DIY tank?

[Shekoi]

i'm having a moment of madness and have decided instead of buying a large tank i'll build one!!!!!!!
i've researched some pages on the net. one good page being www.garf.org
i was just wondering if anybody have experience of building a plywood/glass aquarium. i would like to know how you found the build, price and how it looks finished?
would it be cheaper to buy tank? all sites i've looked at have no pricing.

i want it to house discus or large so a large tank around 100 to 200 gallons would be nice.

 

[Dean]

usually If you can find a big tank used It will be cheaper. IMHO a plywood/glass tank will never look as good as an all glass, unless buit in the wall. If you dont have all the tools, then go used. for prices check here www.glasscages.com

 

[Shekoi]

i've found one in paper. 6ftx 2ft x2ft £200 with heaters and filters and cabinat. i think thats good deal i'm goin to have a look later on.

cheers.

 

[Cichlid Freak]

I've built a terrium before that was wooden, with a glass cut-out front, and a glass swimming area for a caimen. It was a good idea, except the caimen got to big (didn't know what I was thinking--anyway). The only problems I had was that the silicone seals didn't hold as good for some reason. I never did finish it because I wanted to see if it would leak. And sure enough it did. I had it for about 6 months and it started leaking. There wasn't even 5gal in the water side.:shake:

If I were you I think it would be easier to just build all glass. You can get the support frames from a website (can't think of the name now) and they are pretty cheap. I've contacted them on getting one for a repair job, here's his email. Twinoaks02@aol.com

Hope that helps.

 

[Monkey3277]

plywood and glass tank

I have built a plywood and glass tank. I must agree it is not as pleasing to the eye as an all glass aquarium. I used the plans on the Garf website. The main reason I did this was because I happend to have the glass plate on hand (part of an old glass top coffee table I had). It is very sound and after 2 months of running it has not leaked a drop. The one I built is 75 gallons.

All I had invested in it is 2 inch screws, a sheet of 3/4 plywood, and fiberglass resin. It now houses some comet goldfish that will soon go into an outdoor pond. It was fun to build and only took me a couple weekends. You can do more to make it look better like create a 3d background, but I must admit personally I like the looks of an all glass or acrylic tank.