disaster999 Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 well ive always wanted to build an acrylic tank. my first tank i made was originally going to be made of acrylic, but somehow ended up using glass. so this time around i decided im going to build an acrylic tank no matter what/ since this is my first acrylic tank, im just going to try it out first and see how easy/hard it is to build one. so im going to start small and go from there. here are some plans of my tank dimensions are 20" x 14" x 10", thats 12 gals. i got a sheet of 2' x 4' 1/4" acrylic and used my friends table saw to cut. had to buy a 50 dollar saw blade tho. it was worth it, cuts were nice and clean. pieces all cut up ready to be glued the overflow box dont have any during build pictures, but heres some semi-complete pictures some ugly bubbles the back piece needs to be drilled and painted so its going on later. and because myfriends table saw was too small, i wasnt able to cut the size i want. we ended up jury rigging some piece of straight aluminum that was clammed at the side of the table and used that as a reference point to cut the acrylic. that first cut we did was kinda wobbly and wasnt straight. i tried sanding down the edge to make it as smooth as possible, but didnt work. need to get some weld-on 16 to patch it up Link to comment
SaltWaterNewb Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Where did you get your acrylic and what was the cost if you don't mind me asking? Also, with your plumbing, what are the plans? Straight return or are you going to try to get some wave action? Link to comment
disaster999 Posted March 10, 2008 Author Share Posted March 10, 2008 i got my acrylic on ebay. the seller was delvies-plastics. it was the cheapest place i could find. i bought a sheet of 2x4ft and a 12x12in 1/4" acrylic for 55 shipped. i might try some wave action with the scwd. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 wow...no one is interested...i guess theres not enough pictures back and overflow box is painted...car soap helps weigh it down water testing for leaks. 100% leak free. there wasnt any budging from the acrylic too did some testing to see how the overflow works, i basically dumpped a 5gal bucket of water into the tank and it didnt overflow. im sure it would handle some serious flow in this little tank. Link to comment
NAL Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Awsome job. I want to make my own acrylic sump someday. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted March 18, 2008 Author Share Posted March 18, 2008 tank is finally done! this overflow design could handle 1000+gph my "filter sock" design. doesnt seem the pump i got is strong enough. its pumping out 370gph Link to comment
Monkfish Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Looks tight Disaster nice job man. Link to comment
Ryan_H Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 cool! i've been thinking about buying a blade for my saw to cut acrylic, but haven't gotten the nerve to try yet (that sh!t's expensive, and nothing i ever build turns out as nice as the design!). one thing that i've been told by a guy who makes custom acrylic sumps for us though is that a blow torch will get rid of those bubbles. i'm not sure on the exact technique, but it's something worth looking into before you get it set up. his sumps are bubble free in the seems. Link to comment
Hanson77 Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 What do you use to glue this stuff together. I'm looking into getting one larger than this built out of half inch acrylic. One of my LFS' builds them but he wants about $600 for it. Grant it, all the sides are rounded and polished and they have a cool design for the overflow set up but still.....$600 is a fat chunk of change for a 40g tank. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted March 18, 2008 Author Share Posted March 18, 2008 cool! i've been thinking about buying a blade for my saw to cut acrylic, but haven't gotten the nerve to try yet (that sh!t's expensive, and nothing i ever build turns out as nice as the design!). one thing that i've been told by a guy who makes custom acrylic sumps for us though is that a blow torch will get rid of those bubbles. i'm not sure on the exact technique, but it's something worth looking into before you get it set up. his sumps are bubble free in the seems. i was watching video from tap plastic where they use the blow torch technique to get rid of the tool marks from the table saw or sander. from what i read, you need to have a really good edge thats really flat inorder to get no bubbles. let the solvent soak in and clam it down. not too tight or it will have these micro crackings What do you use to glue this stuff together. I'm looking into getting one larger than this built out of half inch acrylic. One of my LFS' builds them but he wants about $600 for it. Grant it, all the sides are rounded and polished and they have a cool design for the overflow set up but still.....$600 is a fat chunk of change for a 40g tank. i actually just used pvc cleaner which works. the main ingredient is methyl ethyel keytone which dissolve the plastic. i was impatent use pvc cleaner instead. if you want to do it right, Weld-On #3 is the one you want to use. Tap plastic sells it. Link to comment
fish.freak Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 Wow great job, I have been meaning to try it myself. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted March 18, 2008 Author Share Posted March 18, 2008 definitely worth a try! Link to comment
bfedick Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Looks good Disaster. I've built two acrylic tanks and neither of them are anywhere near as good looking, or slop free. The only good thing about mine is they hold water, but kinda look like crap. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 Getting rocks tonight, Light is purchased, tank filled with salt and water. this is going to be a frag tank. need to earn as much money as possible! im going broke here!!! Link to comment
disaster999 Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 i got the light this morning, T5HO are pretty bright. lit up the tank. im sure with better bulbs it would be a lot better, but this would do for now Link to comment
Duncan Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 That's a beautiful job. Nice work! Wish I have the skills like yours. But... don't you feel it is a little odd to have different colored output locline heads (blue and orange)? Link to comment
disaster999 Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 haha, those are the ones i have left lying around so i went with it. didnt wanna spend money on something because they arent the right color. besides, i like the color clash. it looks different Link to comment
disaster999 Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 after seeing the water parameters all perfect, i added some zoas and xenia frags to grow. my friend is going to help out and add more of his frags to my tank so it would look fuller Link to comment
dtfleming Posted April 2, 2008 Share Posted April 2, 2008 Should have bought the 4 bulb one from fishneedit Link to comment
disaster999 Posted April 2, 2008 Author Share Posted April 2, 2008 well i was trying to spend the least money on it so opted for the 2bulb. besides, i have 72watts of PC lighting in my display tank thats 15in deep all my corals are flourishing and grew quite a bit. t5ho are way more efficient and its a shallower tank, frags are placed half way up the tank so it gets even more light exposer. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted April 22, 2008 Author Share Posted April 22, 2008 building a stand for my tank. its a small cabinet which will eventually be a couch end table or something. made of out 1/2" maple plywood with maple edge banding. thinking of doing some walnut inlay for the doors so its not just plain maple. Link to comment
disaster999 Posted May 8, 2008 Author Share Posted May 8, 2008 the doors is finished, the handle is hand carved. the cabinet is oiled and will get a coat of varnish soon. need to find the right hinges for the door, oil it and put a coat varnish and pretty much done. Need to make the sump too. Link to comment
uglybuckling Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 Gorgeous stand, I like the front especially. That system is going to look pro. Link to comment
Damienl Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 Nice tank, and stand as well. Wish my DIY's turned out that clean! Link to comment
bluesky Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 after seeing the water parameters all perfect, i added some zoas and xenia frags to grow. my friend is going to help out and add more of his frags to my tank so it would look fuller awesome job disaster999!!! Great DIY tank Link to comment
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