Great build! I am planning a plywood build and have a question I hope you can help me with. I want to build 10'L x 24"D x 28"T. There would be 4" of tank before the viewing panel starts. Iwant a thick substrate base and don't need to see all of it. To keep a low budget I'm looking 24"x48"x½" acrylic. One full piece and two cut down to 36". So the question is would ½" be thick enough? It would have bracing between the panels as well as top and bottom. Thanks
Posted this question on your epoxy video but not sure if you will see it! On the sherwin william site, they have "Macropoxy 646 fast cure epoxy" as well as "Macropoxy 646-100". Do you know what the difference is? based on my research of the two data sheets, the 646-100 has lower VOC, advertises abrasion resistance. I realized mine is the macropoxy 646 fast cure without the "100". Wondering if I need to exchange this. Also, the product sheet for the 646-100 also recommends against tinting for immersion use. Have you been tinting yours to get black or just using the mill white?
I would avoid pressure treated wood. It generally has a tremendously high moisture content, which makes it very soft. Wet wood is like 10% the strength of dry wood. Even if it is fully dry there isn't really any benefit
Perdón mi español es malo. Esta es principalmente la computadora Dije en el video: "No sé si esto es seguro a largo plazo, esto es una prueba". Todavía no recomiendo esta marca de sellador. Es un epoxi a base de agua de una tienda de pintura local.
Hello, my name is Mike I just subscribed to your channel. I am really enjoying the good info you provide. If you don't mind I would like to ask a few questions. My first question is what thickness of glass or plexiglass would you recommend for a 370-gallon plywood aquarium? And do you recommend any company that sells the glass or plexiglass? Thank you very much for any advice or info you can provide. Have a good day!
My experience with shipping glass/acrylic is generally that the price makes it not worth shopping online. The sole exception was the acrylic windows that I got for my biggest tank, which happen to be a set size and many of them were $15 because they were on a clearance. Weird sizes aside, I get the best prices at one of the local shops here. There are 5 glass shops in town, and one of them is about 40% cheaper than the others for large custom cut glass, so it's definitely worth shopping around. To calculate glass or acrylic thickness you have to know what the actual window size will be. For example, an 96(length)x36(width)x24(height) tank could get away with 0.35" glass, while a 35(l)x36(w)x36(h) tank needs at least 0.75" glass for the same safety factor, but both tanks would be 370ish gallons.
@@MischiefandFins can I please ask you a question, I will build a plywood tank 8x4x4 and I want the front acrylic window to have a full display of 3x7. Do you think it's safe to use an 1.25 in acrylic thickness? Or what thickness would you recommend on your personal opinion and I'm planning to water seal it with macropoxy 646, do you recommend to put the strips of fiberglass mat on all the seems where plywood meet? Thank you for taking the time in answering questions and for the great info...
That is correct, there is no bracing for this tank. It is only 24 inches tall, so there isn't much room for flexing. Shallow tanks made with 3/4" plywood don't really need inner frames or bracing to be in the 2-4x safety factor range. The inner space is around 300 gallons, but it's only about 75% full since my mangroves are still short. A complete fill doesn't really bow anything at all, but that can vary depending on the strength of plywood used. Tanks like this are quite easy to add a few top supports to later if the need arises, but in this case I accidentally grabbed the wrong window (24 inches tall rather than the 23.5 inch tall one I meant to grab) and just didn't feel like pulling it out, swapping it, etc, so the window is slightly too high to easily add a support without a top framing lip, which I just can't be bothered to make As a general rule all of my tanks are run through CAD simulations for water pressure, so I'd definitely suggest using bracing in your own designs if you aren't able to do a virtual test of strength first to verify that you're safe.
Excellent thank you so much. I am going to use 3/4” plywood on my build, but after watching Joey’s video on his plywood tank with all the additional bracing , I wasn’t sure if it was really required or not. He used an external brace around the perimeter of the tank, with top bracing which I thought was bit of an overkill. P.S you’re one of the best RUclipsrs for providing in depth detail on builds. Keep up the great work!
