Pies Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 Thickness glass. 12+mm. Filteration. I think Ira is on a 'sump kick' at the moment, but since he has not used one I would consider this option very carefully. Not that I am against a sump, but it requires some planing. I have been helping Caryl design one and she now understands some of the difficulties and problems in running one. After that being said, a sump is a good, cost efficient and practical option. Just understand the poblems before blindly going down the sump route. Also hard to answer the question of filteration without knowing what it is exactly you are planing on keeping. Personally I am a 'more is better' person, my 4ft runs 4 cansiter filters. Some may say its overkill but its looks great, the water is crystal clear and there is little to no algae. So its all good. I also feed this HEAVLY OVERSTOCKED tank about 6-10 times a day. Good luck with your tank project. Pieman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 I'm on a "Not cannister filters" kick. Which makes sumps pretty much the only alternative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 According to the glass thickness calculator in the 'Articles' section of the website, you need glass 12.58mm or thicker. This assumes a saftey factor of 3.8 (recommended by the glass manufacturer). 12mm would be ok. 10mm will give a minimum saftey factor of 2.4 x the glass breaking strength and is probably safe enough. Most aquariums available at petshops only have saftey factors of around 2-2.4 The Front, Back and Bottom should probably be 12mm. The ends can be 10mm. The front to side butt-joint should be double thickness giving a 20mm wide glue join (use a 50mm wide strip full height). So should the bottom front and back edges. There should be a 100mm wide (min) 10mm glass rim around the top inside of the tank with 2 braces 200mm wide or 3 braces 150mm wide front to back. Tanks built like this don't break unless the glass wasn't cleaned and glued properly or the tank is on an unlevel base. My tank is L2400 x H650 x W820 and is 25 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted March 4, 2004 Report Share Posted March 4, 2004 For filters I'd go with a trickle / sump type - its far more cost effective for the amount of filtration you get. To keep a tank that size clean you'll need to turn over at least 4000L/hr, maybe even 6000L/hr. I turn over 6000L/hr on a 1100 tank. It would take at least 4 Fluval 404's to equal this at $1000+ You can put it above the tank and use gravity to return the water. If you use this method, you drill the filter and put the pump in the tank. Advantages; no worries about the sump overflowing if the pump stops, low micron prefilters can be used to get very clean water. Disadvantage; if the filter blocks you get a very wet floor and an empty tank. If it goes as a sump below the tank then you drill the tank and put the pump in the sump. Advantages; tank has not pump in it, tank cannot empty if the power fails. Disadvantages; cannot use low micron prefilters, sump can overflow if the pump stops. Correct sizing of the sump will fix this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatBrat Posted March 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Thanks for all the help/seggestions for the filter and glass, I have another question, how thick would you recomend for the thickness of the plywood? Would 19mm be ok or should it be thicker? Cheers, CatBrat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Yep, 19mm will be fine. You'll need to use a good quality ply though, not packing grade. Marine ply would probably be best... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatBrat Posted March 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Thanks a lot, I'm starting to price out the tank at the moment. Is marine ply a lot more expensive than other stuff? Cheers, CatBrat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interfecus Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Apparently marine ply is very expensive. I don't know how much though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisha Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 marine ply is very expensive Catbrat, but if you now any builders you can sometimes get there off cuts which occasionally can be quite large ( my partner is a builder). Failing that if we have any left over from making the three foot stand i will let you know and you can come and get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatBrat Posted March 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Thanks alisha, My brother in law is a builder so I will have a talk to him. Thanks a lot for the offer though. Cheers, CatBrat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisha Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 catbrat, even if he does not have any off cuts he may have a trade account at somewhere like mitre 10 which could give you a reasonable discount. Good luck with the tank and keep us informed on how it goes. Would be very intrested to see the final outcome (and it maybe another way to convince the partner that we should have another tank) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 As mentioned above a trickle filter would be the way to go for filtration of a tank this big. I recently built a trickle filter that does approx 3000-4000L/hr for about $250. Pretty resonable I thought, and works well both mechanically and biologically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Posted March 15, 2004 Report Share Posted March 15, 2004 Hi Midas I would love some more info on your trickle filter - plans, etc! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatBrat Posted March 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 I was thinking about how to colour the background of a tank like this and I thought that one of just plain black would look OK. My question is could I paint the plywood and then coat the paint with apoxy or would this effect the water tightness of it and make the tank more prone to leaks? Midas - I would also like some more info on your filter if you be able to give us any. Cheers, CatBrat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 One of our club members has a home-made corner tank for sale - it holds 500 litres and comes complete with around 80 - 100 Africans. It is ply with a front window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 The best way to seal a ply tank and add extra strength is to firbeglass it on the inside. Use a chopstrand mat and polyester resin. You can cover this with gelcoat to get any colour you want. I did mine matt black which looks gloss black with water in it. The drawback with black is the tank is very dark unless you have heaps of plants. I only used black in mine to get a big contrast from the background to the plants... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatBrat Posted March 31, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 Hi, I have been doing some more thinking and I have some more questions. 1) Would I need to seal the outside of the tank with anything? It will most likly get wet at some stage and I thought that this may effecct the plywood(warping it some how). 2) Where is the best place to buy apoxy and fiberglass matting from? I also found this link on a really cool DIY background. Its got some great ideas. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... 42&start=0 Cheers, CatBrat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted March 31, 2004 Report Share Posted March 31, 2004 If you use marine ply it will be ok with the odd splash. It will look a lot nicer if its painted. I stained mine a dark colour which also brought out the grain. I then varnished it to seal the wood. Epoxy resin and matting is available from boat builders, pool makers etc. If you buy it from retailers you'll pay nearly double. The materials for my 3m tank cost about $250 to give you some idea. I paid trade price for mine because I didn't know anyone who could get me a better price. The key to keeping the cost down in any project is knowing someone who can help you get a better price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatBrat Posted April 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 Would the tank need to sit on a sheet of polystrine as glass tanks do, or would it be able to sit stright on top of a stand? Cheers, CatBrat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted April 6, 2004 Report Share Posted April 6, 2004 Why have a stand? You're building a tank from scratch so it's easy to integrate what would be the stand as part of the tank... If you do have a stand, as long as the bottom of the tank is made from ply you won't need poly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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