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As I am constantly saying, epoxy is the most underused carpenters tool.

This tank is 220 gallons, approx. 48" x 36" x 38"h. The vertical strip filter canister was fiberglassed, everything else is just epoxy on wood with filleted corners.

I saved a spot for a pic of the thing clear full of water and fish. This is a 2" water test!

Gallery

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Looks awesome! I'm a fish guy and a wood guy as well. I have a 180 gallon , a 55 gallon, and a few smaller tanks. What kinda fish will you be keeping in there?
What kind of wood did you use and what finish did you put on it?
 

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I'm also a fish guy. Currently only have a 125 gallon (which for nyc is huge) south american tropical FW tank, but have kept a huge variety in the past. I've followed a few blogs about people building their own impressive tanks, but have always shyed away from the idea (the thought of that much water pouring out into my home beacuse of an oversight on my part scares the c* out of me)

How thick is the glass? I'm looking forward to seeing pics of the tank filled and stocked. What type of fish are you planning on?
 

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I think this is awesome! It never crossed my mind to build my own. I would also be so scared that so much water could end up all over the house. Cause with that much water it would actually spread everywhere.

How did you make sure the thingj is absolutely water tight and will remain that way?

Not only awesome but gutsy ;-)
 

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It is plywood, red oak and lots of epoxy.
Been out of the fish hobby for a few yrs, but have kept and bred most. This will get filled with the big nasty cichlids from central America.
Can't say I am fearless here! It's half full and going to let it set for awhile before continuing. The glass is 3/8". There are on-line calculators for that.
Filled weight will be over a ton! Tank empty weighs around 250 with nearly that much in rocks and stump. Wife says it was built to airdrop!
Just as a point of reference, I can get in with all that deco stuff in it and have PLENTY of room to move around.
 

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Deffinately a gutsy move !!!
 

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Wow !! thats nice,looking forward to see some fish in it :)
 

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3/8 seems rather thin to me for a tank of that height. Which on line calculators did you use? For reference, I plugged your dimensions in to one and got 1/2" recommended from here:

http://www.garf.org/tank/BuildTank.asp

I don't mean to second guess what you've done, you're obviously talented and the tank looks great. I just want to make sure it stays looking great.
 

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Very nice! This will bring hours of meditation watching the fish!
 

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Great post! Not only a great project, buy the information was very interesting. You really have me thinking now!
 

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Thanks for the link. I really like the filter design and how you planned ahead if you wanted to make it wet/dry in the future or have it filter from the top to protect any fry. I also like your substrate, pretty ingenious way to prevent the cichlids from rearranging everything. It is definitely becoming a great show tank. I bookmarked the link and look forward to updates.
 

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That's incredible!
One question though. do you have to let the epoxy "out gas" before setting it up to put fish in?
Meaning does the epoxy become innert after curing so there are no chemicals leeching into the water?
 

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Epoxy is 100% solids, there are no thinners or carriers. And it is inert once cured.
 

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Just read your post on monsterfishkeepers. Very interesting. I used to have a small aquaium and I also had a 50gal terrium with a snake. Something I would maybe like to get into again.
 

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"Epoxy is 100% solids, there are no thinners or carriers. And it is inert once cured."

-Dave www.bluesagehues.com

I wasn't aware of that. Thats good to know!
Looking forward to more pics!
 
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