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FREE CUSTOM ACRYLIC TANK CONTEST!


zhubbell

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SaltWaterNewb

Not sure if my idea is feasible or even understandable considering my elementary level drafting skills, but let me try to explain. My tank would basically be a shallow cube, 24 or 36 inches square and about 18 inches tall. In the center would be a black acrylic square overflow tower extending approximately 2 inches below the top of the tank so the water level would be about 16 inches. Of course there would be an under tank sump and the water would be returned via black acrylic corner returns. I would stagger the return, one high and one lower or simply use flex tube to aim the return flow. The entire rear panel would also be black acrylic for a nice clean look. If the seams were siliconed then black silicon would be a nice feature as well. As far as stocking, I am pretty partial to zoas so I think lots of color creeping up the LR embankment would really look good and livestock would be invert heavy with a couple black percs and a watchman goby or if there is enough LR in the tank and sump a Psychedelic Mandarinfish would be sweet. Hope this sparks some interest.

 

Top View

TopViewCustomTank.jpg

 

Side View

SideViewCustomTank.jpg

 

Here is a picture of what I am working with now and if it helps any I would be more than will to help out with shipping, possibly even work out pickup depending on when the tank was finished as I will be driving through OH in May on the way to MI. Thanks for your consideration.

 

DSC_1259.jpg

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phiber_optikx
Holy Cow, I LOVE this idea, now I want to do it!!!

I vote for this guy!!

Well thanks weetie! Someday I will have to send you a free frag.

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simplenough

ok, this is my idea, it is an L shaped tank. Im thinking of keeping baby sepia bandesis cuttlefish (I have a 100 gallon for when they get bigger, though these usually stay relatively small) along with several different corals, including a big ricordia garden in the middle.

Please excuse my crappy paint skills.

Ill include a pic of my current shallow 1/2 20 long, and of course i have several corals that i can use as a "bribe"

fts

2323109930_c9856ab06a.jpg?v=0

2323076878_26e8e215ce.jpg?v=0

2323067916_baa21c18e0.jpg?v=0

2322262495_81f7309da6.jpg?v=0

and a group photo:

2323074412_5676ce1b8f.jpg?v=0

post-34633-1207526064_thumb.jpg

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Nick's Reef

I'd do a drawing but I have horrible skills in paint! :lol: My idea is a 24x24x12 tank with a false wall that comes 4" up from the back and extends the length of the tank. the back would be divided into three chambers, 1st: skimmer , 2nd fuge, 3rd return pump (1st and third chamber would be 6" long and the 2nd would be 1' long). I'd pretty much stock the tank with what is in my ap24 (link in my sig) and the only fish would be my pair of yasha hashe gobies. I'd buy or make a 150w hqi pendant.

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Okay, I'll play.

I've been having trouble with making my ideas for the new tank work after my prop tank crashed.

If you choose to build this for me, I would be happy to start a tank thread for it (already have the thread title!) and I guarantee you the thread would get lots of traffic and you would get lots of exposure.

The concept is this:

A unique, shallow all-in-one tank with a display refugium on one side, a display reef tank on the other, and an integrated sump in the very middle.

Total length would be 38", with each display section being 16" long and the sump in the middle being 6" long;

Width/depth would be 10";

Height would be 11".

There is room for tweaking/modification on the length, both total and of individual sections, but I would prefer for the width and height to remain pretty close to what I stated above.

The display sections would be clear acrylic, but every side of the sump would be black acrylic.

There would be an overflow going from both of the main display sections into the central sump, as well as one return going into each side from the sump.

 

As for experience, I have been keeping nano-reefs since the mid '90's and have a pretty decent bit of experience with softies and LPS and limited experience with sps.

These are some macro's I would like to put in the display refugium:

RSCN2299.jpg

DSCN2283.jpg

 

These are pics from my 16g tank:

DSCN2213.jpg

DSCN2064.jpg

RSCN2405.jpg

 

My prop tank crashed due to being dosed with non reef-safe items by my 2 yr. old, but here are pics of corals from it when it was still up:

DSCN2364.jpg

RSCN1872.jpg

DSCN2174.jpg

 

I do have a specific concept for the reef display tank side of this system that I'd happy to share with you via PM, I'm not ready to reveal it to the N-R public at large just yet.

