# DIY aquarium for planted tank or no



## jeffc (Nov 26, 2013)

Hello fellow fish keepers. I am a new member looking for advice. Now that I have my own house, probably the one I will die in, I have decided to start a large aquarium. I have kept many aquariums in the 20 to 90 gallon size before. This time I would like to setup a large tank to last a lifetime. I have read Diana Walstad's book and I am keen to start a planted tank in her style. I also doing a basement reno and building a man cave with a super large tank. I have my eye on a 265 gallon tank, but I have also been reading about DIY aquariums with plywood, liquid rubber and epoxy. At the really large size it can be a big money saver to build your own. 

My question is, is it wise to do this with a planted tank? And do DIY aquariums last the same amount of time as professional store bought ones? Cost savings are nice, but I would rather get something that lasts over time.

I have a few months of fixing up the basement before I am ready, so I am gathering as much info as I can. Any help from the community is much appreciated.


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## Kurare (Oct 8, 2010)

Planted tanks are showy and nice with many plants requiring high-light.
With a DIY tank, I would imagine it has a depth for like 4ft? Which would give you trouble lighting it.
Unless you build it shallow, but long.


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## jeffc (Nov 26, 2013)

Kurare said:


> Planted tanks are showy and nice with many plants requiring high-light.
> With a DIY tank, I would imagine it has a depth for like 4ft? Which would give you trouble lighting it.
> Unless you build it shallow, but long.


The 265 I am looking at is 30 inches deep (top to bottom). I will go with a number of T5 HO bulbs, that I think I have figured out. The thing I am wondering about is building it myself, as in buying my own glass and building my own frame vs buying the pre-built glass aquarium from a store. Lot's of people have done this, but not with a planted natural tank. And I am not sure of the lifespan of a DIY tank vs a purchased one.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

If you build an all glass tank, it will last at least as long as a store bought.The life expectancy of a plywood tank will be relative to the coatings used to protect the plywood as well as how you encase it. Personally, I wouldn't want a 30" tank, regardless of length. It is even more of a problem if the tank is deeper front to back than normal sizes. A large all glass tank would make sense if you could get some salvage glass at a reasonable price.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*tank*

hi there and welcome to the site ... look forward to seeing more of your posts as u build .I have no experience on built tanks or even plywood tanks .I have seen them and they are deff nice when completed .I think what I would deff do is take a look at the actual cost of building a tank including all materials and time spent , add a few extra for some mistakes since it prob is unavoidable .then give miracles a call or NAFB and get some prices on a size thank that u want .keep an eye out on kijjii and the local forums , sometimes u can find some sweet deals on huge tanks that people just don't want anymore of course its all about the condition of the tank .some times diy projects cost u more in the end .
good luck and hope to see lots of pics no matter what way u go 
cheers 
tom


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## jeffc (Nov 26, 2013)

tom g said:


> hi there and welcome to the site ... look forward to seeing more of your posts as u build .


Certainly, as soon as the basement is renovated I will start on the tank. I am on pace for starting the tank in February. A tank this big is worth documenting.



tom g said:


> I have seen them and they are deff nice when completed .I think what I would deff do is take a look at the actual cost of building a tank including all materials and time spent , add a few extra for some mistakes since it prob is unavoidable .


So far it looks like you save more than half the cost at those sizes. But, as you say, you have to factor in the mistakes. This being the first time trying to build one DIY you have to factor many mistakes. I am leaning to buying the tank from a store knowing it's done by pros. I keep seeing the you tube videos of what people have done with DIY tanks and I think I can do that. Mind you they never publish the many mistakes you make first.

Cheers.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

My biggest concern would be plant roots ruining the coating on the bottom of the tank with a plywood tank. They just might end up making a leak in the bottom eventually. Just look at how trees can over time break through a house foundation. I would go with an all glass tank to be safe in the long term.

Another thing is the height, I personally don't want a tank over 24 inches high because reaching the bottom of the tank for maintenance would be impossible with a 30 inch high tank. I also assume you would want it 24 inches deep, so that would make the reach even harder. I can barely touch the substrate in the back of my 90 gallon which is 24 high by 18 deep.

Then there is lighting, the higher the tank is, the harder it is for light to penetrate.

A recent video on DIY fishkeepers had a great idea, make a replica of the tank with cardboard so you can get a visual and see if it is even possible to even get the tank to the location.

My dream tank is 24 high, 24 deep and somewhere between 5 and 8 feet long depending on the location and what fits.

There is also the weight to consider. I assume its going in the basement I believe you said so the weight setup won't be an issue. But the weight of the tank to move it to the location can be a factor. I have a half inch glass 125 long that I am just barely able to lift with the help of another person. My wife who is quite strong wasn't able to help me even move it up onto a stand.

I also recommend planning your reno to accommodate a built in aquarium right into a wall with access behind it.

A plywood tank might be cheaper in the short term but an all glass tank would be better in the long run.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

As said before, a plywood tank is really meant for those monster size fish because they wouldnt really work well in a smaller aquarium. BUT you do have the option to do plywood. I dont think you'd have any trouble with roots is you use pond guard. The only thing is that plywood aquariums do not look very nice and that is what you strive for in a planted tank: to be aesthetically pleasing. I say, go for an all glass aquarium but you can do a mixture with the bottom plywood and the rest glass


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

Just doing the bottom with plywood isn't worth it. The savings would be minimal as you still need to buy the sealer


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## SKurj (Oct 26, 2011)

It may not be cheap.. but have you considered acrylic at all?


