self build acrylic pico

[An Bollenessor]

Hi all,

 

I currently have a small (5G) nano at work which is doing OK (see link below). However, it is high time for a new tank at home. As we have little space it is just my luck I have caught the pico bug. I do not like topping up water and have a cat so an open tank was not an option. I also wanted the tank to fit in a narrow window sill. So making a tank myself was the only option. The idea is a bare bottom tank, weekly 100% water changes and SPS. This should be doable but might not be easy. I chose acrylic which I might regret when it comes to coralline algae. On the other hand, when the corallines do well, so might the SPS, which means I will not be complaining.

 

I bought lasercut cast acrylic at a local shop and some solvent online. 6mm clear acrylic for the tank (5 parts) and 5mm white acrylic for the hood/cover (7 parts). The tank is a weird shape: 40 cm long, 22 cm high and only 10 cm wide. So a bit over 7 liter/under 2G. I struggled with the lighting: I did not want lights hanging over a clear cover as it would probably become salt encrusted. I did not want a standard LED bar 'on legs' to put on a cover and build a hood over either. I then found the tunze 'ecochic' LED. It can be submerged which means that the hood is the cover at the same time (the photo's make this more clear).

 

I wanted a little compartment to hide the pump (a little chinese thing) and the heater. But due to the long shape this compartment must be at the side and not the back. The solution was to have the hood extend to the bottom of the aquarium to hide this compartment (see the photos). The LED, heater and pump cords fit through the side of the aquarium (with a slit, otherwise the plugs would not fit through).

 

And lo and behold I managed to make it water tight!

[natalia_la_loca]

Looks beautiful! Following.

[Sherman]

Any Update

[ndrobey]

I sure hope you get it anchored in well. A narrow tank could easily fall over onto the floor.