65 gallon tank build

I've had this great piece of driftwood for months and months, and nowhere to put it. So, I'm gonna build a tank around it. Just so you have an idea, it's 12" tall standing on end.





As you can see in the drawing, the tank will be 36x30x14, with a plywood bottom and, instead of a regular plastic rI'm and crossbar, a glass rI'm leaving a top opening of 24x18.



I haven't drawn it out yet, but the wood will stood on end like in the pictures, but on top of sort of a raised terrace (probably about 12x12x6) right in the middle of the tank. The water level will be at about 11 inches, so about half of the wood will be exposed and above the top of the tank, which is why I don't want to use a regular plastic rim. That's about it for now, when I draw it out more, I'll add some more pictures.

I don't plan on actually buying any of the materials for the tank for another couple of months, and since I've never actually built a tank from scratch, I'd like to get some opinions on the design/materials. I'm mainly concerned about the glass thickness and width of the glass rI'm for now (I'm thinking 1/4" for the sides and 6x1/8 for the rim), but I'll take and advice I can get between now and then.

 

I find myself wondering if you could buy some tanks at the dollar per gallon sale and disassemble/reassemble into what you want. That is a great piece though.

 

That's something I was thinking of myself. I'll have to go to the glass shops around town and get some prices first, but I suspect buying tanks will be more expensive, since I'd have to use 2 40 gallon breeders.

 

I keep putting it off, but I'm going to the store for supplies to build a mock up. I'll put some pictures later today.

I've been thinking of what to stock it with, too. I'm going with an almost southeast Asia/Indonesia biotope setup, and so far I've decided on 6 angelicus loaches, 8 each of celebes and dwarf neon rainbows, my pearl gourami pair will be relocated into this tank, and a school of snakeskin barbs if it won't make me overstocked (opinions?)

I also want to have some pompom crabs in there because they're really cool, but I don't know that they'd be compatible with the loaches (again, opinions?)

 

I'm not great on stocking. I just love angelfish. That for now is what I am always stocking around.