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DIY aquarium

D

DianeC

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Joined
1 Dec 2018
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52
Location
High Peak
Has anyone built a small aquarium?
I'm thinking of a small cube style approx 30 cm/30litres as I keep missing out on ebay and I just want one for raising the odd batch of fish fry.Are they hard to make? Also is it easy getting hold of glass cut to size?
 
Diane Coley

Seeing its not going to be used a show piece Aquascape ask your LFS if they have any unused small tanks. It will be a lot cheaper and far less problems for you seeing you are a new DIY

Keith:wave::wave:
 
The sell the one you are looking for at a LFS near to me. They are 30cm on all sides and seem to be quite solid glass. They are about £30.
 
If you want to make your own then it is not that differcult to build a small one like you want.
It is much more differcult to build a show tank with neat silicone but as the guys say it is a lot easier to buy one.
You would need a decent silicone gun and a tube of aquarium silicone, that could cost you you £10 - 15 then you need the cut glass, probably £10 but that depends on the outlet selling the glass.
If you don’t want sharp edges on the cut glass you will either have to pay to have the glass bevel edged (£20) or you can sand then down with a diamond stone (£12) or some wet and dry paper (£2)
There are plenty of you tube videos.......
 
If you can have the glass cut, i'd say do it yourself. Not hard, lots of video's on the net about it and fulfilling if you did it.Just take your time.
With experience you can build tanks fitting in exactly the space you have for them later.🙂
 
If there is no reason for custom build and a standard size would be ok as well. Than for 25 litre volume at 40x25x25cm standard, i personaly wouldn't bother to build it myself.. I don't know for the UK and i live in the EURO zone, buying a 25 litre tank will cost me less than €25..

For that price? Spending the travel time, gassoline or shipping cost to collect all needed And make a glazier cut the glass, than DIY it,, You barely break even than why spend the energy.. I might even be more expensive if you have no use for the left oovers.. Example a tube silicone kit will be 310ml at 15 pounds as said above. You would need 100ml kit for a 25 litre tank but buy 310ml.. The 200ml left over in the tube after you're done you need to use with in 2 maybe 3 months or dump 10 pounds in the trash.

Best DIY price is, you've experienced and learned something if you do.. That's worth something to, only if you ever plan to do it again. 🙂
 
Diane, if you go on a website named after a very large South American river, have a look for "CROCI Wave Zen Artist Tank, 30 x 30 cm" that is around £30. Another alternative would be the Dennerle nano cube which is available in 10,20,30 and 60 litre sizes. Has lovely curved edges and can be bought for a decent price. I'd only consider DIY if you needed an unusual size which you couldn't buy.
 
I used to make all my own tanks, usually to fill a space, alcove etc. The main thing not mentioned yet is that whatever size, it's very important, after you've assembled sides to base etc with tape, go round all the inner seams with something like Carbontetrachloride or some spirit based solvent on a kitchen towel or similar to remove any grease from your skin during handling. This will result in maximum adhesion. If you don't the seams can fail!
 
I have built my own 30cm cube from scrap aquarium glass a couple of months ago. This video helped:


But my first option is always ebay, gumtree, facebook market, etc for cheap used tanks.
 
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