I’d stay away from wood
I think mr catfish stacked cinder blocks to support his raised S/G barrel
I know I am a little late to the party here, but I think your best solution for building that tank would have been to use Liquid Nails between each board and at all of the overlapping joints. Let it dry for a week and you will have a solid wooden structure that is equivalent to a 3.5" x 31.5" x 96" beams for the sidewalls and 3.5" x 31.5" x 48" beams for the endwalls.
That structure would not bow more than 1/4" I would estimate at the center of the long sides. A proper adhesive will spread the deflection forces evenly to all of the wood so the structure at the top of the tank (experiencing less water pressure) can help sure up the wood at the bottom of the tank. Same principle used in LVL Beam construction by sandwiching OSB and other types of plywoods together with adhesive.
The inside corner brackets will try to straighten out with the outward pressure, and place all of the load on the first two inside screws until they give way. Then it will load the outer two screws. Hopefully neither of the screws gives way completely, but the straightening of the brackets could be a fitment issue if you install the liner tight to the tank.
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Another option that popped into my head is that since your tank is already bolted together you can use a good wood putty to fill in the gaps between boards, then us a good fiberglass resin and cloth to create a composite sandwich structure that will distribute the deflection loads similar to the glue between the boards. I would use a 0/90 degree e-glass cloth and do two layers on inside and out. Pain the exterior so the UV doesn't degrade the resin and you are good to go. You could even fiberglass it to the concrete deck to create a watertight seal and forgo the rubber liner.
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No I appreciate the advice Zac! I still have about a week until the liner & water goes in so I may consider the options you suggested.
One question. When you say the screws will give away, are you saying they will snap inside the lumber? Could they pop out and penetrate through the cardboard and 3/4" insulation board into the liner?
As you can see, these are cheap little brackets compared to the sturdier-looking ones that Tony from the video used. Would it be better to just remove them and let the wood shift a little if I'm going to use mediocre hardware?
The screws will not snap in my opinion, but they way pull out of the wood if there is enough force and the wood is still wet from the pressure treating process. If they do pull out, they will remain flush with the metal corner bracket so there is not a chance if it puncturing the liner. UNLESS, you use some kind of bracing, after the screw has pulled out, that brings the tank back to square. In that case the backed out screw will be poking away from the bracket and could cause issues with the liner.
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Built many landscape beds with 4s and 6s. No ponds though. All constructed with either 3/8 or 1/2 inch rebar pins and construction adhesive. No screws or brackets and all held up.
Use a long wood spade bit for the holes. Squirt a little construction adhesive in the hole and then hammer a piece of rebar into the hole. You can also pin the wood vertically.
You could do some redwood siding/shake along the front if you don't want to stay with the 4x4's in pine/green.
How’s the project coming along when does the pondd liner arrive? Can u also do a video update
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Inspired by ur trickle shower filter I got three of them 27 gallon totes and I got some 1.5 inch tubing to make my own. They will be filled with k1 media instead and the top layer wil have a sieve 200 micron I don’t mind flushing this take out sieve once a week.
Last edited by Nguyen365; 11-09-2018 at 08:37 PM.
Does green douglas fir leech out any toxicities that could harm fish?
That is what I used for this project and although there will be liner obviously to hold the water, I bought 4 pieces of 2x4's to hold & cover up the liner.
There will be 2 areas where water will splash onto the wood(on the inside edge) and eventually drip back into the pond and so was wondering if I should do something about it
I think I might redo my pond cap to 2x4s I currently have 2x8s on top since I thought I would like sitting on the ledge to watch the fishes while I fed them. But it’ll have to wait since I’m doing a diy filtration system
Because of the number needed to stack up high, I was worried that the cinder block towards the bottom could crumble and so I ended up building the S&G filter stand with redwood. A bit more pricier than the 4x4 I used for the frame but I hope it works.
PS: I was searching on aquariums forums for people that use cinder blocks as aquarium stands but I was seeing both the holes facing up & sideways. Which is correct? I also read that stacking in the wrong direction will result in disaster.
Shoot really? Should I be worried about the bottom layers of pond's frame being exposed to rain? I do live in California but occasionally we get rainstorms that continue for a couple weeks on & off.
I'm no pro but I'd worry less with a 4x4 than a 2x4 and even less when it's not wet all the time. My
concern was with a 2x4 that was going to be constantly wet with water dripping on it 24/7. I imagine
the untreated 4x4 will rot but I think you'll get many years out of it before it does as long as its able
to dry out.
U can purchase the a wood protector of your choice
https://youtu.be/d2qOeYuQh30
I used a clear coat for mine. Don’t make the mistake of getting just a wood stain alone they are in the same section of lows and home depo
Looking good. It would be so nice to have the fish up and close to you with a raised pond.
Looking at the S&G stand.... (please note I tend to overbuild things) but it doesn't have any support for lateral pressure besides the small brackets. Not that you are going to be running into this thing and pushing it around, but that's a ton of weight built high off the ground that you will be accessing for cleaning. I wouldn't think it would need much lateral movement before this might be an issue. Are you planning on putting the barrel on the backside toward the tote stack against you house? Also what is the top/bottom stand panels made of?
Last edited by Nevermore; 11-14-2018 at 04:20 PM.
Any update yet? When does the pond liner come in? Inquiring minds want to know lol