DiY frag tank maybe?

[D'sreef]

So as someone with a plumbing background, and never used anything but glass aquarium, I had an idea, through it may be stupid. Why would you not be able to use like Hardie Backer and PVC waterproof membranes to make a frag tank? This is the same way you'd build a shower or even a pond.

 

[Randeeeezy]

A box of water is a box of water.

If it'll hold the water, it'll do just as good as any other tank. Only difference is you can't look through the sides. Hell even the hardie backer seems redundant, could be anything. Once the pvc fails you have bigger problems than the material holding in in shape anyway.

 

[me & my baby]

There was a store in Sarasota , I went to and all his coral tank where plywood with 1/4 pvc sheet on the inside . It was a pretty cool setup he had

 

[BoaConservationist]

save yourself the headache and just look at active aqua tables, i have a 4x8 im setting up for a great barrier reef project, has everything you would want in a "frag tank" and at similar cost to diy

 

[Fish Fan]

Plywood tanks have been around in various forms for a good thirty years. One way to do it is to apply a liquid pond liner like Pond Shield to the wooden surfaces, many people report good luck with this product. Someone recently built a whole sump out of Plywood and Pond Shield:

My new plywood sump

Im building a plywood sump after mine sprung a leak Thanksgiving night 2024. I have cut the Baltic berch and this weekend glued and screwed it all together. Still need to get the pond shield epoxy to seal it for water. Its 2 septat boxes that together are 48 in x 47.5 in to go under the stand...

www.reef2reef.com

Pond Shield non-toxic epoxy coating 1.5 quart kit

Waterproof your pond with a fish and plant safe, easy to use epoxy coating. Designed to last years, it tough, yet flexible making your water feature waterproof!

www.pondarmor.com

 

[lawdawg11]

save yourself the headache and just look at active aqua tables, i have a 4x8 im setting up for a great barrier reef project, has everything you would want in a "frag tank" and at similar cost to diy

can you give more details on what table your using and where you got it, is the wall only 7 inches tall? is that enough to have an actual shallow lagoon like tank.

 

[lawdawg11]

save yourself the headache and just look at active aqua tables, i have a 4x8 im setting up for a great barrier reef project, has everything you would want in a "frag tank" and at similar cost to diy

can you give more details on what table your using and where you got it, is the wall only 7 inches tall? is that enough to have an actual shallow lagoon like tank.

 

[UncommonSense]

can you give more details on what table your using and where you got it, is the wall only 7 inches tall? is that enough to have an actual shallow lagoon like tank.

That’s a hydroponic table, there are many brands/sizes, and you don’t want to run them right at the rim.. for the standard trays, the bottoms are corrugated, so you should expect a 4.5”-5” water height across the high points of the tray bottom…

There are also shallow trays, but they are all but useless for this application.. however, hydroponic reservoirs, which are closer to 12” deep, would be a good place to look!

Either option would require a lumber frame for rigidity, but can be built into a table frame, and would be mobile if castors are added!

— another option are 50G Rubbermaid stock tanks, right around 9ft2 of bottom surface area, and 12” of water… also mobile if a wheeled platform is built, and no structural framing required!

— I’ll add that Reinforced PolyEthylene RPE pond liner material is some incredible stuff, compared to typical vinyl rubber liners! (24mil thick w/6mil thick UV protective coating is effectively impossible to tear by hand, even after putting a slice in it!)