Hi started this tank a few weeks ago to make this existing tank bigger but have been
reading TFG, 13lazd and 98dak83cam for a while which kinda made my mind up to
go for this tank.
I'm making a 250gallon plywood tank which will be in the garage but viewed from the
lounge. I'm posting it on a uk forum as well hope thats cool, share everything yeah
Did you buy it yet? You may want to check out Progressive Epoxies. The web site is a bit confusing, but I think you get as good as or better product for a lot less money. This is what I will be using.
Also look at U.S. composites epoxy it was very well priced and works very good. I see you bolted the corners together but it looks like that is it. Are you planning on going back and lag bolting into each of the boards or are they already it is hard to tell in the picture? not sure but if not Just those screws will not hold all that pressure. I would also recommend putting braces on the top and bottom of each board. Can't be too safe. other than that is it lookin' good :thumb: . Good luck man it is an awesome project and well worth the time.
threaded rod is a pain in the a** to use. I tryed that originally then switched over to the lag bolts. Here is what I used to bolt down my tank, you just need to pre-drill as to not split the wood.
Think I need the strength of the 12mm bolts and cause the tank will be on two concrete block
walls I can get below to tighten the nuts. Plywood is 18mm and framing is 100mm x 50mm and
glued and screwed and is really solid
Going to silicon it all together, the silicon will just be a seal cos the bolts will hold the tank
together plus if it does have to come apart for any reason would be a bit easier
That's the first time I've used epoxy and would use west again the stuff is easy to use unless all epoxy is the same but I doubt it.
Colouring the last coats is the way to see what you've coated
Yes, the base I used thick fibreglass from a mate that was for roofs so took a lot of epoxy but
with the weight of rocks will need to be super strong.
The walls have a thin layer but always better to have fibreglass in the epoxy makes it
a lot stronger
Assembled tank today everything fitted well when bolted up, screwed rod was good for various lengths and easy to cut in the vice. Gonna coat front panel again as screw holes look coated
but are not final coat black. On holiday for a week now so hope to get blocks built and last coat of epoxy and start planning for change over....
Cobain - this looks really nice, but I have a concern about the back corners with respect to strength. The concern is due to the way that the side is connected to the back. I could be wrong, but from the pictures it looks like all the strength in the back corner is coming from the shear strength of the plywood. It would have been better to extend the framing of the side wall all the way to the back corner and then tied that into the back wall. From the picture, it looks like the side piece bolted to the back wall through the plywood is not connected to the rest of the framing for the side wall - that is the apparent weak point. If you replace that piece with two 2x4’s or a 4x4 and bolt or screw it to both the side and the back then it will increase the strength significantly for these back corners.
The way it appears to be built from the picture could allow outward pressure on the side wall to shear the plywood at the back wall â€" causing a failure at the back corner. You have the added benefit of the fiberglass strength, but if it were me, I would change how you tied the back corners together.
Good luck with your build - it is coming along nicely!
Patrick
i agree with auratum. it looks super, but the corner may be an issue. go with the 4 by 4 in the corners and bolt it to the sides and the back. cant wait to see more! :thumb:
I agree he shouldn't have cut the 2x4 off at the end, he should have left them so he could bolt a 4x4 into the bottom and bolt in from both sides of his support beams.
Thanks for input guys, the plywood is fixed with flooring screws and glued to all the 4x2 and the end piece of 4x2is screwed thru the plywood and thru the end post of the side panel.
It's totally solid as the 3 bolts that hold panels together each corner are used to hold big roof trusses together. I also plan to put metal supports on top of the panels at corners and further in to start anyway, pics of screws and glue :thumb:
I think it will be fine. The key is he said he screwed and glued the the 2 x 4 on the end frame into the cut down 2 x 4. For the tank to fail, it's going to have to have enough pressure on the back to pull those screws out, bend the screws that go through the plywood into the back frame, bend the screws in the cut down 2 x 4, break all the glue free, and bend some seriously big (3/4"?) thick bolts. Not to mention the fiber glass on the inside of the tank.
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