Thanks for the opportunity, and LMK if you need to know anything else.

Oh, I'd be more than happy to share frags with you. :happy:

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Great idea to kick-start your business!

 

Here is my idea for a 15 gallon TT (twin tower) AIO:

 

How It Works:

 

Water flows across the overflow and through the filtration area. Filter pads and carbon will make up the base of the filtration area, and chaeto will be on top to act as a nutrient sponge and mechanical filter. The pump in the other tower pull water from the filtration area through an acrylic drip plate (keeps filtration from clogging the PVC pipe) and into the connecting PVC pipe. From there water will be pumped up the second tower and end at a loc line "tree" that will branch out to evenly distribute flow in all directions.

 

The pump will not be set up as a closed-loop so that the heater receives enough circulation to effectively heat the tank. Power cords for the heater and pump will run out over the second tower, down the rock tower, and into the sand bed. They will exit via the corner of the tank.

 

2424427730081539356S600x600Q85.jpg

 

More Details:

 

A sand bed will cover the power cords and PVC pipe, so only the towers will be visible. These towers will be "hidden" using live rock held together with pond foam with an eggcrate support structure. I will use an epoxy/sand mixture to cover the foam so that the towers have a natural look.

 

Stocking:

 

Why limit yourself with a list? :happy: Zoanthids, mushrooms, rics, and hammer/frogspawn corals would look great on the towers. The sand bed would have some feather caulpera growing in it, and I'd like to keep a "showpiece" in between the towers - say a bubble, clam, or other unique organism.

 

Advantages:

 

1. The tank is an all-in-one so there is no need to mess with a sump/refugium and the plumbing headaches that go with them.

 

2. The rock towers are in the middle of the tank, so the tank can be placed anywhere. Other AIO's take up some or all of one wall for the built-in sump, but the tower idea removes this issue. The tank can be placed in the center of a room to be viewed from all four sides.

 

3. Each rock tower is built using eggcrate so that it can easily slide over the towers to conceal them. If the tank ever has to be moved each rock tower comes out individually. There is less weight to move around and the rock scape is exactly as it was before the move.

 

I hope that description helps explain my crude diagram. I loves me some MS Paint, but there's only so much it can do :lol: As for starting a thread - that's going to be the easiest part! If it comes out half as nice as I can picture it in my head it should get plenty of traffic :)

 

Best of luck with the business, and I'm sure whichever design is chosen will develop into an excellent tank!

 

Robert

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Here is my design pretty simple but i think the dimensions would make for an amazing aquascape. the tank is basicly a 3ft by 3ft cube 20inches high with two coner overflows. It would be roughly be 100something gallons i think. i wasn't sure how big of an aquarium you had in mind.

In the tank i would want to keep tangs and clowns etc. (not really sure i would need to put more thought into it)

As for corals i would keep pretty much anything i could

i have a amazing live rock aquascape design in mind (well i think) A C-shaped cove starting out low getting higher towards the middle and such and off to the front right of tank i would have little live rock island

For lighting metal halides or t5 (not sure)

and for filtration a sump and refugium

here are some pictures

aquariumdesign.png

aquariumdesignside.png

aquariumdesigntop.png

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I'll participate!

 

aquariumdimensions.jpg

 

40 gallon

 

Dimensions: 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, 16 inches tall

 

Total filter section length: 26 inches

 

Filter section made from acrylic painted black.

 

Section 1: 7 inches

Houses: Skimmer, filter media, and/or heater

Extras: Thin lines cut in acrylic to allow water in

 

Section 2: 14 inches

Houses: Refugium

Extras: None

 

Section 3: 5 inches

Houses: Return pump (works similar to all in one) and/or heater

Extras: Hole in acrylic to allow return pump's nozzle to connect to main tank

 

This is my tank right now, it's a 14 gallon Biocube.

