hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

[Lomax]

some of you should know me

if anyone needs help or has question about large plywood tanks just ask.



this is my old 600g tank when it was almost finished and my 150g tall tank
the 600g has a styrofoam and cement background



Filled for the first time, no leaks at this time but the glass installers droped the front glass one inch as they were putting it in.
it started to leak around the front frame about 8 months later.



my 600g in its prime after the first leaks were fixed, had 3 trios of breeding featherfins



after the leak started i used epoxy putty and a fish safe liquid expanding polurathane to seal the leaks
tank lasted for 13 months after this and i had a power outage for 3 days and the water cooled off to 70
when temp got back to 86 is started to leak again. that was the end of the 600g and the 150g as i had a plan to use the 150g glass to make
my 750g post and beam tank.



the beginning of the 750g post and beam, called that because it was made from 4x4 lumber with plywood framed into the 4x4 windows.



just before i filled the 750g tank for the first time



750g post and beam in its prime, after only two years of running i had to sell all the fish and take a chain saw to it as i sold the house.
the new owners did not want it and the tank was too big and heavy to move.

I then moved from Long Island NY to Friendswood Texas, i bought a 220g but it sits unfilled as it is just too small



this is the tank i would like to copy for my next big tank, very tall tank set low on the floor.

[ROB281]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

sweeet, I always thought about just building my own, but that will have to wait until I own my own house and have stable floors

[eklikewhoa]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

So is that Amano's tank you plan to replicate?

Do post a step-by-step when you start that one!


Welcome to the box btw!

[Armadillo_Del_Rio]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

those are great, i would like to see more...

[PhishPhreek]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

verry nice backgrounds - are they dificult to make ?

[sproett]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

That is so awesome.  It's so cool to see people try something different.

[Spot86t]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

Yay! Now I'm not the only one here from Long Island!!  Been in Texas since '82.

Born in Long Beach, still have relatives there.

I'd planned on building a 2' x 4' x 2' plywood tank.  Have gotten the plywood, fishsafe epoxy, silicone, but not sure what glue to use (thinking gorilla should work fine).  I sure wouldn't mind some pointers and/or advice...

[Mzungu]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

Very nice! Which ones do you currently have running?

[Lomax]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

yes its Amano`s tank, before i got into cichlids i was a planted tank guy. i was thinking about doing it with rocks piled up to the surface, the biggest problem is finding the right glass. because of the glass expense i will do only the front side and have it on a 1 foot platform, this way i can spread the weight out.

The backgrounds are very easy to do, but the planning is hard. what i was trying to do is replicate the lake bottom as close as possible. i used styrofoam and cement with cement coloring to do the background in the 600g, i had 12 real rocks in the tank
and i matched them with the fake ones.

the backgrond on the 750g was done in fiberglass cloth that i molded over real rocks and mixed craft colored sand into the epoxy to paint them.

i just moved to Houston last august and been doing lots of work on the house, i got a very cheap 220g tall off of craigslist for 400$ with stand and hood. its not perfect the stand has some damage and the hood shows some water marks and the tank has crack in the bottom that was patched. i tested it and it held water for 3 weeks so i know the repair is ok, still its just not as cool as my big tanks. I also liked that i made my tanks, so it gave me more joy in running them.

I do not have a job yet i am just working on the house, i sold out of long isand with enough money to buy the house with cash and have about 100k left over to fix it and live on. problem is it is more expensive to live here then i thought and my money is going much faster then i hoped. so i do not know if i will stay in this house or sell for a profit and move. because of this i am not sure if i want to build anouther big tank that i can not move, it killed me when i had to cut up the 750g.

so for now i have a empty 220g sitting in my dinning room and i am looking for glass to make a big tank again. if i find a good deal on the glass i will just give in and make the tank.

[HFBfounder]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

cool

[Lomax]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

Yay! Now I'm not the only one here from Long Island!!  Been in Texas since '82.

Born in Long Beach, still have relatives there.

I'd planned on building a 2' x 4' x 2' plywood tank.  Have gotten the plywood, fishsafe epoxy, silicone, but not sure what glue to use (thinking gorilla should work fine).  I sure wouldn't mind some pointers and/or advice...

that is a strange tank shape, i feel any tank under about 200g is cheaper to buy used then make. but you have all the stuff so give it a try. the gorilla glue is the water proof polyurathane glue and is fine to use, i used it on my 600g but switched to loctite glue.

I was born in Russia and moved to long island when i was 5 and was there for 34 years :) so if i mis spell any words its because i am a dyslexic and english is my second language  

[Armadillo_Del_Rio]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

a russian cool, i was allways wanting to go ther but money money... that demon... is allways in the way... never been to Long island but i met some russians in San Fransisco.

have you thought about arcylic? maybe easirer to use and cheaper?

[naps]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

Nice tanks!! 8)  8)  8)

[Lomax]

Re: hello just showing a few of my DIY tanks

arcylic and plywood do not mix, no one has come up with a way to seal a arcylic front to the plywood. silicone does not stick to arcylic, i thought about a rubber gasket but never got to test it.

from what i learned from my parents, i would not want to go back to Russia even for vacation. I am so glad my kids grew up in this country, if all i have to worry about is if i can make a new huge tank life is good!