DIY aquarium?

Anybody ever built their own aquarium using glass or acrylic? Any good websites or forums to check out on the topic?

I've always been fascinated by aquariums and would love to try building one someday.

I know there are resources out there, but haven't looked in a while. I did help with a big (several thousand gallons) at one point, but was only there in an unskilled labor capacity. I sent the guy who was building it an email though, I'll pass it along his response if I hear back.

My one bit of advice about aquariums. Make sure you really want a labor and money sucking hobby....err no, pasttime...not quite..umm Responsibility that's close....chore? Burden?

Some people really like doing the aquarium thing and that hobby is fine for them. As a person who had a passing interest in a small tank with a shubunkin or two I can't say I happy with my decision to keep a box of water on the table. You work a 50 hour week, make time to walk the dogs, mow the lawn, keep a 40 year old italian microcar on the road and all the other little things that a responsible adult is supposed to do and after all that aquarium maintenance is just a burden. This stupid 50 gallon tank should only need 45 minutes of care a week but I always get so busy and put it off or forget that it constantly looks terrible. If it wasn't for the fact that two of the damn goldfish are 12 years old and after that long I feel certain guilty responsibility I would just chuck the thing out the window.

As I am typing this my work just called an needs me to come back in to repair some machinery, I need to replace the rocker shaft and wideband on my car tonite, still have to take the hounds out for a walk and all of this is happening to the soundtrack of an aquarium that is low on water so the filters are making an annoying splashing sound that I probably won't get to until tomorrow.

I guess what I am saying is give it a little thought before you jump in. They aren't for everybody.

ditchdigger wrote: You work a 50 hour week, make time to walk the dogs, mow the lawn, keep a 40 year old italian microcar on the road and all the other little things that a responsible adult is supposed to do and after all that aquarium maintenance is just a burden.

ditchdigger wrote: This stupid 50 gallon tank should only need 45 minutes of care a week

Really depends on the aquarium. I had a sweet planted setup that once established the sole labor was:

-Feed fish 1x/day, one minute

-Top of water lost to evaporation. 1-2x/week 5 minutes

-Trim plants that have grown too long 1-2x/month 5 minutes

-Replace filter media 1x/month 5 minutes

-Partial water change 1x/6 months 30 minutes

-Replace bulb in light fixture 1x/year 15 minutes

That really was it. So 10-15minutes/week + feeding for most weeks, a bit more occasionally. Now getting it setup and happy took more than a bit of work over a few months. But once it was up and going, it was as close to maintenance free as you can imagine.

That being said, I've had other setups that were a ton of work.

I want one that extends through multiple rooms. Something like this, but better integrated...

I used to have two 55's, a 29 and a 10 set up for fresh water, all at once. I loved it but yeah, it's a HUGE black hole for free time. I never built my own but I used to belong to a forum where many members did. Make sure you use food grade silicone, as the other stuff you can buy at home improvement stores will poison your fish over time. I ordered clear food grade silicone online after trying local fish stores to no avail.

I tried looking on my old forum for an article I remembered them having on constructing your own tank, but couldn't find it. Luckily a Google search found what I think is the very same article hosted on About dot com of all places. It has a glass thickness calculator and is very thorough, definitely worth a read. This site has a volume calculator, which can be handy for reverse engineering your filter and structural requirements as well as medicine dosage.

Setting up a tank does require some planning for the height of it (vacuuming the gravel is enough hassle without having to stand on a step stool while doing it), making sure the structure can support potentially hundreds of pounds, and then getting it ready to add the fish you want to keep takes time too. You should get a couple small "seeder fish" to build up the bacteria and helpful enzymes in the filter media before adding more expensive fish that you will be attached to. Don't remove more than 30% of the water in any one water change, regardless of how overdue it is. Once you get the basics down it's more relaxing and you can enjoy it more. I kept fish for years but when it became a chore to keep up with the maintenance I gradually downsized one tank at a time and currently I don't even have an empty tank in the attic anymore (max was I think 17 tanks in the attic. I used to get great deals on Craigslist for fish stuff, but it was always one of those "you have to take it ALL" deals.

I used to get really into the tank design and had one 55 set up as a paludarium, which is where you have some above water features in your tank as well as the fish.

My next aquarium project is going to be brackish for some brackish flounders. I'm still working out the details though, and since I just got laid off, it'll be a while before I have the funds.

Thanks for reminding me that I need to maintain my tanks again. Lucky for me, it's just a pair of fresh water 10 gallon tanks. My wife has caught the bug, but still isn't up on how to make sure everything is healthy.

water test kit

I built my own. It was pretty simple considering the strange shape I had to fill, but my acquarium was only about 2 gallons when finished. I just used glass, cut to size, then siliconed it, including the rough upper open edges of the glass. Let the silicone cure for a few days, then filled it with gravel and water and ran it for a few days with heater and filter to get a good start before adding fish. A tank this size doesn't support much, so I've had one Danio in there by his lonesome for about 1 and a half years. The key in a smaller tank with small fish, at least, is to avoid overfeeding. I feed him once every few days when I think about it. I think it came out well:

^ Awesome! I was already thinking of doing something similar with an old 10-12" B&W TV I have sitting in the garage!

I tested my tanks and did partial changes. Ammonia and nitrates are way high in one tank, but it's got 3 big goldfish and is a brand new tank. The other is a little high, but it's just an overcrowded guppy tank. I need to cull my guppies to help that tank and keep a closer eye on the goldfish tank.

How large of a tank are the goldfish in? Three of them in a 10 gallon? That's a deadly combo, they require a LOT of water per inch of fish. Goldfish FAQ

Not to mention a brand new tank won't have the established bacteria needed for a fully functioning filtration system to handle a large load.

Yeah, I really don't like having to deal with a new tank and a heavy waste load. If this were an established tank, I'd be safe. I'm a little undersized, but it's temporary until the goldfish get rehomed to another classroom tank.

If it were up to me, I'd have a 500 gallon freshwater community tank and another 1,000 gallon reef tank. I know how many Miatas I can buy with that kind of money, so until I invent the next Slinky, I'll stay under 100 gallons.