 

NewAdditionstoSaltwater2-15-08013.jpg

 

I hope you like my idea! :)

 

 

Edit: I forgot to add stocking!

 

Fish:

 

2 ocellaris clowns

1 yellow watchman goby

1 six line wrasse

1 purple firefish

Other (Not sure)

 

Inverts:

 

A few turbos

Astrea snails

Cerith snails

Nassarius snails (love 'em!)

Maybe a small urchin

1 or 2 cleaner shrimp

 

Corals:

 

A bunch of softies so light won't be too expensive

Some (few) LPS

 

As far as lighting goes, I would probobly need a hood made for a 40 breeder plus some compact florescent lights.

 

 

Here is an additional drawing. Exuse my lack of talent, I tried to figure out Google Sketch for about an hour but gave up. I hope you will consider my design!

 

moreaquariumdesigns.jpg

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Here is my idea I have been thinking of. It is a raceway frag tank that will allow me to use a smaller more efficent pump to provide flow to a larger area. I would then use a wavemaking device to provide alternating flow through the raceway. This is why I have an overflow and return on both ends.

 

post-10827-1207532522_thumb.jpg

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TheUnfocusedOne

ha, i love how some of these look professionally made

yet other looks like they were made by middle schoolers :P

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SaltWaterNewb

I just figured the more pathetic my drawing looked the more chance someone would have pity on me and give me free stuff...lol

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ok, I had this Idea for a tank in the back of my head for a while. its going to be just under 15 gallons(I think)

Here it goes:

21"x21"x8" (I think this could be made of 3/8" acrylic without bracing)

holes drilled into the bottom of the tank with close loop so that no equipment is visible.

This should be put onto a low stand so that you can see in from the top.

stock list:

two options,

option Nr. 1: a little bit of live rock(but most for filtration in sump/fuge) also LR rubble under the 2" sand bed... here is why: there is going to be a nicely colored(preferably blue or red) carpet anemone with a mated pair of clowns(I'm looking at either picassos or saddlebacks).

 

Option Nr. 2: Again 2" LS. A little island(preferably one single nice piece or LR) in the middle with super coloured zoanthids and of course a couple of of clams! Maybe one or two of the nano gobys or even sexy shrimp)

 

What do you think? interested in a head of this? ;)

IMG_2389.jpg

It has gorwn since this pic was taken

 

Thanks for this opportunity, love the idea

 

oh yeah, here is the tank I'm setting up right now. its 24"x26"x18"

(hope I dont get excluded because of this;))

tankstand.jpg

 

I love the idea of having no equipment visible in the display whatshowever

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phiber, I like your idea too.

 

questions: get read...

 

1 how deep sand bed? is that risky? you could probably so some cool diggers and sifters.

 

2 bare bottom under live rock? would that be hard to keep clean considering the sand above it?

 

3 any mechanical filtration? is that over flow box inside or outside the tank? skimmer?

 

edit: the only reason I ask is because this thread is giving me some sweet ideas and I like thinking about sweet tanks I could build and how to make them sweeter!

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i have an AIO custon i drew up in sketchup a few days ago. its around 40g. heres the pic.

my design is very simple the dimensions are 30x28x12, with half inch acrylic. the false wall was planning to be black, because of the AIO design. the baffles are: lower=6", top baffle 8" long. The false wall is 6" in depth. i was planning middle chamber 1'6" first chamber to be 6", and last chamber to be 6". i am planning to use a 2 x 250W MH + 2x 32W PC fixture for this tank, as i have an extra one. because of the shallowness of the tank, i would be able to put anything in the tank. my original plans for the tank was to put montis and acros in the tank, with the centerpiece as a nice maxima clam. i will also be putting in zoas and palys in the tank. hopefully a chalice will be in the tank as well.

 

i hope the pictures i am attatching will show you what i am talking about.

front shot

NANO30x28x12.jpg

 

filtration

NANO30x28x122.jpg

 

Not to be discouraging, but heres that tank (different dimension) Its set up at my girlfreinds house, and btw - very good idea cuz its working amazingly, i have beautiful corals growing nicely, my BTA is very happy, and i have a dragon wrasse and a Yellow tang.

photo-27.jpg

 

This tank is the same kinda idea with the AIO design, but thin, and so the baffled off part is split like a U.

photo-22.jpg

photo-23.jpg

and heres the inside of that tank now:

photo-7.jpg

 

Just to show off some of my current designs....

