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| Hi Anthony, My first system is full to the brim. Im ready to expand and am contemplating building a plywood system on top of a 24'x6' table i have. The most economical way i can see doing it is just to use a plywood frame and pond liner. Im going to divide the table into 6, 8'x3'x1' sections. I have never used pond liner before and was wondering if there were any drawbacks to using it besides the risk of leaks.
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| I rarely recommend plywood tanks to anyone without excellent carpentry skills. Even without, playwood tanks really are not that much of a savings (the epoxy of fiberglass needed to coat the inside is expensive) and they do have a MUCH higher leak factor. But if you really want the challenge, please buy the book, "The Living Aquarium" (Crescent publishing... see Amazon.com used book dealers... as cheap as $10 or less when in good supply) Excellent book... excellent DIY recipe for plywood tanks (insulated ones too!)
. Anthony Calfo
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| Thanks, Im sure its not worth it if using paint or epoxy, but ive seen quite a few people setting up nice ponds with a plywood a 2x4 frame and pond liners. Im most worried about the durability of the liner itself in a saltwater application and whether or not it will leach anything into the water. This is an indoor operation so the tanks will only be from 8"-12" deep. A rough cost estimate comes out to around $350-$450 for a 1000 gal system. The only other tanks i have been able to find which would allow me maximum grow space and fit in the space i have cost roughly triple that ammount and thats not figuring the added costs of multiple bulkheads and pvc needed to connect them. There is a 6" grade on the floor from the beginning to the end of the table and i was wondering if there was any way to utilized the slope and make use of gravity for water flow. My plan was to make one large frame around the whole 6'x24' table and have that sectioned off into 3, 8' sections. The first would be 12" high and overflow into the second which is 10" and finally into the third 8" section. The water would return to the sump underneath the first section via 2, 4" pvc pipes.
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ah, yes... with the liner it can indeed be done for cheap. The liners are rather durable too (though not as strong as glass/acrylic made properly... or even/especially the cured eopxy coatings). But they are very durable overall and may be worth the effort. I do have one myself and have built them for others. I rarely recommend them for private aquarists thought... such ponds are quite ugly 
.Anthony Calfo
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and as if you weren't naseous already for reading my frequent referrals to folks about always checking in my "Fav links" sticky atop this forum... would you be surprised if I told you I wrote an article on indoor saltwater ponds... and how to frame it and use a liner?
.Anthony Calfo
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| Thanks Bro, I remember reading that article a while back. I think ive read them all by this point  We will probably start construction this week. Ill post some pics as we go. Rob
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| excellent bro... very much love to see the pics Old (well rinsed/rained upon) roof rubber can work well. Else new pond liners are excellent but a bit more expensive indeed. Do seek some freshwater garden pond books to see tips on how to properly pull and fold pleats on a filling pond liner. Its a bit of an art
. Anthony Calfo
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| I see your point about folding the liner. If its a bit of an art i think im gonna have to hire Davinci to fold this one We bought a small piece of liner today to see what kind of mess we had to deal with. It came out OK, but there are ALOT of folds. Theres not too much pressure on the liner since the tanks are only about 11",8.5" and 6" deep when filled. Do u think im gonna have a problem with detrius buildup in there? Been busy sawing and screwing this monster together the last few days. Funny thing is that this thing cost more in screws than it did in lumber The local lowes had some huge lots of slightly damaged lumber for only 10 bucks! we got all of the plywood and some of the 2x3's along with a ton of extras. Only took a few pics. I know you dont recommend using this kind of plywood on the outer walls, but the tanks are shallow and we spaced the supports really close together. 
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| just a few comments/observations: - are you using wood screws (all places) and glue for the joints? - I believe you will need a lot more bracing... a lot. The sides likely can get away with just more studs on short ends (ribs/fins). And do you have plans for bracing across the top? (you are correct that shallow depth helps the engineering here... but this is just too wide to enjoy that freedom/benefit. Indeed... more bracing is needed) - does this design intend for flow through between pools/partitions? If so... that will be a liner/folding nightmare - for using the pressed wood instead of plywood... do yourself a (great) favor and coat it all with polyurethane before you drop the liner in. It could double or triple the lifespan of these pools and be well worth it. - a consideration: instead of a liner here, you could invest in fiberglass. Its easy work... relatively cheap too (barrels of resin, rolls of cloth). Some folks have also experimented with the truck bed coatings (spray bed liners) that then get coated with swimming pool epoxy (safe for fishes in most cases when cured)
. Anthony Calfo
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| We're using deck screws and glue on all joints. The guy building it for me builds houses, so his carpentry skills are much better than mine would have been Im going to brace the top every 4'. We used an old liner we already had to fill up the first largest section to see if there was any bowing. We checked it with a line and it didnt budge, but we still want to be on the safe side and add the braces. It will also give me something to brace myself with when i have to reach the center of the tank. The folding is gonna be a nightmare. I thought about epoxy or fiberglass, but if you look at the pic you will see its right in the middle of the growout tanks. I really didnt think we would be able to pull it off with all the fumes and dust. My true profession is in Textiles and Garment Manufacturing so im very good with folding and cutting fabric. I messed with if for a little while and think it is possible.. The only place there were multiple folds is in a high current and easy access area.
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