# Building 8 foot tank



## joker1535

I bought all my supplies for my build. I am making a 8 foot tank by 24 wide and 18 high. It is designed for my oscars. Long and low. First i need to extend my 6 foot stand by a couple feet. 
This tank will not see any epoxy. Its All made out of wood and finished on the inside with glass. Thinner glass on the sides on back supported by my frame and a wide and thick 8 feet piece of glass on the front. 
If this is a success I will make these tanks again to sell or custom make on request. 
Il add as many pics as I can during my project. 
Wish me luck fish friends!


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## Immus21

Good luck and keep us posted! If everything works out with it I may be one of your first customers.... ;-)


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## FishFreaks

wow!!! great idea cant wait to see your progress!!!!!!!
lots of pics and description please


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

Make very sure that your stand is absolutely flat and level. You should add a layer or two of 8' long plywood and probably some foam insulation as insurance. Otherwise, if its even a little off, you risk having the tank crack at the joint and over 100g on your floor.


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## hondas3000

Great idea on build but very risky with thin glass on the inside, but its depend on how thin you go. You will never get even flat surface for your inside frame so a little uneven the glass will break. I was thinking about the same idea but with thin acrylic and 1" acrylic for front view. So looking forward with your update so I get can more idea for my build later.


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## davefrombc

I agree with hondas.. It would be far wiser and less expensive to only use glass for the viewing pane , and use fiberglass cloth and resin to line the tank. I think you will head yourself to disaster trying to line the tank with thin glass. Good luck with your build.


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## -DC-

I have too agree, sorry but the plan is quite flawed could work but it's alot of wasted material and money. Seal the wood use a glass pane in the front, and at 18" it will not need too be very thick at all on the front, even fairly thin glass will hold that pressure back quite easily. 

The glass on the back and sides on a tank made of wood seems very impractical, and much more expensive and risky then other options available. Come too think of it if your paying for glass why bother paying for all that wood and glue and screws? Why not just do all glass ? Your additional length and width doesn't matter, it's the height you need too watch for glass thickness. Glass as thick as a 33g will hold back 100g or 1000g as long as the tanks still only 18" tall. What thickness of glass did you buy ?

I hate too say it but it sounds like a bit more research is needed on the subject before you should build this tank, 

hondas3000, same goes for 1" is HUGE over kill, and would likely cost more then appropriate sized acrylic for the whole tank! 


Personally i like the Zavlar tank look when building with ply goes on black fades too a deep brown color under water also conveniently cheap and easy too apply then glass sin the front! I have a 240 built this way now, will be building a 1200g the same way soon. If building acrylic or glass on all sides too avoid sealing the wood, then Don't use wood lol


Completely pointless to use both your basically paying too build a tank that sits in a wood box !


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## joker1535

Thanks for all your replies guys. The Reason why I'm building this tank out of wood is because of the custom size. 
And your all completely right, going with thin glass on the back and sides was a bad idea. I guess I need to seal the wood with something. 
To all plywood kings out there. What a good product? Should I use epoxy or paintable rubber?


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## joker1535

That zalvar looks pretty good. Who sells that stuff?


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## -DC-

I vote paintable rubber , can vouch that it works great.

My current ply tank has it, brand name is Zavlar can be purchased at most local hardware stores. My current tank is several years old, it went from a ray tank then was emptied used as a cage for a bearded dragon, so under dry conditions with headlamps for a year or so, then just wiped down with a cloth, refilled and not a single leak, has been running 2 years since that dry spurt and still no issues. Works well enough that i'm building a 16' tank out of it!

EDIT: posted at the same time lol, specifically i know home hardware now carries it, but i'm sure any hardware store can get it


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## -DC-

too give you an idea what it'll look like here's mine, older pic but it's bare bottom back then so gives you a good look , color matches natural driftwood.

this tanks 36" wide 24" tall. Very simple design basically just a plywood box, cut a hole in the front piece of ply for the pane of glass and a couple hols in the top too stick a lid on, paint, insert glass and fill with water.


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## hondas3000

joker1535 said:


> That zalvar looks pretty good. Who sells that stuff?


There is only one place in aldergrove that sell zalvar and you can find the address on of distributor on zalvar website. I personally don't like either zalvar or epoxy because I have try both the product with my plywood tank build and it doesn't last more then 2 years for me. Epoxy will give a fine hair crack line and zalvar you have to reseal them once in awhile and you really need a thick coat of it to do a job. It also melt or get sticky to substrate or other decorate you have in the tank. I once have a heater touch the bottom of the zalvar and it melt the stuff and zalvar doesn't bond well like it mention.


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## AWW

Go Acrylic. Em plastics is the way to go. I ordered my acrylic last week....


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## -DC-

hondas is correct zavlar if rubber thus it can melt, i keep my heaters in the sump so it doesn't effect me but it if applied it will last years, and i don't notice it sticking too other tank. 

ects, the heavy rocks or driftwood do leave an imprint in it but nothing breaks the seal,


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## davefrombc

If you use thin woven fiberglass cloth and resin you can seal, and at the same time reinforce the corners, the tank while mixing in any colour you want for the tank. I found epoxy will craze ( small cracks) if used alone.. The glass cloth reinforced resin will not crack and will last indefinitely .. I have one plywood tank made with glass cloth and resin that is over 20 years old .. It is empty at the moment , but remains in as good condition as it was newly made .