 

photo-3.jpg

photo-2.jpg

The point of this one is to display one, or very few show peices of coral, or i was thinking, clams. I am in the process of building a black lid that covers the L shaped refuge, with build in LED's

 

Anyway....I"ll show you guys some more in alittle bit, but keep em coming.

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Well, this was just thrown together and looks like a 3 year old did it. But here is a tank I have been wanting for a while now. More of a picotope. This tank (in my head) measure around 36x12x20 LxWxH. It would have a built in the tank fuge, and an acrylic divider that goes about 8"-10" high on the right side of the tank. This will hold the sand and create a drop off. You can also silicone sand to the outermost wall this way crabs and snails can climb it easily. The reason for the retained sand is to house the seagrasses and other shallow water plants. The l.r. would go into the deeper end of the tank. I am not entirely sure what the tank would be stocked with but mostly small fishes that could be found in tide pools and shallows.

tankidea.jpg

This tank is awesome.

I love this idea - thats the kind of thing I like, really beautiful, natural looking, unique tanks.

i did a tank I built for another NR member, its a pico with a built on, wrap around refuge around it. Its designed for the display to be mostly taken up by a large sea fan, and the tank will house dwarf seahorses.

i'll post pics of that one later....

 

Just a couple other notes: the black acrylic is not painted on, its black acrylic, it costs alittle more, but I love the way it looks!

 

also, as for tank sumps, this is the only pic i have handy:

photo-8.jpg

its the original design i built for an engineer in CA, we just finished a series of designs that are really awesome! they are built to be used under alot of the widely available tanks on the market now...

its got an ATO resevoir, is available with dosing chambers, and has a refuge area (in which water moves slower than the rest of the tank, because only half the water goes to through the fuge), and is sized for a magdrive return pump, has a place sized for a tunze skimmer, and has a place where you can add carbon filterbags.

If anyones interested, let me know!

website will hopefully be up soon, and then it will all be up for viewing to all you guys.

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Thought I would chime in with one here. The dimensions could really be in the nano range or huge, depends on placement and stocking. The top tank would drain( only a few inch drop) into the lower tank via grates or a small weir box with a tiny acrylic ramp(inch or so) on the exiting side. I would go with an overflow tower at the far end of the lower tank, but not on the tank wall so it could be entirely hidden with rockwork. From there the water could drain into a sump and be pumped back up to either 1 or 2 returns in the upper tank. It would be fairly simple to build but would look like it took tons of planning and time. I always thought the small water fall effect and having one tank with two different levels would awesome. Below are just a couple quick sketches done in paint but I'm sure someone else could do much better.

 

Top down view:

untitled.jpg

 

Side view:

untitled2.jpg

Very nice - I like it, and have drawn sketches of a very similar tank!

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Okay, I'll play.

I've been having trouble with making my ideas for the new tank work after my prop tank crashed.

If you choose to build this for me, I would be happy to start a tank thread for it (already have the thread title!) and I guarantee you the thread would get lots of traffic and you would get lots of exposure.

The concept is this:

A unique, shallow all-in-one tank with a display refugium on one side, a display reef tank on the other, and an integrated sump in the very middle.

Total length would be 38", with each display section being 16" long and the sump in the middle being 6" long;

Width/depth would be 10";

Height would be 11".

There is room for tweaking/modification on the length, both total and of individual sections, but I would prefer for the width and height to remain pretty close to what I stated above.

The display sections would be clear acrylic, but every side of the sump would be black acrylic.

There would be an overflow going from both of the main display sections into the central sump, as well as one return going into each side from the sump.

 

As for experience, I have been keeping nano-reefs since the mid '90's and have a pretty decent bit of experience with softies and LPS and limited experience with sps.

