Day 1 tank construction pics

[Scottcenfla]

Hello everyone, newbie to the site here. Looks pretty interesting here, lots of great information. Back in the hobby again, , my neighbor got a 120 gallon and I got the itch again.

I was into freshwater back in the late 80's and early 90's. Sold the 180 I had and ventured into other hobbies. I think this tank I'm building will be a vivarium. A couple of waterfalls, pools, cliffs, small river, etc.

I'd like to do a exact, or as close as I can get, to a Hammock enviroment as I live right in the middle of one here in Central Florida. There is a creek in the 15 acres behind my house that is loaded with salamanders, frogs, toads, fishes, etc.

I got started on the project this afternoon. Demo'd 2 walls in my home office and got the tank put together. Here are some pics of todays work. My girlfriend came over tonight as I was putting the tank together in the middle of the living room. The smell of Gorrilla Glue and De-natured alcohol ran her off pretty quick, lol. But I wanted the dry A/C for curing the glue, outside it is like 85% humidity.

On these links, highlight the link backwards at the end of the g in .jpg, for some reason my server, cfl, is highlighted red but you can get the link highlighted if you highlight backwards and paste in your browser.

Starting materials, cha-ching$$ Had to order the 2 part epoxy paint for the interior.
http://home.cfl.rr.com/scottcenfla/Aug302004Materials.jpg

3/4" marine plywood, cut at the lumber company, 1/32 tolerance on their table saw, a couple thousand of exterior drywall screws made up the difference.
http://home.cfl.rr.com/scottcenfla/Aug302004Marineplywood.jpg

Here is the corner this tank will be installed in, the two sides against the walls will have the entire interior surface covered with lava rock for cliffs, planters, and such.
http://home.cfl.rr.com/scottcenfla/Aug302004FirstDayDemo.jpg

Here is the assembled tank, minus the two exposed sides cut out. I need to set up a jig and router the two viewing sides. Put it together in the middle of my living room, the fumes did get quite thick. The reason I didn't go with a store bought tank is I couldn't find one with the debth I wanted. This one is 36L x 26W x 30H. I think it came out to around 115 gallons or so.
http://home.cfl.rr.com/scottcenfla/Aug302004FirstDayAssembled.jpg

Hope you enjoyed the pics of the project so far. My girlfriend thinks I'm nuts, but that isn't anything new, having a ball so far. I'll put up some links to more pictures as the project unfolds. Take it easy, Scott

 

[bound_for_obx]

Looking good. Just for future reference, Gorilla glue will cure faster in a humid environment. Moisture acts as its catalyst.

 

[BillyZ]

Looks like nice progress so far! Keep us up to date!

and Welcome to Aquarium Advice

 

[Scottcenfla]

Thanks Obx for the advise on the Gorilla glue, some amazing stuff it is. I didn't read the distructions far enough to get to the humidity part, lol. The house is about 55-65% humidity, it seemed to set up quick, the fumes stopped after 2 or 3 hours after assembly, I hope that means it cured fairly quick.

Thanks for the welcome BillyZ, I've got the tank mounted on a semi permanant base, the floor base isn't complete, a temp stiff leg is doing fine till the router work is done. It is fixed and part of two walls now. My cabinet maker buddy will do all the finish work hopefully if I can purchase enough beer and get him over here. A big Hurricaine is headed right for my area in Florida at present so things are on hold for the time being. I just finished getting things cleaned up from the hurricaine Charley from 2 weeks ago. Hope this one isn't a direct hit like on the 13th. Stay safe, Scott.