DIY Nano Reef Tank

[Guest clownfish4]

I plan on building a nano reef tank to put in my kitchen or bedroom or something to that effect.  It will be a maximum of 10 gallons, so I plan to build it out of acrylic.  Now for the questions....what is the best thing to use to connect the panels?  i.e. silicon, etc....Also, is it easy to bend acrylic with a blow torch to make a bow front?  Or should I just stick to a box?  Thanks for the help!!!

[Grav]

Just buy one, they are like $12

[Guest clownfish4]

Uhh.......I plan on replicating the nano cube....and I can assure you it won't cost $99 dollars for me to build it.  I have never even seen a base tank for $12.

[Guest bill33]

wal-mart has 10gallons for 8-9 dollers

[Guest greatwit]

theres a special acrylic adhesive called weld-on. im not sure what number you should use. you can find it at home depot,  lowes, or an acrylic supply place.

[Aquariareview]

I have built a lot of small tanks and It is always cheaper to buy a pre-made tank.

 

You cannot build a tank the size of the nano cube for less than the jbj tank cost.

 

Pro's and cons

 

Pro's for building

1. you get to have the fun of building what you want

2. you can put in what you want in lighting and filtration

 

Cons for building

1. The nano is glass

2. The finish work will be hard to match

3. the cost will be less

 

 

If you want to build a nano here is a rough plan for one that works.

 

Pet-co 10 gal tank                                                                     $10.00

 

CD-517553 - SeaClone Protein Skimmer (up to 100 gallons) - $67.99

CD-900104 - Bio-Wheel 170                                               $21.99

CD-321066 - Penguin 660                                                  $17.99

CD-519773 - PowerQuad 96 watt SmartLite Retrofit Kit       $125.99

 

You build a small hood out of plywood that fits the top of the tank.

Make sure that you have a fan in it and that the back is open

Mount the light in the hood.

Remove the biowheel from the filter and use it for water movement and media.

Mount skimmer and power head.

 

As you can see the cost of this is $250 plus by the time that you build the hood.

 

If you build the tank you will be over $300

 

A JBJ nano is $99-129 everywhere

 

I have About $200 in my JBJ. I paid 99 for the tank. I added a $67 SeaClone Protein Skimmer and a Aquglobe AQ300f Pump as the orig. pump was just not quit enough.

 

As you can see it all works

 

For a timeline setup of my JBJ Nano

[michaelg]

Here was a price break down on my 10 gallon nanotank-

10 gallon tank (free- had it laying around)

small eheim hang on filter- media removed, $14

2 small waterpumps-$20

8 lbs live rock $35

southdown sand, 1/4 bag ($2.00)

2x36 W PC retrokit, $70

Bulbs $40?

small heater $10

Wood for the DIY hood (1"x6" pine board) $8

I had an intank pico skimmer on the tank, but haven't used it for 3 years now.  

 

Difficult part in making the tank, and this is truelly tough, is getting clean seams.  You would also need access to a table saw with a high tooth count blade.  When I made my sump, it came out nothing like a pro can do- and not trusting my ability, I added a bead of silicon on the seams for extra security.  It's a sump, so I didn't care.