Thinking of building a tank

[satch]

Gabor mentioned he was thinking of building a (treasure) chest like tank. Way back before the white hair I built two tanks out of plywood, wood grain arborite, coloured polyester resin and a glass for viewing. One was such a tank, it was 2'x2'x4' with a rounded lid and held 120 US. gal., it housed several Oscars. The other was rectangular at 2'x4'x16" with juvenile Gar Pike, I fed them minnows from a bait shop.

[satch]

[gabor129]

That looks amazing! I’m thinking of doing a similar design, except including all the hardware. Like the metal strapping and hot rivets!!! I would like to make it as authentic as I can! Except I would cover everything with polyurethane! Well that is the plan anyway, also it would have to be something my wife agrees to!

[lesfromlakeshore]

Incredible tanks Satch . Whatever became of them ?

[satch]

Since plastics such as polyester resin can expand or contract up to 7 times more than glass with temperature change, and with a major change it can be sudden and catastrophic! After absentmindedly washing them out or filling them in cooler water a few times and then having to recoat them because the coating cracked,they were scraped. Also the stench of liquid resin is not very wife friendly.

[satch]

Sounds like serious work Gabor. If your planning on a rounded top and it is to be a big tank you might consider substituting possibly thicker than paper metal strapping with plastic strips painted to look like metal, and they have round plastic caps for covering screw heads which look like hot rivets and serve the same purpose. I suggest this because my lid was made of 1/4" plywood on 1/2" end sections, and it was unexpectantly heavy.
Also on my upstairs corner tank, the outside has polyurethane. I painted the insides with Varathane colours in plastic, it also comes in clear gloss. I did the inside in blue and the lid in white to help reflect the light down. it is easy to wash and has held up well for several years.

[stevee]

Those tank's look awesome Satch!.....just a thought for Gabe you could always build a chest that a 75 or 90 gal slides into...

[gabor129]

Jul 9, 2018 17:55:48 GMT -5 satch said:

Sounds like serious work Gabor. If your planning on a rounded top and it is to be a big tank you might consider substituting possibly thicker than paper metal strapping with plastic strips painted to look like metal, and they have round plastic caps for covering screw heads which look like hot rivets and serve the same purpose. I suggest this because my lid was made of 1/4" plywood on 1/2" end sections, and it was unexpectantly heavy.
Also on my upstairs corner tank, the outside has polyurethane. I painted the insides with Varathane colours in plastic, it also comes in clear gloss. I did the inside in blue and the lid in white to help reflect the light down. it is easy to wash and has held up well for several years.

Thank you for the tip on the lid! I am planning on working with 3/8” X 4” red cedar! I was only going to coat the outside with polyurethane! I was not decided on the inside yet! Varathane sounds like a good option!

Steve - I did think about covering an existing tank, however I would like this project to be 100% D.I.Y. Just to see if I could do it!

[satch]

The Varathane in my tank cabinet is not under water, it was to protect the wooden tank surround from the damp environment. I don't know how water resistant it is when submerged. To do it 100% DIY you are buying the wood, why not also buy the glass too. 3/4s of my tanks I custom made in the 70s and am still using them. I just had the glass co. cut it to my measurements and I siliconed the sides to the bottom glass and each other.
The cedar [T and G I expect] will look good and the metal strapping will help hold it tight, I would also glue it to a thin plywood backer, but I have to agree with Stevee, a store bought or self made tank would be safer leak wise. 3/8s wood is more flexible than the same thickness of glass. I made a 5' L tank with 1/4" glass, it is only 14" H and W but bows out an inch in the middle and has never leaked. What I would suggest if you don't want all glass, would be to line each side and bottom with rubber pond liner. I would mount the back to the bottom and put one sheet across the bottom and its front edge and up the back. The side sections would have the rubber on the inside face and edges and be screwed to the back and bottom with silicone seal as a gasket in between only. The front glass would be siliconed to the rubber edges and held in place with a metal angle screwed to the sides. Good luck with what ever you decide to do.

[gabor129]

Thanks for the suggestions! I’ll take it under consideration! Great suggestions, I was thinking about the bowing already! I did want to brace the heck out of it!