making a tank

[marsupialvomit]

I want to make a 110 gallon. Any tips on making this easier?

[JSchmidt]

There are lots of DIY plans for tanks building. The GARF site (http://www.garf.org/) has plans for tank building. I think that until you get to larger tanks (e.g., 200+), it's usually cheaper to buy than to build. If you want to build for the challenge and fun of it, though, have at it!

Jim

[chefkeith]

Is this a species or community tank?

I resently built a tank for my clown loaches. Its a 90g river tank made out of 1/4" cast acrylic. Total cost for tank was about $110. The dimentions of the tank are the same as a 180 Gallon tank. Its 6 feet long x 2 feet wide x but only 1 foot high. The shallow depth of the tank allows me to get better filteration and water flow. Also when the tank is empty it can easily be moved by just 1 person because it weights less than 50 pounds. I really went out and got the most bang for my buck.

This tank was cheap to build because of the unusual dimentions. If I were to build a higher tank the cost would of been 2x to 4x greater because I'd need to use a thicker and more expensive acrylic.

Is this is the first tank your building? If so, maybe you should start smaller. Try building a 20-30 gallon tank 1st, and use it as a sump or a q-tank.

Here's some pic's of my diy tank/stand-
http://home.comcast.net/~chefkeithallen/page2.html

[marsupialvomit]

you are a craftsman, I cannot lie. But yes I want to make a 110 galloon and i might make it shalow just because you said it's cheaper. I know Acrylic is better but is it 2x the price of glass? and I might make the tank im building into a cichlid tank. Do you have an demensions I might want to use for this litter project?

[chefkeith]

I'm not sure about the cost of glass. If its a glass tank wanted, its best to just go buy one. Used ones are easy to find and can be had for real cheap. Thats what I would of done. I build tanks for a few reasons, but mostly because I'm the kind of person that will spend 24 hours trying to make the perfect sandwich.

It seems like you should already know the answer to your question about dimentions. How did you figure that you wanted a 110g tank? Thats an odd size.

Here's a link for tank dimentions-
http://www.thekrib.com/TankHardware/size-chart.html

[marsupialvomit]

My friend I think I need to change those demensions right now if the highet can only be 13" or else the acrylic prices rape you. Material = Acrylic
Tank Height = 12"
Tank Width = 24"
Tank Length = 72 "
Acrylic Thickness = 1/4"
Approximate Gallons = 90


this might be what I'll use...unless they can cut it to the exact, which I would buy the 110 gal spec that you should me on that site. Do you know if they will pre-cut it for me and also where can I find Acrylic at????? Home depot?

[SayersWeb]

Is the point to save $$? How much do you think you could save versus buying a used tank? How many hours would it take and what is your time worth?

The other risk is... what if the tank you build comes apart one day when you are not home? If it's in your basement and you lose some fish and the carpet gets wet then no big deal. If it is on an upper floor and damage can happen to floors below then it is a very different circumstance.

BTW... acrylic scratches much more easily than glass. So, you will need to be very careful.

[marsupialvomit]

because it's so **** expensive, it's nothing further than getting raped by Mr. Moneybags (monopolyguy). 120 gallon acrylic for $500, it's alot cheaper to make it myself, these people are swindling on ebay.

[Dean]

buy a used glass 6 foot aquarium.

[chefkeith]

It would be cheaper just to go out and buy a tank/ stand. You'll need a large toolbox to do the job right. I have my own workshop in my garage.
But if you have the tools, lets continue-

Home Depot sells 2'x4' sheets of Optix brand "extruded" acrylic for $30 each. They will not cut it for you. "Extruded" acrylic is not really aquarium grade acrylic. There's some molecular mumbo jumbo reason why its not aqurium grade.. I did build a 33 long tank out of this type of acrylic, and its quite strong. The problem with extruded acrylic is that its soft and melts when you cut it, so you probably need to cut it wet. The largest tank you can build out of this acrylic would be 48x24x12 or 60g's.

To build anything larger, look in phone book and find yourself a plastics supplier that has either "continuous cast" or "cell cast" acrylic and some acrylic cement, like Weld-On #3 or #4. Continuous cast acrylic has a max. thickness of 1/4", so the tank size is limited with this type of acrylic. Cell Cast is the best acrylic to use for aquariums and has a wide range of thicknesses, so you'll be able to build any size tank you want with this type of acrylic.

Call around, maybe you can find a place with inexpensive Cell Cast Acrylic. You never know.

Where at in Ohio are you?
I'm about 1 hour away from Toledo, here in Michigan.

[chefkeith]

Another thing you could think about is to just go buy 2- 55g. tanks and build a water bridge to link the 2 tanks together.

here's a link for waterbridges-

http://www.bio-elite.com/waterbridge.htm

http://fishighway.com/

I'm using this concept to cycle my new 90 gallon tank faster. I got 3" pvc and 1.5" clear tubing going from my 90g tank to my 33g tank. Not only is it exchanging water between the 2 tanks, but the fish also swim from tank to tank. My canister filter's intake is on the 33g, while the outtake is on the 90g, this gives a nice current in the pvc and tubing.

I'll try to post some pic's of it on my site at
http://home.comcast.net/~chefkeithallen/page2.html

[marsupialvomit]

chefkeith, that is some seriusly kool (the k shows how cool it is) stuff. maybe I could do this with my 55 and 10...but im still not backing down from my tank building. If you find anymore weird cool stuff send me a email, Pm, IM, or just post it on this board.

[chefkeith]

Linking a 55g and a 10g would work.

I had 1.5" tubing running to a 6g eclipse tank as well. All 3 tanks were linked together. The only thing to consider when running a siphon from tank to tank is that the water level of each tank will be exactly the same.

[Rwhite8278]

What kind of dangers are there for this set up? What if you linked a few tanks together with one canister filter. Any possible disasters?

[chefkeith]

Dangers? There might be a few, but I think this set-up eliminates more dangers than it causes.

One canister filter will be only good for biological filteration for multiple tanks. You'll still need a mechanical filter for each tank, except the tank that has the canister inlet.