devaji108 Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 2 minutes ago, Saltslinger said: I am trying to right now to cheapo DIY an AIO but it is not that much cheaper than just buying a cheaper AIO tank. I spent about $60 in stuff I absolutely needed, not including stuff I just want aesthetically. You'd probably be the same money-wise if you stayed around that amount just buying an AIO  Also, with any DIY, there's always the chance it looks fugly and you just have to scrap it đ„”Fingers crossed haha    yeah I was thinking the same. it I do it gonna do it "right" good luck on your tank! i'll check out your thread for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 Cheapest I can work out so far 2.5G Pico Tank and FW Filter £15.00 PAR30/38 9W Bulb £7.50 Gooseneck £2.50 15W Betta Heater £10.00 PVC Square Downpipe £5.00  Corner mount the downpipe, cut weir teeth, install pump and media rack Under £40/$40  I have been thinking about an AIO fishbowl.... 6 Quote Link to comment
Coolbreeze Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020  Rules are checked and it does meet all the requirements, except for one (Only one wave maker inside the display). So I can do SPS and one side and softies on the other. Any thoughts? Would like to place the order today. 2 Quote Link to comment
kimberbee Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 7 minutes ago, Coolbreeze said:  Rules are checked and it does meet all the requirements, except for one (Only one wave maker inside the display). So I can do SPS and one side and softies on the other. Any thoughts? Would like to place the order today. Hmm... calling @Christopher Marks  I don't see why it wouldn't be allowed in the contest. Technically it is two separate tanks. Not sure the rules about entering more than one tank. Has that ever come up before? 1 Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 1 minute ago, kimberbee said: Hmm... calling @Christopher Marks  I don't see why it wouldn't be allowed in the contest. Technically it is two separate tanks. Not sure the rules about entering more than one tank. Has that ever come up before? Previously the "other tank" was not eligible for prizes. At least that was in the last Pico contest 1 Quote Link to comment
ef4life Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 In my experience diy usually ends up costing the same of more. But if your trying to go cheap used is the way to go.  I already had my tank and heater, they were new never used. That was probably Under $50 at petco. Iâll have about $50 into the return pump and plumbing. Overflow wall was free but I had to tools to build it. $15 for the overflow weir teeth. inkbird controller -$40 smart power strip $25 light - which I had already, but thatâs $150 new. $20 - miscellaneous stuff silicone, thermometer etc  thats $330 total cost so far.  Anything else I bought was not âneededâ and some of the stuff like the inkbird and smart strip are not needed but worth it. 1 Quote Link to comment
devaji108 Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 HA poor @Christopher Marks we are a bunch of rule breakers. asking about AWC's 2x tanks etc. we like to push the limits what can we say we are passionate about the hobby. đ Â 1 4 Quote Link to comment
spectra Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 18 minutes ago, Coolbreeze said:  Rules are checked and it does meet all the requirements, except for one (Only one wave maker inside the display). So I can do SPS and one side and softies on the other. Any thoughts? Would like to place the order today.  8 minutes ago, kimberbee said: Hmm... calling @Christopher Marks  I don't see why it wouldn't be allowed in the contest. Technically it is two separate tanks. Not sure the rules about entering more than one tank. Has that ever come up before? I agree with Kimber...âŠâŠ..2 separate tanks......you could also just up the return pump in one and ad a spin stream or something for random flow.,......especially if going LPS softie rout...âŠ... 1 Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 2 hours ago, Lingwendil said: Nice! I think they're a fair deal at that price, probably one of the better mainstream brand smaller AIO tanks. The pump is not very high flow but it is very quiet, ours has been on a nightstand next to my girlfriends side of the bed for over two years- no complaints from her on the sound level. I've been considering replacing it with one of the Hydor pico pumps, but I'll see how it runs after I throw a koralia up front, as I think it's probably enough flow for the back section in a tank this size when it's not the primary pump. I don't think I'll be blocking the lower holes on mine, as I think you would need a bunch more slots to compensate if you planned on high flow through the back.  The light is trash, even for freshwater plants đ  I personally like to do about half to two thirds of my structure in dry, and then a few nicer pieces of pest free well established live. That way you save a bit of money and can pick and choose the nicer stuff to fill it in. Also gives options for the rock that eventual coral purchases may be already on to have some room. A good way to go is start with mostly dry, let it cycle with a few pieces of live thrown in with the lights out and the tank covered to prevent algae. After it's cycled add more live and then start a nice light schedule. If you have some chaetomorpha added once you start lighting this will give you a nice head start that will be mostly free of nuisance algae and pests. That's how I did my 40 breeder and six months later my dry rock is as nice as any rock you would buy at the usual reefing shops.    Got mine wet and threw some dry sand in it last night , but forgot to take pics đ  I'll let it run a day or two and then start siphoning sand from the 2.5 into it, and start throwing some rock into it. Need to hit my storage unit to dig through my dry rock to make some main structure, as what I have in the 2.5 is pretty small stuff. That is good news about the noise. I am going to try it stock first and see how it runs. Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 IDK about two tanks being one entry.  Maybe each tank should be considered separately (two entries). You could probably do the same thing with a 20 gallon tank (separating the display with a divider, but maybe sharing the filtration chambers); that would clearly be one tank/one entry. 4 Quote Link to comment
banasophia Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 i would think it could be your choice to enter as one or two tanks, but if one tank then you only get one powerhead, so youâd want to do something else for flow in the other side... I think lots of people run nuvo 10s without a powerhead... 1 Quote Link to comment