These are some macro's I would like to put in the display refugium:

RSCN2299.jpg

DSCN2283.jpg

 

These are pics from my 16g tank:

DSCN2213.jpg

DSCN2064.jpg

RSCN2405.jpg

 

My prop tank crashed due to being dosed with non reef-safe items by my 2 yr. old, but here are pics of corals from it when it was still up:

DSCN2364.jpg

RSCN1872.jpg

DSCN2174.jpg

 

I do have a specific concept for the reef display tank side of this system that I'd happy to share with you via PM, I'm not ready to reveal it to the N-R public at large just yet.

Thanks for the opportunity, and LMK if you need to know anything else.

Oh, I'd be more than happy to share frags with you. :happy:

 

I love this one!!!! its so cool, and the idea of show refuges are soooo up my alley!

all my tanks have mangrove swamp refugiums, and my latest one is starting to become what I consider my show refuge.

the refuge is 24x8x8, and so far is a normal mangrove swamp fuge, with LS/LR/Cheato, mangroves, and then I've started on my way of making it a display fuge by adding a couple fan worms, a gorgonian, and I plan to also add a clam section, although probably not till I upgrade it in size alittle....

Most of my tanks are actually ran with the absense of any filtration other than a refuge, and a carbon bag.

I like the idea of recreating the natural cylce of coral reefs exporting their waste to mangrove swamps.

 

Anyway....I will say this, I wanna see more pico ideas!! I want to do multiple giveaways, but its hard to afford giving away a bunch of huge tanks.

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Sweet.jpg

 

It would be 20in both front to back, across (at widest point) and tall, and the white part would be a chambered in tank sump.

 

This would be for MC Hammer my 5in peacock mantis shrimp and some various corals.

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Heres an idea I had for a custom tank, been wishing I could build one of these for a while now

clam.jpg

 

This can be anywhere from 10 gallons to 50. If it were designed as a 10 Gallon I would put bulkheads on it, The idea of the tank is to to keep it clean and equipment free, so a sump would be good.

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For my business, I'd love an invert holding tank.

Figuer 4'L x 2'W x 12" H

Divided into 4" squares, dividers made out of perforated acrylic to allow water flow.

Probably 2 overflows.

72 shrimp or whatever capacity. Awesome!

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Why not do a combo tank for the best of all worlds?

 

This design incorporates the ideas of several contributors:

 

phiber_optikx's Isolated deep sand bed idea

showjry's waterfall idea

Weetabix's display fuge idea

sleepy's display staircase idea

and the AIO concept drawn by several nano-reefers

 

2995445060081539356S600x600Q85.jpg

 

The pump is hidden under the stairs and can be accessed by a removable stair step held in place by weak magnets. This draws water through the drilled holes in the staircase so that the waterfall is continuously going. (or the removable step could be botched and the pump could be accessed by going in through the fuge)

 

The "false wall" is clear so that the "background" is actually a display fuge. The separated deep sand bed is there for growing sea grasses, and the very front of the tank is open for rock and corals. The staircase can be used to display clams, corals, or other tank show-pieces.

 

Just thought I'd try and put all these great ideas into one "super tank" Kudos to everyone that came up with the individual ideas for this design :bowdown:

 

Robert

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I'm not sure if you can do cylindrical tanks or not, but here's my idea.

 

I'd like a tank for my desk. Two 8" cylinders for the base and a 6" cylinder as a cross brace to join the two. I'd like it to frame my 20" widescreen monitor on the sides and top. I'd use pond foam to create LR towers in the two supports and for the cross brace to have a lip on either side to contain LS. I would light this with a MH over either tower and a T5 fixture over the brace. It would also need to be plumbed to a 10gal sump for filtration and drain from one tower and return to the other to maintain flow along with some LocLine tubing.

 

Here's a rough picture:

2394427915_b14051f6f8_o.jpg

 

As for experience, please click on my tickers below to view my tank thread. Our new 75 is in the process of completing it's cycle and our T5 fixture arrives on Thursday!

 

Also, I've been working on placs for a custom sump for our 75. I'll upload the plans when I'm finished.

 

Thanks for the chance!

 

Bgill

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