Building your tank from WOOD???

HI,
I have been pondering this idead for quite a while.

If you refer to the link below:
http://www.jonolavsakvarium.com/eng_diy/2200litre/2200litres.html

How possible do you think and cost effective will this be?
I am thinking to do the same, then house a couple of massice cats and some big cihlids and a Clown knife or two?? And a Arowana.

Any Comments?

My big issue is as always in thsi case... WATERPROOFING!!?

 

I have seen a lot of articles on the net about wooden tanks and they can be sealed in a number of ways, pond lining paint, fiberglassing etc.

 

Hi Jodyc,

A lot of boats are made with wood, and then sealed with a good quality marine varnish. Whether the varnish is non-toxic to fish is another story.

As long as you use a good quality wood (marine ply???) you shouldn't have a problem. The waterproofing, as I've said could be a marine varnish. The problem could be sealing the joints. You have to bear in mind that silicon doesn't actually bond to wood!

 

HI,

Thanks for the quick replies.
I was thinking of using normal Pine wood, and then using epoxy and fiberglass to do the sealing ???

 

I would rather build a nice big pool/pond for the large fish...

 

I just think that with the tank, displayed in the link, taht I can view the fish better, not?

 

Yes true. but if you build a high 1 you can add a rock scape with a glass view between rocks if you know what i mean. My concern would be the strength of that tank...

 

yip, i know exactly what you mean.
I will read up on strength some more though.

 

Looks tempting though?

 

Just think about it

1 x viewing pane (1inch safety glass)

Tank = 2.5m X 1m X 1m

Mmmmmmm.... Magic

 

well - my tank is pretty close to that - 2.5 X80 X90 - viewable from 3 sides

 

Glass, tank that size, is quite expensive
I got a quote on a 2 X 80 X 80, with a sumo, excluding stand for R7000

Thats why I started thinking about building my own thing

 

Whats the steel tubing size for the stand?

My tank is 12mm glass with a stand made from 75mm steel tubing galvanized and powder coated - set me back 10k in total - oh and a 1.5m sump

 

See, 10K is quite a lot, hey
who made your tank?
I will probably want to go the same route with the stand as you did

 

if you have owned a marine tank 10K isnt that much

One of the local cape town shops made it for me

 

Most of the wood-based tanks I've read about are sealed with a pond sealant, therefore safe for fish. Ultimately it's cheaper than building or buying a glass tank, but you should really know what you're doing beforehand to avoid any mistakes.

 

there was a guy on MASA that build a talk from wood - the problem is that fact that you need to use marine ply and it bulges from the water presure

 

with regards to the pressure, it can all be sorted out with proper bracing all round the tank (take note - ALL AROUND) except for the viewing panel. if you go to monsterfishkeepers.com, a lot of them have built tanks from marine ply and they have said that as long as you account for weight and pressure.

 

I tottaly agree, before I discovered this site, I was on MFK for about 4 years

If you go to the start of this thread, you will see on the link I posted that support all round is being used.