This is my 135 gallon Plywood tank build. This build is still in progress and Im at the final stage. All I have left is to fiberglass the inside, spray with a colored aquarium safe epoxy and build the stand. In this Thread I will be doing a step by step guide for those who are looking for an idea or would like to build a tank similar to mine. I hope you enjoy reading this and I encourage any comments or suggestions you have. So with out any further delay here’s my build.

I purchased most of my material from Lowes, so you will be able to find this stuff in any of your local Lowes or home depot.

1. Three sheets of 8'LX4'WX3/4" exterior grade plywood
2. Three 2'x6'x8' Pine boards (for trim)
3. Three 1 3/4"x6' metal bands
4. One 36"x72" sheet of plexiglass
5. One Bottle of Duck Glue.


In this picture here is the first piece of plywood that has been measured and marked at 72" and 20" to give me length and the height of the front and back of the tank.

Here is my dad making the first cuts into the plywood. I asked him to help me with this build because he has been a carpenter/Master cabinet maker all of his life. This is the first Aquarium he has built though.

After we cut out the front and back of the tank we used the leftover wood to cut the sides of the tank out. The sides measured out to 22" wide and 20" tall.


Once the sides were done we glued and nailed the front and back to both of the side pieces.


Here we cut the bottom of the tank out and mounted it to the rest of the tank. We let the glue dry for 24 hours before making anymore cuts.

The next day we cut out the window and ran the metal bands around the tank for support and to stop the bowing.

Next we cut the plexi and fitted it to the front of the tan. We doubled up on the plexi just to be on the safe side. I used latex caulking and glass points to seal it to the tank. While waiting for the caulking to dry my dad did what he does best.... finish work! He cut and routed the pine boards to go around the outside of the tank. He also covered up the metal bands with the pine to make it aesthetically pleasing.



This is where I am now. I just have to wait for a day off so I can start the fiber glassing. I do plan on glassing the seams where the plexiglass meets the plywood and glassing over the metal bands that run over the top of my tank.

Next on my list of materials that I need to get is
1. Fiberglass roller
2. More Fiberglasses
3. Epoxy
4. Three 4"x4"x8' post for the stand
5. One 2"x6"x8' stud.

approximate materials costs
plywood was about $50
plexi was $46
Metal bands were $7 each
Pine was around $15
Glue was about $8
The fiberglass is $6 for 3'x3' cloth
Im looking at a total of $30 for the 4x4x8 and the 2x6x8
Epoxy will be around $65 for a gallon.
All of the nails, screws, caulking and points my dad had laying around so those were free.

When all said and done it will be a little over $300

Side note: To prevent moisture from getting between I sealed around the edges with aquarium sealent and Im going to fiberglass the plywood and plexiglass together.

I will keep posting my progress until I am done. Like I said I welcome feed back. I think it’s the only way we can learn.

Nice Tank build. I cant wait to see pics of it finished and up and running with fish. Are you going to stain it or paint it?

Dont know yet. I was thinking about painting it.

Ok so I got some glassing done yesterday and needless to say the resin burns when it gets on your skin!


In the following pictures I have all of the items needed to fiberglass the tank. You will need a paintbrush, fiberglass cloth or mat, fiberglass resin, a mixing bucket, rubber gloves, something to spread the resin over the fiberglass.




Next open the fiberglass and unfold it so you can see what you have to work with.


Flip the tank over so you are reaching into the tank from the side not the top.




Next cut the fiberglass with a razor knife or scissors to fit the seams of the tank. This is where you want to dry fit the peices first.




Next mix the resin with the hardened. Make sure to follow the driections on the back of the resin bottle. Here you NEED to wear the gloves and the mask also work in a well ventilated area. This stuff can kill you if you inhale too much of the vapors and if you get the resin on you it will burn like Hell! Remove the peices and apply the resin with the paintbrush around the seams where the fiberglass is going. Only do one seam at a time the resin will dry fast. Put the fiberglass onto the resin and apply a seccond coat to the dry fiberglass make sure that all of the fiberglass is wet you do not want any dry spots. This is where you want to use the spreader to evenly coat the fiberglass with the resin. Once you have finnished with that seam move onto the next one.




You will find yourself mixing 4 to 5 batches of resin to compleat this job.

So what happens if you get the resin on your skin? Well to stop the chemical reaction use gas. I know that gas is like $4 a gallon but when the burning doesent stop trust me you wont care.

Nice DIY thread so far, very interesting. I think when the tank is done and the thread is done It will be one to edit out some of the posts and put in the articles section as well! Great job now I can't wait till it is done. Might inspire me to build one of my own!

Thanks. Im all about adding this as an article. Im going to do more fiberglassing next week but right now Im going for a supervisors position at work and its draining the energy out of me. I think you should go bigger than mine if you are thinking about doing it.

Oh if I do one it will be 200+ gallons maybe 300g!

Like I always say go big or go home!

Are you going to leave me hangin' like that? Maybe your in the articles, I'll go check. But seriously, that's SWEET!!!!!

Yeah unfortunately. I live in Maine and its about 30 degrees outside right now so I have to wait untill the spring to finish it and even then I cant set it up. My girlfriend is convinced its going to break through the floor and trust me I've tried everything to get her to relize that it wont. I'm going to finish it for fun and maybe even sell it.

Can you crawl under and brace the floor, should put her mind at ease. If not you don't have a garage? those floors are cement, mostly.Plus it's only a 125, not like a 300.

Second floor apartment. I have 2 10g, 25g, 55g, and a 72g tank in my fish room.

Bummer........Well at least you were able to wiggle in what you got now

Any updates?

Lookin good!!!

Mike D wrote:

1. Three sheets of 8'LX4'WX3/4" exterior grade plywood
2. Three 2'x6'x8' Pine boards (for trim)
3. Three 1 3/4"x6' metal bands
4. One 36"x72" sheet of plexiglass
5. One Bottle of Duck Glue.

What kinda filtration ya gonna put on this sucker? With ducks glued into it yer gonna have a helluva time keepin' the nitrates down!

WYite

BTW, nice lookin' build!

haha. Didn't notice that before. Right now I haven't done anything more to it. This summer has been crazy for me and I've had little time to get anything I wanted to do done. I hope this winter will be better and maybe put a few more dents into this project.