plastic laminate tank experiment

[dcantucson]

Wow! I must admit when I read "plastic laminate tank" I thought there's no way this will look decent. But, I was way wrong. It looks incredible! I love the full tank shot. I bet it looks even better in person, too. I hope you'll post more pictures. I really like the sides being solid too.

 

[yote]

From scraps od wood to an awesome reef tank.
Looks great.

 

[BigH55]

WOW. I love it. How many gallons is it and what was the total cost?

 

[RyanG]

Great build phuture! Im VERY interested in seeing how this holds up over time. What did you do for bracing on the top? With the plywood, epoxy and fiberglass tanks that I have seen they have had to brace the top edges quite a bit to stop flexing that could tear apart the tank. These are also built on quite a larger scale than yours. What thickness was the laminate plywood? Sorry I might have missed it if it was previously posted. Pretty cool set up though!

 

[dskirtech]

Truly one of the most impressive things I have seen on this site to date..

Hats off to ya man!

 

[mm2meyer]

that is a very impressive tank!!! just what I was looking for when I came up with this brilliant idea of a desk/frag tank. Now just gotta convince the wifey to let me take a stab at it.

 

[phuture1]

just a quick update...... the tank is holding up really well. one thing i noticed is that there is no build up of algae on the laminate surface, only on the glass... as soon as i upgrade my lighting i will poat some new pics. if you guys have any suggestions on T-5 lighting such as wattage and color temps of the bulbs please feel free to drop me a post. thanks again.

 

[phuture1]

sorry i didn't answer your question BigH.... it holds aprox. 66 gal. and cost me around $60 including building a new skimmer. keep in mind that i got the pre-laminated plywood free....

 

[project5k]

yea cause that laminate is expensive now.. i remember when i could get a 4x8 sheet of it for like $20, now its more like $80-$100

 

[phuture1]

well since i have nothing but time on my hands and a lot of nice lumber floating around the basement. i decided to finish my tank stand today. here is a before and after...

 

[mng777777]

Good job! I bet you are thrilled to have it done :)

 

[Bifferwine]

Beautiful!! I'm jealous.

 

[phuture1]

all i have to do is give it a shot of paint, and that won't be bad because my wife has me painting the rest of the joint. thanks.