Plywood Tank
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: DIY
Forum Description: Do it Yourself
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1434
Printed Date: July 21 2026 at 1:45pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Plywood Tank
Posted By: jbruse
Subject: Plywood Tank
Date Posted: December 07 2003 at 2:04pm
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Has anyone here had any experience with building a plywood/glass tank? I am thinking about building one and wanted to see if anyone had some pointers. Any input would be appreciated!! -=J=-
P.S. Also anyone know if using countertop laminate would bypass the need for the epoxy? I would assume being it is safe for humans that it would be safe for aquarium inhabitants.
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Replies:
Posted By: KeoDog
Date Posted: December 07 2003 at 2:13pm
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I built a 300g plywood tank. Your welcome to come by and see it and I can try to answer any questions you have. ------------- Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT) 300g reef "A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand |
Posted By: Aquarium Creations
Date Posted: December 07 2003 at 4:36pm
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Went to Kevin house and saw his Tanks i didnt think a wood tank could look good but i stand corrected Very impressed!!!!!! ------------- Aquarium Maintenance,Consulting,Custom Built Glass Aquariums Rimless/Euro,24Hr Emergency Service 8015485201 Www.UtahAquariumDoctors.com [email protected] |
Posted By: coreyk
Date Posted: December 07 2003 at 4:52pm
any pics? i'd also love to see it. 
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Posted By: Trevah
Date Posted: December 07 2003 at 6:20pm
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pics pics pics
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Posted By: KeoDog
Date Posted: December 08 2003 at 5:54am
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I will post some pics when I get home from work today. ------------- Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT) 300g reef "A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: December 08 2003 at 7:21am
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I'll second what Fireshrimp said. Kevin's done a great job on putting that system together. Very impressive, imo. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: quixmartin
Date Posted: December 08 2003 at 9:15am
| I have been thinking about building a plywood as well, and instead of formica, I found out that Regional Supply Inc. in Salt Lake has 4'x8' sheets of PVC. I think they come in several different thicknesses. oh, the address for Regional Supply is 3571 south, 300 west. |
Posted By: tomason
Date Posted: December 08 2003 at 11:35am
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I was going to build a plywood tank and researched it quite heavily a month or 2 ago.
The whole thing hinges on how well-sealed the inside edges are. The best way of sealing the plywood I found was to use a pond liner. It's flexible and won't crack like epoxy no matter how much the plywood box itself flexes when filled. I'll build one eventually, so I'm interested in some pics and more info on the subject. -Tom |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: December 08 2003 at 11:48am
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I've thought about it too, but I'd be inclined to do what quixmartin is suggesting. Very thin sections of pvc or acrylic or something similar. Cut them slightly smaller then the plywood box and silicone the corners. I've seen 4x8x1/8" sheets of pvc for like $10 out at NPS. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: jbruse
Date Posted: December 08 2003 at 2:46pm
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Wow only $10 for a 4x8x1/8 sheet that is allot cheaper than the $45 a gal epoxy or for the countertop laminate! This may be even less expensive than I had prevosiouly thought! Any one know where to get acrylic or glass for a good price? If I can get all this for fairly �cheap� I might be able to get my better halve's permission to buy everything this month. As Homer Simpson would say aaahhhh 300 gallons. (drool)
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Posted By: KeoDog
Date Posted: December 08 2003 at 7:03pm
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Well I tried to post some pictures but it is not working. Is it possible to upload from you hard drive or do you need an internet site? ------------- Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT) 300g reef "A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 08 2003 at 7:23pm
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Kevin, In the "Post Reply" box on the right you should see a camera with an arrow. That's the button to hit to upload them from your computer. But first make them only 6-8 inches wide or about 500 pixels at 72 per inch for web use. After they are uploaded and appear in the body of the post, be sure to hit enter at the end of each link or else they will line up horizontally and make the screen a bugger to read.
BTW - I wonder if http://www.garf.org - www.garf.org still has the plans for a plywood tank on their website. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: jbruse
Date Posted: December 08 2003 at 7:56pm
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Yes Mark they do it is at http://www.garf.org/140.gallon.html - http://www.garf.org/140.gallon.html JD |
Mark Peterson wrote:Posted By: SSpargur
Date Posted: December 08 2003 at 8:40pm
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Kevin - If you send me the pics, I'll host them for you on one of my domains. Email them to me @ mailto:[email protected] - [email protected]
------------- Sean Spargur West Valley, UT |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: December 08 2003 at 8:46pm
Here are two pics of Keodog's plywood tank, but first is a pic of his beautiful daughter with his nice bowfront tank as a backdrop.
