My Epic Breeding Setup Build

[chrisbassist]

Loving this project so far! I'm definitely intrigued to see how the ply tanks come out

Random question after all the comments about custom tanks - could you have a tank that went around a corner? Like an L shaped one? So it could go down one wall and then along another one - like in the corner of a living room?

i've seen a corner tank like that on ebay, so i guess so.

this thread is great. brill inspiration for me, but i don't have the space. one day maybe.

 

[VickiandKev]

good job im a roofer then isn't it! haha well im a joiner but work on roofs and know a few guys here and there, actually my mate has just completed a fibre glassing course so he will know where to get hold of what ever amount i need!
i will just make a ply tank like yours and build a frame round it from steel, similar to the steel T1karmann used in his stand on his big tank, if i was to make this tank to make it worth my while it would be 12 foot long 6 foot wide and about 4 foot high, the expense would come with the glass, obviously 12x4 pieces of glass don't come easy so id plan on a 'split screen' kind of idea. it would be lined with fibre glass, as thick as i could get it, then coated with pond paint to seal it, would have steel cross braces also.
it won't be for a year or 2 so i'll watch you build your big one first! haha you going to be using 'DIY' filtration like a sump or just internals?
definitely watching this one!

Yeah - I think you need a bit of experience in the field and some contacts for things like fibreglass LOL! I wouldn't know where to start. I could probably learn but if what we're doing works, I won't mess with it lol!

I think the steel frame is a great idea - had thought of doing a wooden frame with 2x2 reinforced corners and such but not steel before. Don't know why as I've seen steel frames on tanks ....
The glass is the bigger expense with our tanks too, the plywood for one 3ft costs a tenner, the screws are pence, as is the glue, the silicone is a couple of quid (we've used less than 310ml on this one and been very generous!) and the glass is £16 for it.

On the smaller tanks we have a big 70L/min air blower so will be making some big volume air-driven box filters and using those - on the big tank, it'll be a big sump I think. I have some fairly heavy stocking in my tank to move over (lots of clown loaches and 6 cichlids that will eventually grow to 12inches long) so I need more heavy duty filtration that internals could provide. I also don't want to use up tank space for filters as it'll be the living centrepiece.

What I love about plywood tanks is being able to drill your own holes for filtration and will be making sure everything is nicely hidden in the new big tank

Loving this project so far! I'm definitely intrigued to see how the ply tanks come out

Random question after all the comments about custom tanks - could you have a tank that went around a corner? Like an L shaped one? So it could go down one wall and then along another one - like in the corner of a living room?

You could indeed make an L-shaped tank, I've seen a few around - never seen one made out of plywood, I have to admit, but, in theory, it *should* be possible! Might be something for someone to try in plywood!!

 

[coldcazzie]

Loving this project so far! I'm definitely intrigued to see how the ply tanks come out

Random question after all the comments about custom tanks - could you have a tank that went around a corner? Like an L shaped one? So it could go down one wall and then along another one - like in the corner of a living room?

You could indeed make an L-shaped tank, I've seen a few around - never seen one made out of plywood, I have to admit, but, in theory, it *should* be possible! Might be something for someone to try in plywood!!

I would be very tempted to try!

D'ya know - it had never occurred to me to build a tank from wood and line it with pond liner. I've been wondering for a while how to get the ideal tank setup from my stand in my living room - really I want 2 18x18x24 tanks to go next to each other, but didn't particularly want to have them custom made (limited funds), and wood with pond liner might solve the problem!

I'm watching your progress with much interest!

 

[VickiandKev]

Well, the OH was too impatient and tried filling the tank last night lol!

Only one leak was noticed, a tiny pinprick leak just at the bottom of the glass so we drained it all out and re-siliconed it and it's curing again. He'll probably want to fill it tonight again as 'it's been 24 hours and the instructions say 24 hours'

Got pics ....

Cutting the polystyrene

Backgrounds ready to be designed

Filling the tank (marks down the side is the resin-based wood glue lol - not water!)

The marks are wood glue on this one too!

The rather messy silicone inside

The extruded plastic angles and channels came today as well so I can do a bit more to the tank later this evening and finish up those top edges

No more progress with the other tanks - been phoning round for quotes on lighting and glass sliders and such. Got some good prices

 

[bae1994]

looks great

 

[shelaghfishface]

very well done

looking fantastic.. so when you popping round to build me one?


shelagh xxxx

 

[VickiandKev]

very well done

looking fantastic.. so when you popping round to build me one?


shelagh xxxx

When ours hold water reliably

Yeah - bit of a step backwards - I bought reinforced pond liner, not checking what it was made from ... then got all confused when the silicone failed a few days after curing ... and I mean failed big time - we had a waterfall in the kitchen lol!