I started with great stuff pond foam, since it's black, but the can was old and it wasn't expanding right, so I switched to regular great stuff foam. Down side to the regular stuff is it leaves a gross oil slick on the water for the first week or so. Plus it's a really bright yellow, so it has to be covered up
I'm actually just leaving this one with the water based stuff as a long term test. It's been a couple of months at this point (yeah, I'm way behind) and it's still looking good, which is positive. There are plants and fish at this point, I'm just waiting for a bit of grow in before doing a follow up I'll still be using a better epoxy on the pacu tank when I get to it.
@@johnnyphive4083 I've never really recommended v430 as an option except for people who have to do their project inside. I do recommend it over "pond armor," but that is not and has never been a full recommendation. I generally recommend macropoxy 646, corotech v400, or some other polyamide if it's possible to seal the project outside (they have fumes you don't want to breath). There are 100% solids polyamide epoxies on the market and they are a better choice. V430 is OK, it's just not at as flexible and its harder to apply to vertical surfaces than some other options.
Liquid rubber coatings just don't work well, not because there's major issues with them as a waterproofing, but because silicone doesn't stick. Liquid rubber silicone replacements (like Lexel) tend to be tank safe after curing (which can take weeks) but they don't have the same ability to withstand water pressure, so when I've used it I've had leaks. I generally recommend people only use rubber coatings if you're skiing a pond, it really mucks up window installation.
Mischief and Fins thanks for the reply, I went with sanitred because I got 50 percent off, an yes I agree silicone did not still well to it, I’ve now went the route of using no silicone just the sanitred between the window then all around with better results, hindsight I maybe would have went a different route but I’m here now. Anyway thanks for the videos they help a lot!!!!
@@JoshLandisAquariums Glad you got it working! I've heard a couple people on monsterfish suggest doing something similar, with going up over the edge of the glass itself with the rubber to seal everything in, but I haven't ever seen any updates on how it turned out. Long term updates on that could be interesting, just to get a few extra points of data on how it holds up, cause I get questions about rubber coatings a lot and have never actually heard anyone say how it's working a year later.
Great build! I am planning a plywood build and have a question I hope you can help me with. I want to build 10'L x 24"D x 28"T. There would be 4" of tank before the viewing panel starts. Iwant a thick substrate base and don't need to see all of it. To keep a low budget I'm looking 24"x48"x½" acrylic. One full piece and two cut down to 36". So the question is would ½" be thick enough? It would have bracing between the panels as well as top and bottom. Thanks
amazing thanks for sharing pls more
Posted this question on your epoxy video but not sure if you will see it! On the sherwin william site, they have "Macropoxy 646 fast cure epoxy" as well as "Macropoxy 646-100". Do you know what the difference is? based on my research of the two data sheets, the 646-100 has lower VOC, advertises abrasion resistance. I realized mine is the macropoxy 646 fast cure without the "100". Wondering if I need to exchange this. Also, the product sheet for the 646-100 also recommends against tinting for immersion use. Have you been tinting yours to get black or just using the mill white?
Is there any benefit to using pressure treated wood for the aquarium and stand?
I would avoid pressure treated wood. It generally has a tremendously high moisture content, which makes it very soft. Wet wood is like 10% the strength of dry wood.
Even if it is fully dry there isn't really any benefit
Es increíble, tengo planeado hacer uno parecido, como se llama el impermeabilizante negro?
Perdón mi español es malo. Esta es principalmente la computadora
Dije en el video: "No sé si esto es seguro a largo plazo, esto es una prueba".
Todavía no recomiendo esta marca de sellador.
Es un epoxi a base de agua de una tienda de pintura local.
@@MischiefandFins Muchas gracias, thanks 😀😀 like
Hello, my name is Mike I just subscribed to your channel. I am really enjoying the good info you provide. If you don't mind I would like to ask a few questions. My first question is what thickness of glass or plexiglass would you recommend for a 370-gallon plywood aquarium? And do you recommend any company that sells the glass or plexiglass? Thank you very much for any advice or info you can provide.
Have a good day!
My experience with shipping glass/acrylic is generally that the price makes it not worth shopping online. The sole exception was the acrylic windows that I got for my biggest tank, which happen to be a set size and many of them were $15 because they were on a clearance.
Weird sizes aside, I get the best prices at one of the local shops here. There are 5 glass shops in town, and one of them is about 40% cheaper than the others for large custom cut glass, so it's definitely worth shopping around.