Keodog, Is there a way to get pics of the back or sides, to see how it's put together? BTW - Nice rock and sand! How much LR is in there for seeding all that good Utah stuff? Did you get real LS from another tank or two? ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: KeoDog
Date Posted: December 09 2003 at 5:51am
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Thanks for posting those for me Mark. I don't know why it didn't work for me. The first picture is of my 72g bowfront that has been set up for about 18 months. The 300g has only been set up for 5 months. The light you see comming from around the doors will soon be eliminated by using some neoprene rubber strips. The bottom pic is the left third of the tank. I did not use any live rock in the big tank. All I have used is about 3 cups of sand from my 72g and a few small pieces of Utah rock that had been in the 72g for about 6 months. It's hard to tell from the pictures but the coraline algae is really starting to kick off now. I would be interested in getting some more sand from other peoples tanks to add a little more diversity. I have sand I could trade (either live or base) if anyone wants to help me out. ------------- Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT) 300g reef "A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand |
Posted By: rstruhs
Date Posted: December 09 2003 at 6:43am
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Keodog, She's a keeper! Your daughter and the tank! Is the 300g in your basement? Where is the equipment for it and how do you access the equipment? Rodney |
Posted By: KeoDog
Date Posted: December 09 2003 at 9:56am
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Thanks. The 300 is in the basement. The equipment is in a small room to the right which also houses my furnace. If I can ever figure out how to post pics, I will show more. ------------- Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT) 300g reef "A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand |
Posted By: jbruse
Date Posted: December 09 2003 at 11:59am
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Kevin what kind of tips would you give those of us thinking about building one? And if you don't mind me asking how much did the tank you built end up costing you? JD_______________ Don�t confuse me with facts, my mind is already made up.
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Posted By: SSpargur
Date Posted: December 10 2003 at 9:42pm
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Here are the pictures for Kevin:
------------- Sean Spargur West Valley, UT |
Posted By: kingsspot1
Date Posted: December 10 2003 at 9:50pm
| I am VERY impressed with how sleek looking, clean and organized your set up looks. WOW!!! |
Posted By: coreyk
Date Posted: December 10 2003 at 10:20pm
| i agree! nice job... looks fantastic! |
Posted By: jbruse
Date Posted: December 10 2003 at 10:34pm
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Kevin your tank looks GREAT I think I am gonna start building me one this week! Do you have any pointers on what not to do? _______________ -=J=- Ever wonder why more people don't look for a fountain of SMART? We have enough young people! |
Posted By: KeoDog
Date Posted: December 11 2003 at 5:46am
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Thanks Sean for posting the pictures for me and thanks for the nice comments. jbruse, I do like the idea of using the 1/8" acrylic as a liner and also I like Jon Finch's overflow box. I used epoxy paint for the whole thing but I did have a problem with the top edge of the plywood where it emptied into my overflow. You will still need some paint for your top edges and braces. I paid $31 per gal for it. Come on over and we can talk about it. ------------- Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT) 300g reef "A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand |
Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: December 11 2003 at 1:13pm
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I found this site when I was considering building one. Check it out: http://members.shaw.ca/wmastop/bigtank/Startb~1.htm - http://members.shaw.ca/wmastop/bigtank/Startb~1.htm |
Posted By: jbruse
Date Posted: December 29 2003 at 7:48pm
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Anyone know of a website with pricing for Acrylic? Does Regional plastics have a website, I searched but couldn't find one. I am gonna start to build a plywood tank here soon and an getting all the pricing together. I am thinking instead of using marine epoxy i will just paint with normal high gloss black and line the "box" with thin Acrylic then I can use weldon for all my seams. Does this sound like it would work? -=J=- |
Posted By: Marcus
Date Posted: December 29 2003 at 8:02pm
| keodog - props! Looks good. |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: December 29 2003 at 9:46pm
Check out delvies. Their site has prices, I don't think Regional's site has prices. http://www.delviesplastics.com/ - http://www.delviesplastics.com/ Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: sjlopez39
Date Posted: December 30 2003 at 1:36am
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KeoDog, your tanks are amazing! With this oppurtunity we have to see each others tanks it seems as though the coral keepers can be as unique and diversified as the corals that are kept. So many ways to skin the cat but good golly KeoDog, you got your stuff together!
------------- Keep your hands and arms inside the tank and enjoy the ride! Steve |
Posted By: jbruse
Date Posted: January 01 2004 at 10:20pm
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Jon, what is NPS?? I am gonna start building my tank this weekend and I am really keen on the idea of using PVC rather than epoxy! Kevin having built one yourself what are the demensions on yours and if you built another would you use glass or Acrylic for the front? And when did you want to swap some sand?
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Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: January 02 2004 at 7:46am
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NPS is a warehouse full of broken, damaged and missplaced by shippers stuff. It's great for DIY stuff. Take I-80 west, take the first exit after the airport. Go north about 1 mile. It's on the west side of the road. It's hit and miss on what they might have, but I quite frequently see thin pvc sheets there for like $10 a sheet. Just stay out of the electronic section... that's all mine. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: jbruse
Date Posted: March 23 2004 at 11:00pm
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Sorry to dig up such an old thread but I am thinking I will start buying everything little by little to build my tank (that way it doesn�t look like I am spending too much). I priced the acrylic and it came to $220.00 for a 96�x32� � Kevin does that sound about right to you? I was excepting it to be about $100 more than that.
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Posted By: KeoDog
Date Posted: March 24 2004 at 6:12am
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I have never priced acrylic so I can't help you. I used a piece of used 1/2" glass I got for $20. I know that when I was pricing new glass there was about a hundred dollar differernce between some of the glass shops. How are you going to attach acrylic to the plywood? ------------- Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT) 300g reef "A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand |
Posted By: Skyetone
Date Posted: October 07 2004 at 6:55am
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DIG..... keo, what size is that? john? did you ever build it? I want a 6x3widex2deep. But I don't think I have the room ------------- I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it. Magna |
Posted By: KeoDog
Date Posted: October 13 2004 at 7:16am
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Skyetone, Just found this post. In answer to your question the size of my tank including the overflow is 8'x30.5"widex24"tall. ------------- Kevin Kunz (Sandy, UT) 300g reef "A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud." Ayn Rand |