Building a tank

[skipm]

Has anyone here ever tried building their own tank? I am considering building a 7.5 gallon cube (1 foot square) to make the best of a light fixture I have and wondered if anyone here has done this before and if they had what insight might be offered for this project. This isn't something that will be done sone but maybe in the not too far off future.

 

[leaffish75]

I have built big refugiums out of acrylic. Its not a tank but it could be used as one. If you want glass i would suggest getting the glass from a galss shop precut. Its doable and can be easy it you plan right.

 

[skipm]

Thanks for the reply. That is kinda the way I am leaning. I am thinking about buying the acrylic in 12"x12" squares to eliminate alot of cutting. I have some smaller stuff I can use to make the top out of.

 

[Dickie52]

Go for 1/4" glass......

 

[reefman23]

Go for 1/4" glass......

Definetly go for 1/4" glass...just get it pre-cut at a local glass shop. Then just silicone it together well...you would be suprised how well silicone bonds glass together.

 

[skipm]

I went ahead and ordered the glass today, I went with 3/16" glass because it was a good bit cheaper than the 1/4" and I have seen much bigger tanks made out of 1/8" glass. I am not sure when I will get around to putting this together but it won't be because I don't have the parts to do it. Thanks for the responses.

PS I was leaning towards an acrtlic tank because I have all the tools to work it but when I thought about it scratching I went right back to glass.

 

[reefman23]

3/16" is perfect. And glass is a better choice IMO.

Jesse

 

[Anonymous]

Has anyone here ever tried building their own tank?

Just built one this weekend. Dimensions: 20 x 9 x 10 (a little over 7.5 gallons) I wanted to drill a number of holes in it and didn't want to deal with super thin glass. Also didn't want it to get scratched up like acrylic tanks, so I built it out of 1/4" plate glass. Total cost $18 (not including the bulkheads). Also wanted a perfect fit for the Coralife 96 watt fixture. Simple to build. Just the beginning stages here. Have a lot more to do to it. Will start a progress thread on it soon - as soon as it starts to look like something.

 

[reefman23]

Nice tank, Pirate. The frameless look is great. Good job. Are you another nr.com member comin over to our side? Just curious.

Jesse

 

[aromano]

What a nice professional job PiratesReef. I love your tank with all these holes for a well distributed water flow.
Good luck finalizing the project, it's coming along very nicely, and thx for sharing, these great shots.

 

[EDGRAY]

really nice setup and :welcome aboard...

 

[Anonymous]

Nice tank, Pirate. The frameless look is great. Good job. Are you another nr.com member comin over to our side? Just curious.
Jesse

Thanks. While it is framelss now, My plan is to put it in a DIY cabinet and have the tank only viewable from the front. Want to hide all of the stuff that will be going on externally and have a clean look inside (minimal amount of plumbing, etc). It will be a little tank with big tank features. Sump, closed loop, etc.

No, I am new to any type of serious nano effort, so I didn't come over from the "dark side." :anxious I had a nice 75 that I lost in Hurricane Rita and I am replacing that with a 140 ( http://members.cox.net/resurrection_reef ). I am having to wait on some custom built components for that system and decided to start a nano project to keep me occupied whiled I was waiting. I am interested in nanos and wanted to do one without retrofitting an existing tank.

What a nice professional job PiratesReef. I love your tank with all these holes for a well distributed water flow.
Good luck finalizing the project, it's coming along very nicely, and thx for sharing, these great shots.

Thanks. My main goal was to have a clean look inside. No power heads, plumbing, etc. While I was at it, I decided to add a closed loop. Hopefully, all that will be visible will be the bulkheads and a small overflow. If I can figure out a viable method of hiding those, I may do that also.

really nice setup and :welcome aboard...

Thanks!

 

[sadielynn]

Very Nice I like the frameless look as well
Sorry to hear of your loss during Rita
cant wait to see the finished product here BTW
:welcome nanotank

 

[NemoNano]

Nice custom tank PiratesReef :bigthumup:

Eric

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks again. Guess I better start a thread of my own on this project soon. I don't want to hijack this one. I was just posting pics of the tank in answer to the original question. Didn't really think there would be much interest in five pieces of glass siliconed together. Sorry about that skipm. Good luck on your project. :thumbup:

 

[skipm]

Don't worry about it, I am glad you posted. I have the glass but haven't had a chance to silicone it together yet. I am going with a 12" cube made out of 3/16" glass. Keep us posted on your tanks progress and :welcome to nanotank.

 

[Anonymous]

This nano thing looks like it can get addicting. ills Here I am in the middle of putting together a big 140 gallon project and I am having just as much fun planning and buiilding the nano. What's up with that? :win:

Went & got the glass today for my sump and got the Coralife 96 watt fixture. Still have one more hole to drill for the closed loop drain. Did I mention I had a pretty serious glass drill? :chainsaw:

 

[EDGRAY]

wow thats a great big machine....

 

[skipm]

CHEATER!!!! j/k. I just use my Dremel tool with a diamond bit but I think I like your method better :mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

CHEATER!!!! j/k. I just use my Dremel tool with a diamond bit but I think I like your method better :mrgreen:

Ha! Yeah, I suppose that is unfair. I got that off of an old LFS a long time ago and I have used it quite a bit over the years. I also used to have an old drill stand that worked out pretty well with a variable speed drill.