To calculate glass or acrylic thickness you have to know what the actual window size will be. For example, an 96(length)x36(width)x24(height) tank could get away with 0.35" glass, while a 35(l)x36(w)x36(h) tank needs at least 0.75" glass for the same safety factor, but both tanks would be 370ish gallons.
@@MischiefandFins can I please ask you a question, I will build a plywood tank 8x4x4 and I want the front acrylic window to have a full display of 3x7. Do you think it's safe to use an 1.25 in acrylic thickness? Or what thickness would you recommend on your personal opinion and I'm planning to water seal it with macropoxy 646, do you recommend to put the strips of fiberglass mat on all the seems where plywood meet?
Thank you for taking the time in answering questions and for the great info...
Hello, is there no bracing system for this tank? Also how many gallons does this tank hold?
That is correct, there is no bracing for this tank. It is only 24 inches tall, so there isn't much room for flexing. Shallow tanks made with 3/4" plywood don't really need inner frames or bracing to be in the 2-4x safety factor range.
The inner space is around 300 gallons, but it's only about 75% full since my mangroves are still short. A complete fill doesn't really bow anything at all, but that can vary depending on the strength of plywood used.
Tanks like this are quite easy to add a few top supports to later if the need arises, but in this case I accidentally grabbed the wrong window (24 inches tall rather than the 23.5 inch tall one I meant to grab) and just didn't feel like pulling it out, swapping it, etc, so the window is slightly too high to easily add a support without a top framing lip, which I just can't be bothered to make
As a general rule all of my tanks are run through CAD simulations for water pressure, so I'd definitely suggest using bracing in your own designs if you aren't able to do a virtual test of strength first to verify that you're safe.
Excellent thank you so much.
I am going to use 3/4” plywood on my build, but after watching Joey’s video on his plywood tank with all the additional bracing , I wasn’t sure if it was really required or not. He used an external brace around the perimeter of the tank, with top bracing which I thought was bit of an overkill.
P.S you’re one of the best RUclipsrs for providing in depth detail on builds. Keep up the great work!
What kind of foam are you using to hold the stumps in place? Tank looks great!
I started with great stuff pond foam, since it's black, but the can was old and it wasn't expanding right, so I switched to regular great stuff foam.
Down side to the regular stuff is it leaves a gross oil slick on the water for the first week or so. Plus it's a really bright yellow, so it has to be covered up
Are you going to do a video on sealing it with corotech V430?
I'm actually just leaving this one with the water based stuff as a long term test. It's been a couple of months at this point (yeah, I'm way behind) and it's still looking good, which is positive. There are plants and fish at this point, I'm just waiting for a bit of grow in before doing a follow up
I'll still be using a better epoxy on the pacu tank when I get to it.
Mischief and Fins Do you still recommend Corotech V430?
@@johnnyphive4083 I've never really recommended v430 as an option except for people who have to do their project inside. I do recommend it over "pond armor," but that is not and has never been a full recommendation.
I generally recommend macropoxy 646, corotech v400, or some other polyamide if it's possible to seal the project outside (they have fumes you don't want to breath). There are 100% solids polyamide epoxies on the market and they are a better choice.
V430 is OK, it's just not at as flexible and its harder to apply to vertical surfaces than some other options.
Mischief and Fins thank you for the response. Very helpful
Looking forward to the pacu build!
Any experience with sanitred?
Liquid rubber coatings just don't work well, not because there's major issues with them as a waterproofing, but because silicone doesn't stick.
Liquid rubber silicone replacements (like Lexel) tend to be tank safe after curing (which can take weeks) but they don't have the same ability to withstand water pressure, so when I've used it I've had leaks.
I generally recommend people only use rubber coatings if you're skiing a pond, it really mucks up window installation.
Mischief and Fins thanks for the reply, I went with sanitred because I got 50 percent off, an yes I agree silicone did not still well to it, I’ve now went the route of using no silicone just the sanitred between the window then all around with better results, hindsight I maybe would have went a different route but I’m here now. Anyway thanks for the videos they help a lot!!!!
@@JoshLandisAquariums Glad you got it working! I've heard a couple people on monsterfish suggest doing something similar, with going up over the edge of the glass itself with the rubber to seal everything in, but I haven't ever seen any updates on how it turned out.
Long term updates on that could be interesting, just to get a few extra points of data on how it holds up, cause I get questions about rubber coatings a lot and have never actually heard anyone say how it's working a year later.