DIY Shallow Tank

[OneFish]

Hey all!

I am really big into shallow tanks and currently have a 17"x17"x7" tank (9 gallons I believe) and was thinking about having a bit of a summer project and making a 36"x24"x12" tank. All equipment is already possessed, so all thats left is the tank and stand. I am not 100% set on doing this, purely based on not knowing how long I am going to be staying at my current residence. Does anybody have any tips and/or a rough price estimate? I would like to do glass because I think it looks a little sleeker. The stand won't be anything crazy... just 2x4s and painted plywood. I would like to have the overflow on one of the 24" sides so that the tank is viewable from the 2 longer sides (peninsula like). I am really hoping that DIY will save me some money in the long run... as a college kid I don't really want to custom order a tank... they seem very pricey... Thanks for any and all help!

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Bump! I'm pretty sure there are some members that have done something like this.

 

[AQSstudent]

Hello OneFish!

Cool to see an aquarium keeper from iowa city! I'm also a college student, and although right now I'm in oregon, I'm from des moines

As for building a custom tank - there's a few different things to consider. Glass is a little cheaper than acrylic; although at these small amounts you'd be using there probably wouldn't be too much of a price difference. Glass is also heavier but also less easy to scratch; again, for this small of an application, you probably wouldn't notice a difference. Another bonus with acrylic is that acrylic tanks are chemically welded together, vs glass which needs to be siliconed. In my experience, hobbyists seem to have trouble keeping DIY-silicone seals lasting longer than 9 months or so without leaking, so that might be something to think about.

Would you be cutting these pieces of glass yourself? Have you considered drilling the glass bottom so you could have a 360 view? etc. These could all effect time and price of the build.

I understand about your wish, as a college student, to save money - there have been many "ghetto" aquarium setups that have ran successfully for years, so don't fret! I hope I can be of help in some way.

 

[OneFish]

Thanks AQSstudent! Thats awesome! Us Iowa reefers are pretty scarce so that is nice to hear!

I was definitely going to get the glass pre cut and just silicon it together. But seeing that you said a lot end in leaks from the silicon... I might consider having it either professionally siliconed or just going to acrylic. I did not even think about having a center overflow if that is what you are talking about.. Might be easier to just have a PVC or clear tubing down the middle and the returns coming from the bottom that to mess with an overflow box. Thanks for all the info and suggestions!

 

[Windy]

In my first fish room I built four 24" x 24" x 12" acrylic frag tanks. They worked well early on, but eventually all of them began to leak do to age and bowing. I simply had the local glass shop cut the same dimensions out of 1/2" glass and put them together with silicon. I don't know where the poster AQStudent got his information on DIY tank sealing failure, but a lot of DIY projects fail from inexperience and lack of proper tools. Putting a pre-cut glass frag tank together is quite simple. Be sure that you put silicon between the panes before taping or clamping them together. Then fill the corners with silicon and using a premade wooden tool shaped like a chisel and just shape the silicon corners at a 45 degree angle. Don't worry about clean-up or excess silicon. Yon can clean it up with a razor blade after the silicon cures. I have seen others mask their glass prior to silicon. It seems like a lot more work. But it works as well.

 

[Windy]

Here is the tank.



If you get serious about building a glass tank, you don't really need clamps. There is a metal backed tape for HVAC ducts that is meant to stick to metal. It has a cover over the adhesive that you must pull off. It sticks to clean glass very very well. I had to use a razor to remove it. But it is very strong and will hold the tank while it cures.

 

[certain_code]

If your going with those dimensions then I can't recommend enough just getting a 80 Gal Deep Blue Professional tank. I priced around a DIY tank of the same size and the cost for just materials was much higher than the ~$400 the Deep Blue cost me. Add a warranty on top of it and I think its much better piece of mind.

 

[Windy]

[h=2]Order #: 1418063859[/h]

Item	Description	Dimension	Price	*Qty.	SubTotal
1	Type: Annealed Glass Shape: Square/Rectangle Thickness: 1/4" Tint: Clear Edgework: Seamed Edge	Width: 24" Height: 22"	$20.00	1	$20.00
2	Type: Annealed Glass Shape: Square/Rectangle Thickness: 1/4" Tint: Clear Edgework: Seamed Edge	Width: 24" Height: 11 3/4"	$11.50	2	$23.00
3	Type: Annealed Glass Shape: Square/Rectangle Thickness: 1/4" Tint: Clear Edgework: Seamed Edge	Width: 21 1/2" Height: 11 3/4"	$10.83	2	$21.66
	Sub Total: $64.66 All Total: $64.66

 

[Windy]

How could it cost more than $150? And if you are not confident in your own work and skill level, then I would not do a tank and worry about it.