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## hondas3000

davefrombc said:


> If you use thin woven fiberglass cloth and resin you can seal, and at the same time reinforce the corners, the tank while mixing in any colour you want for the tank. I found epoxy will craze ( small cracks) if used alone.. The glass cloth reinforced resin will not crack and will last indefinitely .. I have one plywood tank made with glass cloth and resin that is over 20 years old .. It is empty at the moment , but remains in as good condition as it was newly made .


its true, fiberglass is the best option in my opinion as well. If acrylic is out of my budget for next year build I would go with fiberglass as well. Its stink and harder to work with but at least it the cloth will hold it together.


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## joker1535

Where is fiberglass and resin available? So many products to choose from. I want to use the strongest product available that lasts long.


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## davefrombc

RV and Marine supply stores will have a large selection of fiberglass materials and colourants. Fiberglass is used extensively in both industries. Most hardware and building supply stores will also carry it. Fiberglass is also a popular deck covering material .


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## joker1535

Some updates on my stand build and stand extension .


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## charles

you can pack a car or a van on top of that stand.


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## tony1928

That's looking pretty awesome. Obviously you have some woodworking skills! I'd make sure you leave some ventilation below for heat and (mainly) moisture to escape.


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## gklaw

charles said:


> you can pack a car or a van on top of that stand.


Look like a good place to send a naughty kid  And you will need ventilation for them :lol:

On the serious side:

It looks like it is on wood floor.

Just make sure the wood floor is as strong as the stand - may not need to be quite as strong; particularly if the floor joists runs parallel to the length of your tank.

LOOKS AWESOME !


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic

Wow, looks like overkill with the vertical supports. :bigsmile:

A car sounds about right.


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## djamm

wow looks good so far!

Stand looks great. I agree that it will hold tons....literally.


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## taureandragon76

if your still looking for the resin I have an untouched gallon of gelcoat, black tint and the hardener. I have had for over a year now but should still be good as I haven't opened anything, shoot me a message if your interested.


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## joker1535

Cabinet stained and coated with waterprotect paint. Ready for my 8 footer.


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## tomascw

wait to see it!


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## joker1535

Update on tank build


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## joker1535

I've heard GE silicone 1 for doors and windows is aquarium safe. Can anyone back that up??? Want to use it to install glass and silicone corners. 

By the way I just finished my fiberglass cloth install. What a pita job!


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## gklaw

I believe Roger's used to sell that for aquarium use. The only thing to watch out is not to use the bathtub silicon which contains chemicals to resist mildew.

The glass shop usually use a higher quality silicon sealant/adhesive. I would use that over any aquarium silicon. I used to use a lot of Dow Corning 999 but have not done much lately. I was told by the rep that Sea World uses it.


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## joker1535

Latest update. Ended up being a 200 gallon tank. Will be a saltwater setup. Glass is going in next week and am setting up filters and rockwork now.


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## tony1928

Wow that's a huge viewing window! Can't wait to see it all set up. Great diy.


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## jcgd

Don't use GE silicone or similar for aquariums. While it is safe, it is a sealant, not an adhesive. A product like rvt108 is much stronger and suited for the job.


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## 2wheelsx2

Not sure how I missed this. So did it end up being fiberglass?


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## joker1535

2wheelsx2 said:


> Not sure how I missed this. So did it end up being fiberglass?


Epoxy resin + fiberglass cloth + epoxy paint. Glass goes in very soon.


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## blazingazn

Cool keep us updated whenever any more progress is made!


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## joker1535

Just got my glass in. I went for tempered glass because of it's incredible strength. But they cut the glass a bit too big. But I got it in. Just hope I am going to be ok. It is under a bit of pressure. :| ??


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## mcrocker

My theory(based only on theory not experience) is that the outward pressure from the water would reduce or eliminate the pressure you are describing.

Most tanks have some degree of flex, so I'm thinking that when filled your tank would not have any pressure in that direction so it wouldn't be a threat to your box. Tempered glass probably flexes less than untempered, but the flex is still probably pretty significant in an 8 foot tank. When the glass is bowed out it will be pulling in the opposite direction.


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## dean9922

are you going to put cross pieces for bow support at the top of the tank....I have done 2 4 foot plywood tanks similar to yours and I used plywood pieces about a 1/4 down from the top so I could put a glass cover on it, out of sight to help reduce humidity. It worked well for about 1 1/2 years but then the plywood started to seperate. I took those out and went to a plastic place and got 2 2/3 inch X 3 1/2 inch cross pieces and have not had a problem since.....


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## joker1535

Updated picture


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## joker1535

Test fill-up tonight.


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## joker1535

Test fill up


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## 2wheelsx2

Very nice. Hope it holds and there are no problems.


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## djamm

getting close now....will you have it setup this week?

what's left? Looks great!!!


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## Slopster

That looks awesome, I've been thinking of building one just not sure yet and i'm thinking a bit bigger than 8', is there any flex on the front at all??

looks great..


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## joker1535

None whatsoever. 2 steel center braces hold it together. Is actually set up since Tuesday. Some odds and ends to finish. Il post a picture soon


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