DIY Tank Instructions

[fishfreek]

Are you an avid DIYer? If so then maybe you consitered building your own tank once. Maybe you put the idea in the back of your head but never moved forward.

Well, I was chatting with Bassoonguy this AM and he told me about some NEW Garf instructions on a DIY tank so I wanted to share that page with everyone here.

Its a nice interface. You enter the measurments your looking to do and specify if you want it to be acrylic, glass or plywood and acrylic or plywood and glass and then click submit. What you get is a great list of materials along with a cut list so you know exactly what size to cut what items.

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

 

[angelstiger]

hmmmmmmm,
Maybe I could build that large tank, that us addicts dream about? Gotta check that sight out. Thanks, Fishsfreak.

 

[Guest]

That site is downright DANGEROUS!!! I better stay outta there before I build some monstrosity!

 

[angelstiger]

Wow, I love that site. Maybe it should appear on the home page? Thanks fishfreek. Of course I agree with corvuscorax this could be really dangerous for some of us. You could be destining some of us to living in the middle of what looks to be a LFS. Oops, too late I already do. hahahahaha

 

[Guest]

It is cool however, watch out, in some situations, it is cheaper buying prefab tanks. The materials are quite expensive.

 

[ConanTheLibraia]

Yea but buying prefab takes all the fun out of it!

 

[HOLLIEO]

Are you an avid DIYer? If so then maybe you consitered building your own tank once. Maybe you put the idea in the back of your head but never moved forward.

It is really funny. I am always into the DIY projects. My husband has already banned me from projects around the house, but I am able to sneak a few in here and there. I was totally thinking about building one myself. Thanks for posting this. I saved this site. Has anyone built one themselves? If you have... how did it come out. Do you reccomend it?

 

[Electrobes]

Man I have been thinking about doing this for a while... I need a bigger tank for my two baby oscars that are nicely housed in a 45 gallon, but I know it won't keep them for long. A friend of mine, way insane about aquariums (and I though I was nuts about it) almost had a caniption when he found out that my dad bases his business around acrylics and that he offers scraps all the time, or even to make a tank for me. But heck... once I get moved in to my new aparment... I think a new tank should be in order! Now the question is what size should I make the thing to make the little ones happy?

 

[enpharedskin]

Garf's DIY Tank Instructions

Hi! I plan to make a reef tank of PLYWOOD and GLASS myself using Garf's handy instructions. ( Im so excited!!~!) I was wondering though....are there any rules to the dimensions of the tank? I was planning to make a tank 33x28x24 (INCHES)....33 being the face from left to right, 28 being the side from front to back, and 24 being the height from top to bottom...it would be about a 90-95 Gallon tank and I will be using 3/8" thick GLASS for the front. Would there be any problems with this? I would apreciate any and all input you can give me before I begin...even info that is not pertaining to the dimensions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fishfreek]

IF this is to be a reef tank, and you say it will, then the height (top to bottom) would be one of the biggest factors when it comes to lighting the tank. THe taller the tank the more light you need over it. Other than that I guess its mostly athetics.

 

[ManInTheJar]

DIY Tanks

Hi All ,Ran across your site while browsing for DIY Projects.Just picked up acyrlic yesterday to start my project.A 375gal reef tank and 100 gal sump/refugium.This will be my first attempt at building a tank(hope it works out)Anyhow my reason for the Post is to provide any of you with some info on acrylic Tank building .Its a site i found...www.cyro.com When you get to the home page click on Techknowledge it will have info on acrylic Tanks .I found it pretty informative.Just a little FYI for your DIY project. 8)

 

[RandyStacyE]

If you are to build your own tank the 1st choice you have to make is what to build it out of. The least expensive way is out of wood. The problem is how to waterproof it. The norm is to use epoxy. When using an epoxy you have to keep in mind that it will crack and leak at the seams. For this reason people use silicone at the seams with the epoxy.

If you ask me, I think that sounds rediculous. The best way to waterproof a wood, concrete, steel, or fiberglass tank is to use "Sani-Tred products" at www.sanitred.com
They have an absolute life time warranty and NO SILICONE or epoxy. Their products are a type of polyurethane that is reef safe. As long as the structure will hold the water, Sani-Tred products will keep it in the tank. These products have been used on multi million gal wood tanks so they can easily be used to seal a tank for us.

 

[o2addict]

I have been looking at doing a 48"lx48"hx24"w tank.

I have had quotes of $1,900 to build one in Acrylic, but I have also been looking at glass. Glass is cheap for me to buy locally, but Acrylic I have to import. A pre-built tank is very expesnive for me to buy due to shipping and duty. I was thinking of settling for a 48x36x24 tank, and use 1/2" glass.

