My First Home Made Aquarium - In Technicolor! - APE - Aquatic Plant Enthusiasts

ukamikazu · 07-20-2009, 05:32 PM

Well, guys I went and did it and I filmed it. For your delectation, my first Vimeo post and my first DIY aquarium. Enjoy!

ukamikazu · 07-20-2009, 05:35 PM

You'll probably notice I got a little happy with the silicon. Two days of elbow grease and a lot of razors got it nice and cleaned up.

ukamikazu · 07-20-2009, 05:45 PM

Here, I have placed it on an Exo-Terra brand cabinet stand whose pedestal is a perfect 12.5" x 12.5".

The filter is a Rena FilStar XP1. I had to trim 2 inches of the spray bar to fit it in and similarly trim the intake stem. Over driven? Perhaps, but that will give us some high quality filtration, a lot of room for error and I have found using a bit higher current than is called for more evenly distributes CO2, fertilizers and really discourages algae.

Lights, air pumps and diffusers are on order. I'll certainly update you all with more glossy photos.

Ultimately, this will be a Rio Madeira habitat which will be home to my school of Corydoras pygmaeus.

The plants will be Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, Heteranthera zosterifolia, Riccia fluitans (floating) and will prominently feature Ludwigia inclinata var. verticillata 'Pantanal'.

AquaZilla · 07-20-2009, 07:18 PM

Amazing ukamikazu! You did a million times cleaner job than I did with my fist DIY tank

I had a million globs of finger print silicone all over the place. I spent more time cleaning my mess than building the tank

Your video is very nice! It looks like its in HD! I love it! And Im going to make this a "sticky"!

Well done my man!

-Orlando

ukamikazu · 07-21-2009, 03:18 AM

Wow! Thank you. That means a lot to me. Personally, I thought I did a messy job the first time. I still had to razor off a lot of excess.

But if you think it was tidy for a first time job, then tidy it was!

I do intend to build more. I do intend to build bigger. I have an 18 incher and then finally a 2 footer in mind. Both cubes, both with special considerations in glass thickness and clarity given their size and the fact they will be braceless.

AquaZilla · 07-21-2009, 11:25 AM

One thing you want to ask your local glass cutter is of they can bevel the edges for you.
This will give the silicone 3 surfaces to attach to instead of one

I will get a picture to you today of what I mean

-Orlando

ukamikazu · 07-21-2009, 11:54 AM

I was actually thinking about that, but only after the fact.

I think I discounted it at the time not because of cost, but because I somehow got it into my head that that would somehow reduce surface area and make it less reliably stick to the silicon.

I will certainly be doing it next time. The five slices across the joints of four of my fingers probably would have been less likely to have happened had I requested that and the silicon will undoubtedly adhese just fine.

The notions that overtake me sometimes, I just don't know...

AquaZilla · 07-21-2009, 11:56 AM

I feel your pain

Jdinh04 · 07-21-2009, 08:19 PM

Awesome video and DIY! I've always wanted to build my own tank, but never knew where to start. This video will definitely help. Good luck with the tank and hope to see it planted soon!

AquaZilla · 07-21-2009, 10:49 PM

x2!

07-20-2009, 05:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
ukamikazu Moderator Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Austin, Texas, USA Posts: 620	My First Home Made Aquarium - In Technicolor! Well, guys I went and did it and I filmed it. For your delectation, my first Vimeo post and my first DIY aquarium. Enjoy!

07-21-2009, 03:18 AM	#5 (permalink)
ukamikazu Moderator Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Austin, Texas, USA Posts: 620	Wow! Thank you. That means a lot to me. Personally, I thought I did a messy job the first time. I still had to razor off a lot of excess. But if you think it was tidy for a first time job, then tidy it was! I do intend to build more. I do intend to build bigger. I have an 18 incher and then finally a 2 footer in mind. Both cubes, both with special considerations in glass thickness and clarity given their size and the fact they will be braceless. Last edited by ukamikazu; 07-21-2009 at 06:34 AM. Reason: Spelling/usage error, changed intent to intend, mine to mind

07-21-2009, 08:19 PM	#9 (permalink)
Jdinh04 Moderator Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Okemos, MI Posts: 268	Awesome video and DIY! I've always wanted to build my own tank, but never knew where to start. This video will definitely help. Good luck with the tank and hope to see it planted soon! __________________ AquaScapist.com Planted Aquarium Blog & Resource

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07-20-2009, 07:18 PM	#4 (permalink)
AquaZilla Administrator Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 2,736	Amazing ukamikazu! You did a million times cleaner job than I did with my fist DIY tank I had a million globs of finger print silicone all over the place. I spent more time cleaning my mess than building the tank Your video is very nice! It looks like its in HD! I love it! And Im going to make this a "sticky"! Well done my man! -Orlando

07-21-2009, 11:25 AM	#6 (permalink)
AquaZilla Administrator Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 2,736	One thing you want to ask your local glass cutter is of they can bevel the edges for you. This will give the silicone 3 surfaces to attach to instead of one I will get a picture to you today of what I mean -Orlando

07-21-2009, 11:54 AM	#7 (permalink)
ukamikazu Moderator Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Austin, Texas, USA Posts: 620	I was actually thinking about that, but only after the fact. I think I discounted it at the time not because of cost, but because I somehow got it into my head that that would somehow reduce surface area and make it less reliably stick to the silicon. I will certainly be doing it next time. The five slices across the joints of four of my fingers probably would have been less likely to have happened had I requested that and the silicon will undoubtedly adhese just fine. The notions that overtake me sometimes, I just don't know...

07-21-2009, 11:56 AM	#8 (permalink)
AquaZilla Administrator Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 2,736	I feel your pain

07-21-2009, 10:49 PM	#10 (permalink)
AquaZilla Administrator Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 2,736	x2!