On building an Aquarium.?

Question

just need some re-assurance on how i am planning to build my budget fishtank.

i am planning to make it into a triangle shape to fit into a corner, i will have it protrude from the corner 34" and have a 48" face, where the corner would have been will be cut out to 10" from the corner to accomidate for filter and other lines. this will leave an overall trapezoid shape. It will look like this \/ \/ \/ from above.

______48"_______

\........................ /

..\...................../

24"\................/

.......\.........../

.........\____/

14.1"

that is the BASIC shape, note the angles are all bad though. i will be building the back sides and bottom out of wood, tar them, and then place a layer of thin acrylic or plexiglass on every surface sealed with aquarium safe silicone. for the front i will be using a two foot tall 46" wide 1/2 inch thick piece of glass siliconed to the inside of two 2" lips creating a strong brace. i will try to scan the design so you can get a better look at it.

so i would like thoughts on where it may be weak how i could improve it and other things.

Answer 1

I've undertaken similar projects in the past and with one rather notable exception, they've been a bit of a nightmare.  The main problem you're going to run into is with the wood portions of the tank.  The reasons for this are highly variable, but I'll list them so you can anticipate them before you end up growing rice in your living room.  

Wood swells, expands, and contracts at sometimes unpredictable times.  Regardless of how well you tar the wood and seal it with acrylic, simple humidity in the air can sometimes cause it to swell enough to break the silicone seals at the corners.  Using a good 3/4 inch thick marine grade plywood can reduce this problem, though it's always going to be a risk.  

If your tank is going to be very tall, you can run into trouble with the wood bowing out at the bottom from water pressure.  Due not skimp on bracing behind the wood.  Doubling up the plywood layer and gluing the layers together can also help avoid this problem.

I like to think I've learned from my mistakes and I hope everything works out well for you.  I've recently found a website of a company that makes fairly cheap aquariums as well.  Although I don't think they have the shape your looking for, the ease of buying vs building might be worth thinking about.  

http://www.glasscages.com/

I have yet to purchase a tank from them (although I have my eye on a couple different 300+ gallon models), so I can't offer a testimonial; but they seem pretty legit.

Good luck to you!

*EDIT* I forgot to mention that I have actually gotten this idea to work.  It was a river tank that I needed to be longer than anything I could buy commercially (14 feet).  It ran for at least 2 years (although I'm sure it's been used since then as well) as part of a research project in grad school with no leaks at all.  I believe what made it successful was the fact that it was only 18 inches deep, thereby diminishing the stress from water pressure along the bottom seals of the tank.

Answer 2

The only problem I see is by using the wood.  Make it an all-glass tank and it should be fine.  Even if you are on a budget, spend a little more on glass and avoid problems later on.

Answer 3

forget the wood, make it all from half inch glass and silicon.