Coolbreeze Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 32 minutes ago, seabass said: IDK about two tanks being one entry.  Maybe each tank should be considered separately (two entries). You could probably do the same thing with a 20 gallon tank (separating the display with a divider, but maybe sharing the filtration chambers); that would clearly be one tank/one entry. Actually if you look at there web site that is exactly what it is. A 20g tank with a divider in the display and AIO was separated in case you wanted to have fresh and salt. I was looking because I only have room for one more tank. Quote Link to comment
Coolbreeze Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 31 minutes ago, banasophia said: i would think it could be your choice to enter as one or two tanks, but if one tank then you only get one powerhead, so youâd want to do something else for flow in the other side... I think lots of people run nuvo 10s without a powerhead... That is how I interpret the rules. Only one powerhead. Which is fine as I could go SPS with powerhead and LPS/softies with no powerhead. Trick will be how to make the scape look like one or something more interesting. This unit can also double as a quarantine fish before putting them in my IM 30L Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 Hmm... Maybe 20 one gallon pico jars as an entry. đ€ 1 6 Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 I would think... at the very least, you could enter 1 side of it. That way, when the contest is over.... you still have the tank you want. 3 Quote Link to comment
Lingwendil Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 Honestly, I would do fresh on one side, salt on the other. The contrast is pretty fun on my twins, too bad one is coming down soon...  Having a nice black sand and slate hardscape on the fresh side with some smaller cichlids and some simple, hardy plants like anubias would be a cool, easy build for the fresh side đ 2 Quote Link to comment
Ratvan Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 1 minute ago, Lingwendil said: Honestly, I would do fresh on one side, salt on the other. The contrast is pretty fun on my twins, too bad one is coming down soon...  Having a nice black sand and slate hardscape on the fresh side with some smaller cichlids and some simple, hardy plants like anubias would be a cool, easy build for the fresh side đ Hell at that point may as we'll throw in a brackish tank in the middle and go for a river to reef setup 4 Quote Link to comment
SeaFurn Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 1 hour ago, devaji108 said: we are a bunch of rule breakers. Always! Which is why there was a rule breaker category in last contest! 1 2 Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 43 minutes ago, seabass said: Hmm... Maybe 20 one gallon pico jars as an entry. đ€ I could see it now; each tank would feature its own coral species. The jars could be divided in two, creating a half cylinder display. An uptake tube with an elbow exiting the filtration chamber would supply the flow. How awesome would that be? 2 1 Quote Link to comment
Lingwendil Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 15 minutes ago, Ratvan said: Hell at that point may as we'll throw in a brackish tank in the middle and go for a river to reef setup Boner: activated   đ 6 Quote Link to comment
Coolbreeze Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 1 hour ago, seabass said: IDK about two tanks being one entry.  Maybe each tank should be considered separately (two entries). You could probably do the same thing with a 20 gallon tank (separating the display with a divider, but maybe sharing the filtration chambers); that would clearly be one tank/one entry. I talk to support and ask them if it is one tank or two. It is one and said you can not separate them. Then laugh at me đ 1 Quote Link to comment
ECLS Reefer Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 @kimberbee I did a thing đ€đ€đ€  Its not the cube but the peninsula has good lines and would probably be a happier place for the TSB I plan to get.   7 2 2 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted February 7, 2020 Author Share Posted February 7, 2020 5 hours ago, Coolbreeze said:  So I may change my mined on the tank for this contest as it seems as others are doing the same one. What would be the ruling on the above design. Two 10 gallons with divider in the center. Unit is an AIO so that would qualify, but would I be able to use two wave makers (One on each side)? A lot of possibilities on this design if allowed. 3 hours ago, Coolbreeze said:  Rules are checked and it does meet all the requirements, except for one (Only one wave maker inside the display). So I can do SPS and one side and softies on the other. Any thoughts? Would like to place the order today. I've gone back and forth for the last hour. I really want to allow this one, but it just barely doesn't pass the test. đ«  It is technically a single all-in-one style tank with internal partitions, since the front, bottom and back panels of glass are single pieces and the two halves cannot be divided. However, because the two halves are not plumbed together in any way, they are actually two separate ecosystems, and therefore considered two separate 'tanks' for the sake of this competition. 2 1 Quote Link to comment
KnH Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 4 hours ago, ef4life said: In my experience diy usually ends up costing the same of more. But if your trying to go cheap used is the way to go.  I already had my tank and heater, they were new never used. That was probably Under $50 at petco. Iâll have about $50 into the return pump and plumbing. Overflow wall was free but I had to tools to build it. $15 for the overflow weir teeth. inkbird controller -$40 smart power strip $25 light - which I had already, but thatâs $150 new. $20 - miscellaneous stuff silicone, thermometer etc  thats $330 total cost so far.  Anything else I bought was not âneededâ and some of the stuff like the inkbird and smart strip are not needed but worth it. Totally agree, Im have 90% of what i will need packed away in my project closet, picked up all of it used except for the $ per gallon 20 long & the all-in-one insert for a 20 long off ebay I will be trying to stock it the same way with people getting out of the hobby or selling excess stuff off. Mostly off FB  2 Quote Link to comment
Lingwendil Posted February 7, 2020 Share Posted February 7, 2020 There are some very good deals out there if you watch listings and are ready to drive right away, I just saw a nano cube 8 go for free locally and the listing was spoken for quick đ 1 1 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.