making tanks

[marc4]

ok, so I said I'd never get too involved with more tanks. just suppose I wanted to get a bigger one. Does anyone know anything about how to build an acrylic fish tank?
The bigger ones cost a fortune, as in $800-$1000+. More than my budget allows.
Are they hard to build?

marc4

[fissh]

look for a used one.

[Rocksor]

It's much cheaper to build a plywood tank with fiberglass sides or lined liquid pond liner with a viewing pane.

[waylon101]

ok, so I said I'd never get too involved with more tanks. just suppose I wanted to get a bigger one. Does anyone know anything about how to build an acrylic fish tank?
The bigger ones cost a fortune, as in $800-$1000+. More than my budget allows.
Are they hard to build?

marc4

Whenever people talk about larger DIY Acrylic builds, they are still expensive, just not as expensive as specialist made ones. Most 200+ gallon tanks need a special thickness in mm and this can get expensive. I looked up doing it once and it was going to cost roughly a grand in raw materials. This is a good deal considering most aquarium of that size are around $2500 (for acrylic) but its still an investment. Being the LFS lover I am, I hate to say it but look at larger chain stores. They can buy larger aquariums in bulk which can give them advantages over custom orders from smaller shops. Besides that, there are hobbyist facebook pages and craigslist. Look at the major cities even if they are far away. I recently had a customer travel 3 hours to pick up a 150 Gallon Cube for a good deal!

[waylon101]

It's much cheaper to build a plywood tank with fiberglass sides or lined liquid pond liner with a viewing pane.

Rocksor is correct. Plywood is by the far the simplest to build and cheapest.

[marc4]

I can believe that. Right now'big" would be about 100 gallons. After that, they start to get massive. Glass is cheaper, but after having an acrylic tank, I don't think I would go glass again.

Sometimes you can pick up really good deals at the end of a reptile show. Glass that is. The seller doesn't want to take the aquarium back, so they drop the price. A few years ago, I bought a 100 gallon aquarium with stand/cabinet for $25. I used it for a young iguana and it lasted a long time before I finally cracked. if you can stomach the shows. I never went back again. there were some species on the endangered list, overcrowding and other abuse.

marc4

[Rocksor]

I can believe that. Right now'big" would be about 100 gallons. After that, they start to get massive. Glass is cheaper, but after having an acrylic tank, I don't think I would go glass again.

Sometimes you can pick up really good deals at the end of a reptile show. Glass that is. The seller doesn't want to take the aquarium back, so they drop the price. A few years ago, I bought a 100 gallon aquarium with stand/cabinet for $25. I used it for a young iguana and it lasted a long time before I finally cracked. if you can stomach the shows. I never went back again. there were some species on the endangered list, overcrowding and other abuse.

marc4

Never use a tank that has been used for reptile as a fish tank. The heat lamps compromise the seals, and a reptile tank tend to have thinner glass than fish tanks.

[MCHRKiller]

https://pentairaes.com/fiberglass-tanks-with-window.html

Have seen people use these fiberglass holding tanks...certainly not the prettiest on their own but Im sure a custom stand to hide the blue part and only show the viewing window would certainly yield good results. Not to mention those dimensions are better than standard glass aquariums!

[fissh]

I paid $700 for a 360 acrylic used
$200 for a 125 tall
and $70 for a well used 100 gallon, When I was done buffing it, the tank was looked great!
Look around for used, and don't buy for any used equipment so you can set it up the way you want.
Here's picture of the 360 and the 100.

[angelcraze2]

YouTube's King of DIY has some videos on building large tanks, here's part 1 of 6, it's a 500+ gallon.

https://youtu.be/2beOiIgBvUM
He also has a 2000+ gallon cement tank with a viewing window, but it was a lot pricier and requires more support for the massive tank size, so it depends on how large you want to go.

[marc4]

The tank in question that I bought at the reptile show was made for fish. The stand was the wooden two door. Although I didn't use it for fish, they can be cleaned out with a breach solution if its glass and won't absorb the chemicals. I agree that you have to be careful with what you buy and know what you are doing. When you buy any used tank, you take the chance of it having been used for something else. private sellers aren't always honest with what they have kept in the tank.

That said, I knew several people who were into more than one kind of animal that needed a tank, including fish. i never saw the fish, but they never had any problems with leakage, cracks or problems with the sealing. Any time you buy used, unless you know the seller personally, its a risk, regardless of what you put in it.

marc4

[Asha]

It's much cheaper to build a plywood tank with fiberglass sides or lined liquid pond liner with a viewing pane.

[fissh]

I built a 130 gallon out of plywood and resin, when you are done you still have an ugly tank. Take my word for it, don't bother!