Then I looked it up and found it's LDPE! The only plastic which you can't glue to anything, period. So that explains it all. We could heat-bond seams but I really can't be bothered, for the price of the liner, we may as well stop scrimping and do it properly.

We have revised our design and are using one piece of pondliner, with no seams, fitting into the base (folded at the corners), tacked, and sealed using plastic edging at the top corners ... and the glass is being sealed to the wood as on our test run, the silicone sticks as well to the plywood as the glass - we just need to make sure the silicone for the glass meets the edge of the liner and we're clear!

So test no2 is happening tomorrow - I will let you all know how we get on.

NOTE FOR ANYONE TRYING THIS: Our original design would have worked had we chosen PVC or rubber pond liner. Only PE doesn't work!

 

[coldcazzie]

Oh no! And I was going to ask what you had glued the liner with as well lol. Fingers crossed take 2 is much more water-tight!

 

[VickiandKev]

Tank attempt number 2 is holding water!!!!!

We went out and bought some 0.5mm PVC liner because we'd had enough of the stupid LDPE and this stuff is working out much better!

Tank number 2 is just sitting curing and *fingers crossed* should be holding water by tomorrow night

Backgrounds for Tank number 1 are done and just drying out - so the first tank should be up and running by the weekend which is really super exciting. Glass sliders will have to be ordered next week as I've been holding off until the tanks were water-tight.

So - this coming week we will be starting to build the third 3ft and the stands for the 2fts and 6fts to fill.
We should be looking at moving over our fishies within the next fortnight

(And will be selling our old setup for anyone interested )

Will update with piccies probably tomorrow now. Just very excited and had to post.

 

[chrisbassist]

where's the update?

 

[MrPandaram]

where's the update?

ditto....

 

[VickiandKev]

Laptop charger packed in so I'm on the netbook.
We have all 3 x 3ft tanks now built but am being extra careful on the curing with them so will be set up probably by midweek - also had to hold off setting them up prematurely as we don't have sliders for them yet and can't have the water evaporating and wrecking the ceiling in the kitchen LOL!

Got all sliders for about £90 - going for acrylic for those - same grade as tanks are made from so that's cool.

Didn't get another stand built though - I seem to have spent a lot of the week sorting out bogwood and plants and more box filters - and swapping fish-housing around. We have got to take some baby bristlies to the shop this week as it's getting silly and some are a nice chunky 1.5inches now so ready to go - may also be able to use the credit to get some goodies

Also want to paint the tanks - am trying to figure this out quickly because I don't think it's a fabulous idea to paint them once they're housing fish - even if it is the outside.

Gotta say though - the tanks looks mega smart with the top edging and the brace bar and everything, I'm trying so hard to be patient and not rush it all but I just can't wait to get the fish in and swap everything over properly!!!

I know I know though - pics!!

I think I may buy a new laptop this week (if only aquatics stores sold 'em I could use the credit for the bristlies lol!) so I will then be able to upload pics. This thing is only good for browsing the net with a magnifying glass

 

[Harlequins]

Sounding good

Can't wait to see pics

 

[VickiandKev]

Took forever to find the time to sort these pics out but here they finally are!

One of the backgrounds being made - we ended up coating in concrete and then using a concrete sealer as evidently bare concrete isn't as safe as some of the sites online would have you believe and we didn't want to take the risk

A mock-up of one of the tanks with the backgrounds in and the brace bar installed!

Then some of the 3fts finally completed - they're currently having a final week-long test run all set up with heaters and sand and decor before we move fish in, but it's going well so far. We are using acrylic sliders rather than glass and stainless steel heaters with external thermostats - very handy for changing temps!!

One without backgrounds for fry (not fun trying to catch them to sell when they hide in the rock background!)

One of the thermostats screwed to the stand

Whole setup/stand

Showing the size of the setup compared to our old one - those are 2ft and 4ft tanks on the stand opposite

So now we're onto the 2ft stand - we already have a glass tank to fit on it so need to make 2 more and then we can move all of our fish over and sell our old setup - once it's sold we can make the 6fts

It's taken a bit longer than we first anticipated but it's worth it - we're both really happy with how it's turning out

 

[Harlequins]

Looks fantastic , well done so far