My son has ask me to build a case for a 250 gallon salt water aquarium. We have selected mahogany as the wood.
I have worked with a lot of different woods but have not worked with mahogany. I have always wanted to do so.
We have been checking into sources for mahogany and at this point find only african mahogany plywood. I have not yet found a source for african mahogany deminsonal wood and have a couple questions I need answered from those of you who know mahogany.
Can other mahopgany be used along with african, or is there too much difference in the grain and color. The second question I need answered is where is a good source of mahogany. I live in the south(catrina country) and used to find wood at Riverside in N.O. but anything in riverside in N.O. is no longer.
Replies
coolbreeze
Different species of mahogany are not going to match in color when you finish them. It will be OBVIOUS.
Secondly, I hope that you make sure your design is structurally sound. I have 5 fish tanks, and a 250 gallon tank full of water is EXTREMELY heavy. 3/4" stock will not be strong enough to hold the weight. You'll need 8/4 stock for the perimeter, with a lot of thought for center bracing.
Be safe.
Jeff
Honduran mahogany is the closest to classic Cuban mahogany. Personally, I just don't care for the African strain.
250 gals is approx 1900 lbs or about half my truck weight. you need a real heavy base to prevent toppling, but you probably know that
It is 10 pounds per gallon so 2,500
A gallon of water only weights 10 pounds only if you are in the British empire and are still using the imperial gallon. In the US, a pint contains 16 fluid ounces, not 20, and a gallon contains eight pints and consequently weighs 8 pounds, with some very minor variation due to temperature. Salt water weighs more. But since 250 times 8 still equals 2,000 that is the weight of the water. In the US thats a ton. Add some pretty hefty glass and some accessories and you have a lot of weight to support.
The official U.S. weight of a gallon of water is 8.5lbs, 250 gallons plus the weight of the container will be over 2125lbs.
Thanks for all the comments. We are well aware of the weight and plan to deal with it.
The main thing I need is recommendations as to the source of mahogany.
Have you considered the load bearing capability of the floor surface. Most homes buillt with standard framing would be highly stressed with the point load that will result from this setup. If you are on a cement slab, no sweat.
Elbert
Thanks for the heads-up. We are on a slab. Counting the sump, total weight will be 3000#, not including the case.
I can make it hold the weight, but I wuestion mu son's sanity for wanting one that big. He has had one 150 gallons already and the case was not nearly as strong is the one I will make for him.
The "pint is a pound" is a long standing rule of thumb and easy to remember and to use in calculations. But 8.5 lb. per pound is also a rule of thumb.
To be really picky, at 20 degrees C. (68 F), one gallon of water weights 8.33049 pounds in a vacuum, and 8.32162 pounds in dry air with 760mm of mercury barometric pressure. Data from Handbook of Chemistry and Physics 48th edition. (Water weighs 8.34522 lb. and 8.33585 lb. at 4 degrees C. which is darn near its maximum density--but not many fish thrive at that temperature.)
Still pretty darn heavy. So supports must be beefy. Thats a big aquarium, over 8 feet long if it is 24 inches high and deep. If so that is over 125 lb. per square foot, which is not only a heavy load on the tank support, it is a relatively heavy load on the floor structure.
Steve""The "pint is a pound" is a long standing rule of thumb and easy to remember and to use in calculations. But 8.5 lb. per pound is also a rule of thumb.""I couldn't find my copy of the Handbook of C and P but using this formula (8.5 lb/lb) would lead me to belive that at 8.5 lb per pound that a pound of water would weigh (8.5*8.5) =72.25lbs. So a pound of water would wiegh (8.5*72.25)=614.125lbs. My head is starting to spin. Though I know you meant per gallon.Andy"It seemed like a good idea at the time"
mea culpa
Sorry, should have added the <G>. I know how people can be sticklers around here and though I knew what you meant I wouldn't want anyone else to have been confused.
No harm meant.Andy"It seemed like a good idea at the time"
None taken--apology not needed by me.
sorry belizewoodworker but water weighs just over 8 lbs. a gallon and not 10 lbs.
I found some Sapele at Woodcraft....supposedly that's either African mahogany or some variation of it. It was $5.49/BF and works pretty well.
This place has Honduras Mahogany at $8 / bf which is not a bad price.
http://www.hearnehardwoods.com/Inventory/mahogany.html
I'm not sure that African Mahogany is genuine Mahogany. Honduras Mahogany is about as genuine as it gets. A lot of places that make entrance doors have switched to African Mahogany because of cost concerns.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
Fine Woodworking magazine always carries a number of ads for mail order lumber, most of which have websites. Check them out for cost, minimum purchases, avasilability and shipping cost.
Because of the weight issue, why not consider putting the tank on a metal stand and build a decorative cabinet to surrround the metal stand.
I live on the English south coast and many of the breakers here are made of Greenheart a wood from the Carribean. It stands up to salt water for years .Just thought it might be a wood to consider instead of mahogany.
Sorry about the detour into the weight of water.
Honduran Mahogany is a very good wood to work with. It machines and finishes well, though it probably needs some dye/stain to look like traditional antique furniture since Honduran is lighter in color than the old Cuban was.
As others have pointed out it should be available by mail order. I have used Hearn Hardwoods in PA that way and have been pleased, I have see lots of good things said about Steve Wall lumber, which being in NC would be a bit closer for shipping.
http://www.woodfinder.com  can locate some others closer to home.
