other Thread (regarding my newly acquired Discus Fish), I was considering a way to build a tank of my own to save a few bucks as it seems there wont be any spare cash laying around the house for a while. I was given the Idea to build my own large tank. Now, I have read up on several internet sites that they can be made from cut glass, cut acrylic, cut plywood, or a combination of the three. now my father is a contractor/carpenter/engineer and will definitely be a viable aid in the construction and etc of the tank, stand, lighting, and etc.

Now where my questions lie is whether anyone on this forum has ever built or acquired one of these homemade novelties and how they hold up and possibly any pointers for doing so.

Here are a couple of the Links I have used as reference:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/blog.php?b=578
http://jan.boegh.net/akvarium/Fort%C3%A6llinger/118G%20Tank/118%20G%20Plywood%20Tank.htm

Thanks,
-Brandon

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

You have possibly found out by now or you father would know there are several grades of plywood, Marine grade water proof is made totally different to just plain old water proof plywood one of the major differences is the materials used and how the layers are joined and put together. 99% of this cannot be seen as it is all in the internal construction. Then you have to be careful the timber has not been treated with chemicals before construction.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
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Hi,
There are several sites devoted to DIY aquarium and
aquarium projects:

http://www.garf.org/tank/buildtank.asp

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/diytanksrefugiums/ss/diycustomtank.htm

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/aquariumdiy/l/blcustomtank.htm

The GARF ones come with step by step instructions.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

wow frank that is great info... i think the garf page will serve as the best instruction set!

Keith, I know that there are different grade of wood. Most of the constructed and directions list that marine grade may be better, but is not necessary. They are to be sanded (more like scoured with rough sand paper) then filled with a marine grade epoxy or fiberglass/resin combo. I also fully understand what is necessary for the construction but i think that my dad and I will formulate our own little creation adapting the many ideas and instructions given by the people who have previously created similar tanks.

I would like to do some sort of corner or shaped tank using the grafs idea of silicone but using the ply wood as a background. the ideas we will have will be well thought out and we will probably concoct some crazy ones... as for now I will need to draft up what it is I want the tank to look like then we will together draft plans/instructions and start our creation. I really cant wait to do this!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

ur gona have to coat all the plywood with epoxy resine even if it says its water proof. and for the resine there are some types that arnt good for aquriums. how big do u plan on makeing it? u could even do a cool 3d background if u wanted. but yea id make it big enough to make it worth my time.

Hi,
Until I read riri1's comment I did not think to add
to that list a link for DIY backgrounds.
Here is but one of dozens of possibilities:

http://www.duboisi.com/diy/BNdiygrotto/bndiygrotto.htm

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

hahaha i have such good ideas.

yeah the DIY backgrounds look great! would also add to a more natural look of the tank if i could do it right... thanks!

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"