In the instructions they say to have the base 1/4" off sides, will the glass take that weight?

 

[RandyStacyE]

As long as you make your tank a specific height and width, you can make the tank any length at all. If you make the tank any higher or wider, you will have to bump up the thickness of the glass.

There are many different glass aquarium "automatic calculators" that will give you the dimensions of each piece of glass including the thickness of glass. All you have to do is enter the length, width, and height you want to build.

 

[bigsky]

I built my 120 gal 48x24x24 for 110$ three years ago and still no leaks

 

[fish_4_all]

Does anyone have any advice for building a tank with a very large bottom? I have looked at Garf's site many times and use his tank calculator to figure the sizes and such but I want to make a tank that is 24" tall, 24" wide , and 36+ inches long. Will I have to use some kind of support under the bottom pane of glass or will the 3/8 inch glass be more than enough to support the weight of the water? Or should I switch to 1/2 inch for the bottom just to make it stronger and get a better seal from the silicone from the larger surface area?

I ask this quesiton here because I haven't been able to get a reply from Garf's site on the same question. Has anyone gotten them to reply to an email?

 

[fish_4_all]

Just make sure the silicone is clear and not white if you get any from the local hardware store. I got 2 tubes, the first I checked to make sure it was clear the second I didn't and low and behold, I now have white seems in the back of my 35 gallon bow front!.

Thankfully I will be planting the back with a java or christmas moss so I won't see it. From the inside anyway. :?

 

[ace1uno_00]

Ok those instructions on that site http://www.garf.org/tank/buildtank.asp are confusing.
first it says: "Cut the 1/4 inch dowels slightly shorter than the length of the bottom. Place the dowels under the bottom piece of glass. It is important that the weight of the aquarium is supported by the front, back and sides. There should never be any support under the bottom glass as this could fracture it. "

ok i know that is to support the bottom.

Then it says: "Run a bead of silicone along all edges of the bottom glass. (these are the edges that will seal with the front, back, and side glass)
Carefully place all pieces in place surrounding the bottom piece. All contacting surfaces should have a bead of silicone."

Ok! but is that still on the pieces of wood? the Glass wouldnt be even with the other edges....

and this also confused the crap out of me. lol
It says: "After the silicone has cured, it is time to add the glass to the top. This piece of glass makes the sides stronger so the glass does not bow when the tank is filled. "
WHAT?!?!?! what top!??! i dont get it? its gonna be a cube that way right? or am i just reading this wrong?

The tank i want to build is 20inchH 20inchW and 48inchL. Glass. Can ANYONE clarify this for me?
Im CONFUSED.........

 

[fish_4_all]

The bottom piece of glass should never be allowed to lay flat on any surface. It needs to be able to bow under the weight of the water. The edges of the sides and the bottom will not be fitted with each other. There bottom should be at least 1/4 inch up from the bottom of the sides. With the dimensions you want to use I would make it 1/2 inch up.

The top pieces of glass are strips of glass used to reinforce the tank so it doesn't bow really bad. The strips serve the same purpose of the plastic stirp on lfs tanks that help keep the glass from bowing. With the length of your tank, I would put a 2 inch wide piece in the middle from front to back to help with this. It would basically look like this. Looking down on the top, you will see 4 2 inch wide pieces of glass, or whatever Garf recommends for the width. These pieces will go all the way around the tank on top and the sides. The ends should have the short pieces and the front and back should have a thin piece that goes all the way across the length and connects with the sides. These pieces are cut to fit acroos the top of the tank with no overhang.

Think of it like this, Take a cardboard box and cut the top flaps to 2 inches wide, this will give an idea of what it will look like with no overlapping. Take the short ones and cut out the 2 inches the front and back will overlap them. I don't know how better to explain it so if you have more quesitons please sebmit them and I'll try to help more.

If I might suggest, when I build my tank, I will be using slotted wood for the bottom to support the glass and the bottom and L cut wood around all the sides and the top. The slotted wood will be slotted to 1/2 inch deep to hold the sides and support the bottom at the edges.

Good luck, let me know if it works.

 

[fish_4_all]

Re: DIY Tanks

Anyhow my reason for the Post is to provide any of you with some info on acrylic Tank building .Its a site i found...www.cyro.com When you get to the home page click on Techknowledge it will have info on acrylic Tanks .I found it pretty informative.Just a little FYI for your DIY project. 8)

The only thing I know about using acrylic for anything is if you want it waterproof with a clean seal at the seems make sure the edges are absolutely stright and that the edges are as smooth as possible. If not, it will be a major headache and leak everywhere.