Plywood aquariums

[L1g_reefer]

Hello, I’m currently planning a reef that will be around 450 gallons. I plan on the dimensions being 6 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet. On one side it will be viewed through a wall, the viewing panel only being 4 feet on the side. Behind that wall I have a whole room to mess around with the reef. I’ve talked to my LFS and the custom prices for acrylic would be outrageous and they couldn’t do glass. I’ve heard of plywood aquariums and plan on building a smaller scale one for my freshwater tanks. Anybody have any tips or experiences with plywood aquariums? Thank you! Happy reefing

 

[krbnsol]

Welcome! I think if you do some searching on Reef 2 Reef you will find some others that have accomplished this type of build. Sounds like a great project. Best of luck!

 

[L1g_reefer]

Welcome! I think if you do some searching on Reef 2 Reef you will find some others that have accomplished this type of build. Sounds like a great project. Best of luck!

Thank you!

 

[nept2n]

Hello, I’m currently planning a reef that will be around 450 gallons. I plan on the dimensions being 6 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet. On one side it will be viewed through a wall, the viewing panel only being 4 feet on the side. Behind that wall I have a whole room to mess around with the reef. I’ve talked to my LFS and the custom prices for acrylic would be outrageous and they couldn’t do glass. I’ve heard of plywood aquariums and plan on building a smaller scale one for my freshwater tanks. Anybody have any tips or experiences with plywood aquariums? Thank you! Happy reefing

Hey I would be interested in following your build. I've thought about doing something similar. Have you ever heard of Joey? He is the King of DIY and has a Youtube channel. I recommend you check it out. He has done at leas two plywood aquarium builds and walks you through the entire process. Here is the links to some of the Plywood DIY:


Hope this helps

 

[lapin]

I found acrylic tanks to be a bit on the high side for my budget. Like $20,000 for what I wanted. I built my own acrylic box. 5x5x3 Cost was somewhere near $5,000.

 

[AlexG]

I run two plywood display tanks. 480 Gallons & 720 Gallons with glass fronts tied into a single system. There are a few people on the forum with plywood tanks. I used a modified version of the King of DIYs design. If you go over 24" tall with plywood I would highly recommend external bracing. I needed to reinforce my 720 gallon tank with extra bracing due to its height and the water pressure. The tanks have been running over 2.5 years now and are still holding up well.

 

[L1g_reefer]

I found acrylic tanks to be a bit on the high side for my budget. Like $20,000 for what I wanted. I built my own acrylic box. 5x5x3 Cost was somewhere near $5,000.

Thank you! My only issue with acrylic would be sourcing it, where would you recommend getting it?

 

[lapin]

Locally in Austin we have a Regal Plastics. They are nation wide. They had to transfer 1" sheets from Houston. Took about 2 weeks. I had them CNC the cuts, because my home shop is not set up for big thick pieces.