attaching two 2.5 together..??

[Jester]

I want to attach two 2.5 AGAs together so one would be the sump area and the other the display tank. I was wondering if anyone here has attempted anything like this? I added a picture of what I was thinking of doing. Thanks in advance for everyones suggestions.

 

Jester

 

 

[Twins Guy]

the trick will be drilling them. don't believe you can safely drill a standard all glass 2.5. up here on the tundra, i found a place that sells a nice lil acrylic 2.5-like $20-not too bad (and they fit a mini-might perfectly, hmmm?)

TG

[tinyreef]

how about a 2.5g with an emperor 400 on the side? you can throttle the flow all the way to slow it down. you'll have to cut down the intake tube tho. it may be very close in height to but you could raise the emperor to break the surface tension of the water anyway like a cascade-effect plus added aeration (preferable method imo).

 

you could alternate sides to harvest algae (flora refugium) with a galaxy light over it. or if you want a true fauna refugium, keep the media compartments but partially fill them with smaller crushed coral. my emperor is loaded with pods, tunicates, stars, etc.

 

you could also use another clear type hob since the emperor is black but the trick is to throttle back the flow. much easier with the hob tho. plus you can run carbon or other.

[Dave ESPI]

this would be easier.

 

I need some LoLerskates.

[Jester]

What started this idea was that I wanted to build a desktop nano that had a built-in sump/skimmer area. I was going to jsut build an acrylic tank, but the only things I have ever built with acrylic were stored out of sight, which is where they needed to be. So I thought of attaching two small tanks together, overflowing one into the other making a sump area in the back.

 

I didnt want the footprint of the 5 gallon, I like the small size of the 2.5s. I can't find acrylic tanks here. They would be a lot easier to drill.

 

Thanks again for everything...

 

Jester

[Fant]

Ever consider building the tank yourself out of glass? Check some local glass shops for prices on pre cut/drilled glass. With the dimensions your using here the glass wouldnt be too exspensive.

[Jester]

I never thought of that. I guess I could build the square form out of glass and then the divider wall with acrylic.

 

Do you have any info on how to assemble a glass tank? I mean I can figure the glueing, but what about the plastic type form that comes on the top and bottom of pre-made tanks. Also, do the side pieces rest ontop of the bottom glass plane or does the bottom plane siit within the side planes? Thank for everyones help.

 

Jester

[Fant]

The glass sits on top of the bottom piece. The plastic rim is a difficult issue. ITs impossible to find and buy seperately. Iv also used the 'euro' style bracing and just use strips of glass around the perimiter. Just look at a pre made tank to figgure out how the pieces should fit togeather.

[gobies]

> Do you have any info on how to assemble a glass tank?

Yep, in the Martin Moe "from beginner to breeder" book (I forget the exact wording of the first part of the title -- Marine Aquari-something).

 

> I mean I can figure the glueing, but what about the plastic type form that comes on the top and bottom of pre-made tanks.

Not necessary in a tank this small. They're primarily decorative, AFAIK, to give you a little bit of "slop" in the water level of your tank w/o seeing the top water line.

 

> Also, do the side pieces rest ontop of the bottom glass plane

American-style.

 

> or does the bottom plane sit within the side planes?

Euro-style.

[jawarden]

Originally posted by gobies

>  

> I mean I can figure the glueing, but what about the plastic type form that comes on the top and bottom of pre-made tanks.  

Not necessary in a tank this small. They're primarily decorative, AFAIK, to give you a little bit of "slop" in the water level of your tank w/o seeing the top water line.  

 

 

True, on a tank this size. I toured the AllGlass facility a few years back and they said that the plastic frames on the smaller aquariums basically held everything together while the sealant cured after assembly. Beyond that the frames are decorative, hide the water line and prevent salt creep to the outside of the glass. So if you can hold everything together long enough you won't need a frame.

[Dave ESPI]

Good luck d00d.

 

FWIW, just pay tenecor or ATM to make one out of acrylic. You could call AGA and see if they willl make what you want for you also. Making your tanks from scratch IS possible, but if you have never done any glass work ie: custom framing, Windows, repaired boats and R/V's or have never played with caulking guns or silicone before, DONT. It will save you a LOT of heart ache and greif.

[jawarden]

Originally posted by Dave ESPI

Good luck d00d.

Making your tanks from scratch IS possible, but if you have never done any glass work ie: custom framing, Windows, repaired boats and R/V's or have never played with caulking guns or silicone before, DONT. It will save you a LOT of heart ache and greif.

 

Ya true.

 

You would spend much more time making a fixture to hold the parts than actually assembling the aquarium, and IMO it isn't worth it. The assembly workers at AllGlass were assembling complete aquariums in less than 30 seconds, but they had some pretty cool fixtures helping them out too. If you do make one be sure to use tape to mask where you don't want the silicone to go or you will regret...

[tinyreef]

last time i'm saying it, wetdryfilter.com! X)

 

we must be driving chris and his sponsors up the friggin wall!

[junglejim83]

If you want to build it so you dont need the frame for support while curing try this, it worked for me when i was waiting for the glue to cure on my fuge. Take elbow brackets and those super heavy duty paper clips(the triangular black ones w/ the silver flippy things) place the glass how you want it, glue and clip the brackets in for support until it all has cured. What i did was i glued all the sides together and clipped it together in all corners top and bottom. So 8 brackets and 16 clips. Then when that was cured i just took the bottom peice of glass and sat the sides right on top when it was all assembled i applied more silicone on th joints just to be safe.

My fuge was going for a year with no leaks. Also, i did this with the pain in my ass acrylic bonding stuff so it should definitly work with glass. I sealed of two drilled holes in my 25g with just silicone and a couple of precut peices of glass. i couldnt get those glued peices to move if i wanted to. Hope this helps.

-Jim-

[Jester]

Thanks for the replies. I like the idea of the clips and the L-brackets. That is such an easy and innovative way to construct both acrylic and glass tanks. Thanks again and once I get all the materials, I'll post some follow-ups.

 

Jester