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## jeffc (Nov 26, 2013)

pyrrolin said:


> Another thing is the height, I personally don't want a tank over 24 inches high because reaching the bottom of the tank for maintenance would be impossible with a 30 inch high tank. I also assume you would want it 24 inches deep, so that would make the reach even harder. I can barely touch the substrate in the back of my 90 gallon which is 24 high by 18 deep.
> 
> Then there is lighting, the higher the tank is, the harder it is for light to penetrate.


I've got the lighting covered. I did a lot of research, to the point of calculating intensity and coverage levels for each inch of depth in the tank. The math reminded me of my college days. I was going to look into DIY LED's, as I am very familiar with electronics. But even the more expensive CREE LED's have trouble getting down to that depth. It's T5 HO's for me.

My dream tank is 24 high, 24 deep and somewhere between 5 and 8 feet long depending on the location and what fits.



pyrrolin said:


> I also recommend planning your reno to accommodate a built in aquarium right into a wall with access behind it.


This reno is for me, the wife got to reno the house upstairs to her liking and she has agreed to give me full control over the basement. And the fish tank is the center piece. I have even designed the layout so the tank can be viewed from either side.



pyrrolin said:


> A plywood tank might be cheaper in the short term but an all glass tank would be better in the long run.


That's the conclusion I am coming to. Best not to get experimental on a tank I want to last decades.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

wow, nice that it is viewable on both sides, you definitely want at least a 24 inch tank or even deeper but that would probably require a custom tank.

It would be a nice challenge to scape a tank with both sides viewable


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

A standard 180 is 24" x 24" x 72", and is readily available. I don't know if anyone is making an 8' version although some companies had them as a stock size in the past. Having a tank that is viewable from both sides does present a challenge as you need all the hardware at one end for appearance sake. It can and has been done. Depends on what you want. One option is to drill the centre and filter from there, if the scape allows the overflow to be covered.


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## Newobsession (Nov 17, 2010)

Just some thoughts to consider...

Yes you can DIY a tank that big as I have done it. However, I had made a few smaller customer tanks first and it was through those that I either made mistakes or figured out what would make it easier "next time". Given both the size of the tank you are planning, and the fact that you are going into this planning for the long haul, my only concern would be that if you do make a mistake it's difficult to either fix or you end up with a tank that you're constantly thinking " I wish I had done this instead.." and given the scope of the project you don't have the option of " I’ll just do it again".

I can't speak on the plywood vs. planted aspect as I haven't done a plywood tank. As someone said there is pond liner, but the fact that you are making it viewable from both sides I think pretty much makes your decision for you. The big savings in plywood tanks I believe is that 4 of your 5 sides are plywood and therefore cheaper than the glass that would be required. With viewing it from both sides, it's already a done deal that the 2 largest panes will be glass leaving only the ends and the bottom to do out of plywood and I think any savings to be had doing just these out of plywood would be negated by the problems you face having ALL of your seems being Glass to wood and the headaches you would run into.

Size: Don't shy away from height based solely on it being a planted tank and worrying about light penetration. Been there done that. First off, you haven't mentioned what types of plants you are considering keeping. High light high tech planted tank with a carpet of glosso (whatever happen to glosso? I haven't seen it in ages...but I digress) then yes, serious light penetration is a concern, but if you are planning on going with lower light lower maintenance plants, then it isn't as much of a concern. The biggest factor that height will affect is glass thickness depending on construction and bracing, 24" puts you in the 1/2" glass range, over 27" you start dipping into the 5/8" range. When I was doing the planning to build my tank and with the intent being a planted tank, I had so many people warn me about not going too high or I would never get enough light. I ended up going 60" Lx24"wx20"h. Literally from the first minute I put the front panel on I regretted not going higher (hence the plans for a new build in the spring...) I forgot to take into consideration that by the time you add a decent 2-3" depth of substrate and with mine being rimless the water level is 1-2" lower than the tank itself, then right off the bat I was back to only 15-16" of depth. You can always save up and add higher lighting down the road; you can't stretch the tank to make it higher later on. I have a friend with a 180 gal cichlid tank that is 30" high and it’s amazing to watch. Not saying you have to go THAT high, but you gets the point.

Given the timeline you are planning this for, even if you ARE going higher tech now, you have to consider if 1..2..5 years down the road if you are still going to want to or have the time to be doing the day in and day out maintenance? Kids or grandkids come along and you don't have the time you do now for it, are you going to be looking at it, wishing it were taller and regretting you didn't because of plants that you may not even have in the future?

Lastly, I would seriously consider going Starphire (low Iron) glass. Yes it makes that much of a difference. The panes on my tank are 3/8" thick and next to regular glass there is a noticeable difference (I think I have a picture somewhere if you want to see the difference). On your tank you are not only probably looking at 1/2-5/8" thick, but looking through 2 panes if it's viewable from both sides. Yes more $$ but again, given the time and $ you are already putting into it, it would suck to spend the next 10 years looking back and wishing you had spent a bit more to begin with rather than the only option being to do it all over again.
Sorry for the long post.


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