193 gallon plywood build thread

please take pics of the whole glass sealing process. I know how to do the build but still a little unsertain on how to seal the glass the best. thanks.

P.S. Just bought a 55g tank for my sump, and I get the wood to start my build next week.

Not sure how big you are going for a sump, but Petco will have 55g glass tanks on sale for $79.99 starting on Sunday.

 

Infantry, I have a 75g sump already set up for sump use. All the glass baffles are all in place and it was used as a sump on a 210g setup.

As to the glass, see, you put these little rubber bumpers on the glass in a couple spots where it gets all sealed in silicone, like 10 or so for my build. that will keep the silicone from gooping out too much, but still allowing a nice compression to happen. I figure maybe like 100 lbs evenly dispersed across the glass area will be fine.

The silicone work is fast and crazy. You don't have much time to get the glass in place since it takes a little bit to get it dispensed everywhere it needs to be. After the glass has set up, in like a day, then you use more silicone to get the seal as a compression seal around the outside and the inside where the silicone did not go.

Hope that description helps.

I got another coat on the edges just like the last pic. I will coat the rest of the outside of the tank with the remaining epoxy, and hopefully I can epoxy paint early next week.

Today it is not so hot, and it is humid, so the epoxy takes a long time to set up well, even in thin coats.

I did cut out the wall behind the bar where the tank is going. I have a little electrical work to do, with moving a couple switches, but that won't be too hard. I just hate drywall work.

 

okay stupid ? but ive never seen this actually done before(aka the build in progress) but what do you line the side of wood with? some type of pond liner?

 

The wood is "lined" with several coats of epoxy, and epoxy paint.

 

Yep, the wood is fiberglassed in spots, covered in several layers of epoxy, then several layers of epoxy paint. Looking inside the tank, it takes a very sharp eye to even remotely tell the tank is plywood once it's finished and set up. Plus the epoxy makes it borderline indestructable.

Please post some pics of when you install the glass and I'll be picture free

 

Oh, you will get your pictures alright!

I got the stand completed and primed, I will paint it tomorrow. (and post pics)

The primer stinks. Way worse than the epoxy does. Wait til I epoxy paint it. That smells like car paint.

I am down the 2 sides to coat in epoxy completely, and a couple edges on like the overflow box. I have maybe 2 batches of epoxy left. Then it will be epoxy paint time. From there on it will all be black shiny goodness. I would say the tank weighs about 15-20 lbs heavier than before I started to epoxy it. Still, with glass in it, it will be an easy 2 man operation to get it in the basement. Although I will have beer for many more that 2 people when that day comes... Soon enough...

I need to get my bulkheads for the overflow return so I can attach that to the tank with screws and silicone.

The epoxy paint process should go pretty quickly.

 

I sooo can't wait till this bad boy get filled with water and goodies.sounds like its going well so far.looking forward to the new pics..

 

Stand is completed and painted nice shiny black, just like the tank will be.



My black sweetwater epoxy paint will be here Tomorrow, and I can finally finish the last batch of epoxy off now that it is going to be non fall temperatures again this week. LOL

 

Sir.... I dont see a beer in that picture (like in the beginning of your thread)

 

LOL!!!!

I have been drinking rum and Dr Pepper as of late. I know better than to bring those out to the garage.