I was surprised that shipping--by freight--was not horrendously expensive when I had lumber shipped from Pennsylvania to Connecticut.
If your close enough, in LA try Hogans Hardwoods in Baton Rouge and Lafayette. Also, check Acadian Hardwood in Ponchatoula LA.
I don't know if they sell small orders, but if you walk in they might. Usually a minimum order is $300-$400.
250 gallon salt water aquarium!!!
Dang! I had a 100 gallon one and I thought THAT was huge!
Salt water is a bummer.. Eats up everything around it! AND the wall behind it! Good luck..
250 gallons of salt water.. Gettin' out my calculator..
The weight of an 20 gallon glass tank soars from 25 pounds to well over 200 pounds when it is filled with water and gravel. I'd look REALLY seriously into this BEFORE you cut ANY WOOD!
Just me.. Sorry... I lost a 120 gallon tank once... Stand gave out after a few years.. WHAT A MESS!
Will George,
Transparent Aluminum! Aye, laddy, that's the ticket!
Transparent Aluminum! I think there is such a thing.. Space age bullet proof glass or something? I'm sure I heard it someplace.But then again I have been on the edge for years,,,
Star treck 3 - what did they teach you at school?
Teach me at school.. Well, for starters I found out I liked Girls ALOT!''Thought ya' got me didden't ya! Check this post... I was serious...http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20051019/sc_space/militarynewaluminumwindowsstop50caliberbulletEDIT:: Not sure if the whales are distorted though...Edited 11/7/2005 6:35 pm by WillGeorge
Edited 11/7/2005 6:37 pm by WillGeorge
Will,
y'know, I spent years trying to convince the old man that reading science fiction was as useful as going to physics lessons. Never worked. Cool site.
Dave
Sounds great but no pictures there. Probably one of them "military secrets".Andy"It seemed like a good idea at the time"
Patto,
Close, but actually Star Trek IV. You gotta love that Scotty!
Segil,
It has been pointed out before on this site that occaisionally my citations are a bit lax. Getting carried away with excitement in an argument was a problem in my reseach days also.
Cheers
Dave
Beam me up, Scotty.
You really can't mix African and Honduras mahogany, the different woods do look really different.
Its a long ways away, but Global Wood Source carries both kinds: http://www.globalwoodsource.com
BTW, to deal with the weight you might think about what I did for my current project: have a frame built out of steel and then encase it in wood. I needed more strength than the thickness I was allowed would give me using wood. Local iron works did it for me in a couple days, from a drawing I gave them.
Roger
I'd rather be making cabinets and friends....
Thanks, Roger.
We will discuss using iron frame support. We feel we have a plan that would give sufficient support using wood. That being said, the many posts about weight concerns have spooked me somewhat.
Thanks for your contribution.
How about a standard frame suited for salt water.. Covered with a hardwood cabinet with doors for equipment access.. Save some on cost of wood (not that the metal frame will be inexpensive)..That way you can do almost anything you want...
Coolbreeze, this is Ed from Meridian. I bought some Honduras or Central American Mahogany (swietenia macrophylla) right here in East Central MS from a woodworker who was going to use it for some sailboat decking but never got around to it.
That gives me the idea that you might want to call some marinas or boatbuilders down around Pensacola and the Panhandle of Florida or anywhere where pleasure boats are built along the gulf coast (see yellow pages on internet) to see if any of them has a local, cheap source for mahogany. That would be closer to where you live if I remember correctly. It is often used for boat deck planking, boat trim and cockpit coaming.
Good luck, Ed
Thanks Ed,
Good tip. I'll check into it.
Cool
Coolbreeze,
Two years ago, I built three exterior doors out of African Mahogany. I bought 8/4" stock and, if memory serves me correctly, it was around $3.50 per board foot (or about half the price of Honduras Mahogany). Anyway, I think the three doors cost about $300 in materials. African Mahogany has similar working properties, decay resistance, and looks pretty similar to Honduras Mahogany. That's not the case with some other so-called mahoganies. That said, there's a lot of variation in color tone between individual boards with both African and Honduras. So, it makes sense to use either one board for a project or to use enough boards so the contrasting colors meld together into a unified whole. I've used the later approach on a couple of kitchens done in Honduras mahogany.
I'm not sure how far you live from a major metropolitan area but around here (suburban Detroit) there are a number of hardwood lumber yards which carry both African and Honduras in various sizes. I would check out similar sources in your area. Good luck.
ChipTam
As some others commented, Steve Wall lumber stocks Mahogany and I have had excellent results with them. I also use the hardwood store of NC. I think their website is hardwoodstorenc.com, but it is pretty easy to find. I bought some Mahogany from them the last month and had major sticker shock. The last time I bought some it was $3.45 a foot. At $6.75 I had real sticker shock. They had 4/4, 8/4 and a little 16/4 in stock. The guys there were saying that Mahogany would be a thing of the past before long. They suggested using I believe lypsus as a reasonable replacement for Mahogany. Mahongany itself to me is very easy to work and finishes very well. The lypsus looked like an almost exact match to me, but I have no knowledge of how it works, stains or finishes.
Groff & Groff Lumber in Lancaster County, PA will ship any quantity you request.
I've been there a couple times. Remarkable place.
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