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Post by drinkardj on Nov 25, 2012 16:15:10 GMT -6
I'm planning on an 80 or 90 gallon plywood build. This is a stupid question but i was wondering as far as epoxy and resin and liquid rubbers go i cant afford these products, so i was curious what if i siliconed the crap out of the wood just a thick layer spread it around? or are there any affordable liquid rubber or sealants i can purchase at Lowe's or home depot or walmart. i love diy projects and would love to build my first aquarium but glass and plexiglass are hard to find in Carroll county tn.
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Post by mototech745 Mike on Nov 25, 2012 16:58:14 GMT -6
Wow how about a old pool liner. check with a pool company for a warrentty claim. you could always cut my boss's pool liner i would help.
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Post by tpindell on Nov 25, 2012 17:43:56 GMT -6
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Post by davidtcb1 on Nov 25, 2012 18:03:30 GMT -6
Wow how about a old pool liner. check with a pool company for a warrentty claim. you could always cut my boss's pool liner i would help. LOL
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Post by drinkardj on Nov 25, 2012 18:24:05 GMT -6
never thought about pool liner, that would probably be my cheapest bet
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Post by davidtcb1 on Nov 26, 2012 18:49:19 GMT -6
I haven't done much research on these plywood aquariums. Seems scary to me.
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Post by AlanM on Nov 26, 2012 19:02:44 GMT -6
I don't mean to be critical but what is the purpose of a plywood aquarium? It seems to me that it has none of the advantages of a glass or plastic one (visibility of the fish for instance) and all of the disadvantages (weight, possibility of leaks, no cover). For what it will cost to build one and attempt to get it sealed (probably unsuccessfully), you could buy a regular aquarium. What am I missing?
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Post by davidtcb1 on Nov 26, 2012 19:05:29 GMT -6
I don't mean to be critical but what is the purpose of a plywood aquarium? It seems to me that it has none of the advantages of a glass or plastic one (visibility of the fish for instance) and all of the disadvantages (weight, possibility of leaks, no cover). For what it will cost to build one and attempt to get it sealed (probably unsuccessfully), you could buy a regular aquarium. What am I missing? I've always thought the same. There's a lot of people that try them though.
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Post by ree123 on Nov 27, 2012 0:10:48 GMT -6
There was a paperback booklet published back in the 70's I believe, that was all about building such a tank, with specific instructions and pictures. I want to say it was a TFH publication. I have a copy in one of my old fish magazine boxes, but haven't fished it out in years to gauk over.
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Post by AlanM on Nov 27, 2012 6:55:31 GMT -6
"FISHed it out" That's funny there.
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Post by ree123 on Nov 27, 2012 15:28:46 GMT -6
I din't even realize I made a funny. LoL !
Why did we use to build these tanks ? It was popular enough once upon a time, some 50 years ago, that a book was written about it though.
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Post by drinkardj on Nov 29, 2012 17:07:09 GMT -6
i've done some searching and honestly its cheaper to build considering my area. acrylic is only at lowes around here and its only 1/8 thich and the visibility would be fine using one large viewing window for the front and two small ones for the side. only part that wont be visible is the back. i just have to have a 75 gallon pretty soon and the only ones ive found are at my local lfs and there beyond expensive. noone in my area keeps fish and if they do they only got like a ten or twenty gal to sell
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Post by AlanM on Nov 29, 2012 19:54:05 GMT -6
Yeah, I see you're pretty far from major cities. Good luck on your project.
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Post by mruble on Nov 30, 2012 4:22:03 GMT -6
I live in Paris and have a bad 75 gallon and 100 gallon. Each tank has a cracked pane - 100 gallon in the front, 75 gallon in the back (each tank has the back pane painted). May be cheaper to repair one of these tanks and the price is pretty good - FREE! If you are interested, let me know - they are headed for the dump within the next five days.
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Post by jgentry on Nov 30, 2012 8:25:07 GMT -6
Most people that do a plywood builds are building 1000+ gallon tanks. You can build one for a few thousand compared to 50000 for an acrylic one that size. If all you need is a 75-100 gallon tank you are much better off just buying a glass one. You might have to drive a ways but you can get a used tank for under $100 if you shop around.
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