lavoisier
Valuable Member
Great build. I've enjoyed following your progress. I'm sure you know this but be sure to epoxy the inside of the bulkhead holes your drilled. Fittings have been know to leak at times!
Mehaffy's 1100+ gallon Plywood display in North Alabama
- Monster Build
- Thread starter mehaffydr
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
Thank You, I am really enjoying this build just cant wait to get it wet.
SPR1968
No, it wasn’t expensive dear....
Reef Squad
Reef Squad Leader
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
UK Reef Club Member
Hospitality Award
Do you ever sit down and relax! It’s making me tired just reading and seeing the pictures of all the fabulous craftsmanship! LolOk one last thing after dinner I decided to go put one more coat of the white exterior paint on the outside of the tank and paint all of the pockets I made for the WAV magnets.
The detail is a joy to watch
OP
OP
I did sleep last night. Thank You for the kind words.
OP
OP
OK more progress today. I think the delay in the paint arrival may be a good thing as it is making me focus on other things and I am getting a lot done and really focusing on details. Today I cut all of the pieces for the bracing around the top and then I completely sanded all of them. I did not install as I do not want to install these until I get them completely painted with epoxy paint and get the glass installed. I want the top open when I'm installing the glass. When time I will install these with silicone and I will drill holes and screw them in for added support. I left 3 large openings so I think I have plenty of opening for light.
OP
OP
Oh look what came in the mail today. I don't know if I really needed it but it will be interesting to measure water flow. This is the 2" so I will measure flow from sump back to the tank.
OP
OP
Then this evening I decided to rebuild another light fixture. This is a Current 6 bulb T5. I found 2 bad ballast and 2 bad fans so I have them ordered and they should be in early next week. Looks like right now for the initial setup I will have 4 ea. 250 watt MH, 14 ea. 39 watt T5, and 5 ea. Kessil 360X. I will start with that and see if I need to add more.
OP
OP
Ok got some cool new updates and a little bad news. The epoxy paint has still not come in so today I called the manager at the store where its ordered and come to find out they never ordered it so they are getting this corrected but looks like it will be late this week before it arrives. But on a good note I have been moving forward.
One thing I was struggling with was getting water from tank to sump.I need to move a fairly large volume of water and I don't want a lot of noise. I had purchased some parts from tractor supply and was just going to install 2-3 drains in the tank with screens.
I'm sure this would work but I was concerned about the noise so I wanted a better idea. I looked at some of the low profile through wall overflows that you can buy but none are designed to work on a 1 1/2" thick wall. I have used a Bean Animal type on my last tank and it was completely silent and really moved a lot of water so how could I get that on this plywood tank? So I built a corner overflow and drilled holes for bulkheads in the back of the tank.
this still needs to be fiberglassed before epoxy paint I just built it this weekend. But what about daredevil fish going over the top and into the corner. So I contacted a friend who has a 3D printer and discussed my design concept. He said send me a drawing and I'll see what I can do and he sure did!
First pic is the rough sketch I sent him.
I sent this to him on Sunday. He then sent back to me this drawing. Much neater than my drawing.
now today he has already almost finished it up here are a couple pics of whats completed so far.
One thing I was struggling with was getting water from tank to sump.I need to move a fairly large volume of water and I don't want a lot of noise. I had purchased some parts from tractor supply and was just going to install 2-3 drains in the tank with screens.
I'm sure this would work but I was concerned about the noise so I wanted a better idea. I looked at some of the low profile through wall overflows that you can buy but none are designed to work on a 1 1/2" thick wall. I have used a Bean Animal type on my last tank and it was completely silent and really moved a lot of water so how could I get that on this plywood tank? So I built a corner overflow and drilled holes for bulkheads in the back of the tank.
this still needs to be fiberglassed before epoxy paint I just built it this weekend. But what about daredevil fish going over the top and into the corner. So I contacted a friend who has a 3D printer and discussed my design concept. He said send me a drawing and I'll see what I can do and he sure did!
First pic is the rough sketch I sent him.
I sent this to him on Sunday. He then sent back to me this drawing. Much neater than my drawing.
now today he has already almost finished it up here are a couple pics of whats completed so far.
SPR1968
No, it wasn’t expensive dear....
Reef Squad
Reef Squad Leader
Excellence Award
Reef Tank 365
UK Reef Club Member
Hospitality Award
I’m absolutely fascinated by what your doing here, because Ive never seen a tank built from plywood!
The detail is first class, so thank you so much for the pictures. Every single detail is clearly thought out and then implemented with the finest craftsmanship
We don’t tend to build plywood tanks here in the UK (well I've never seen one) so I’ve never seen it before.
My brain says wood and water don’t go, but with all the layers of fibreglass my mind is saying, well yes actually!
Anyway thanks for sharing all this and keep the pictures coming
Best wishes
The detail is first class, so thank you so much for the pictures. Every single detail is clearly thought out and then implemented with the finest craftsmanship
We don’t tend to build plywood tanks here in the UK (well I've never seen one) so I’ve never seen it before.
My brain says wood and water don’t go, but with all the layers of fibreglass my mind is saying, well yes actually!
Anyway thanks for sharing all this and keep the pictures coming
Best wishes
najer
Valuable Member
OP
OP
Thank you for the kind words. I think of this as an inside out boat. There are many boats built of wood and then coated on fiberglass and Gellcoat. I am just doing it inside out to hold water in rather than hold water out.
OP
OP
Ok small update. I was able to get a small test piece of the weir for the overflow. That 3D printing is awesome stuff. This is going to work like a charm and I will have a silent corner overflow. It is also extremely strong do no worries about it holding up. It is made of food grade plastic.
fishlover1478
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2019
- Messages
- 854
- Reaction score
- 902
looks cool 
Cabinetman
Well-Known Member
Looks good. You’ll be glad you went the overflow box route.
Man, you have a real talent for this work. I just today got fully caught up on your build thread - it’s like catching up on a good TV show and then having to wait for the next season! Awesome build, and nice job documenting and sharing with us. You bet I’ll be following!
Similar threads
New Posts
-
Question about light switching from AI Prime 16 to XR15- Latest: officialreefbros
-
-
-
-
