Feelin Creative, making a tank.

[chondro-python]

Im going to have a go at making an aquarium and could use a little help.
The tank is going to be 30" x 24" x 24" which could have a 30"x12"x15" sump, but would have to be hang on weir due to the location of the aquarium (how does these work)?

Another question includes; has anyone here made an aquarium before if so how did you fix the glass?

What is recomended for optimum water quality (filteration) as I have previously had fluctuating levels of Nitrates since I started the hobby 7 months ago in a smaller tank, and want this one to be right. Can I simply put filter and water from existing aquariums into the new one straight away or would it be more beneficial to cycle it from scratch?

Advice of any kind would be a great help!

Cheers folks, Karlos.
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[Tangman]

Hi Karl If you dont feel confident to build your own you might be better to have it made for you by one of our sponsor tank builders. Its fairly easy to build your own if you have the confience to do it, and have the right equipment also.You say your having a hang on weir,whats wrong with having the tank drilled and piped into the sump.This is the best way to get water into the sump, as overflow boxes can stop working by getting air locked. Once you have your new tank you can transfer all the water out of your old system into the new one, plus mixed with an amount of new salt water to make up the difference in size. The best way for filtration IMO is live rock and a good skimmer ie Deltec or Aqua Medic, plus good open spaces between the rocks so water can flow through easy. Not forgetting good regular water changes ie 5% per week with a good quality salt. If you have external filters take all the media out and use the filter for rowa phos and carbon, if you have media in an external it will go towards making nitrates. HTH. Eric:D

[Electric Monk]

Fit filtration will do you a 30x24x24 Tank for £150 and a 30x16x15 sump for £100

[lasgringo]

like electric monk says get fit filtration to make you the tank and sump and have a wier built in,they're building my tank now and the caftsmanship's second to none,don't do things by half,you'll only end up spending double in the long run to fix it:)

[windsor-aquatic]

Fit filtration will do you a 30x24x24 Tank for £150 and a 30x16x15 sump for £100

That's expensive, especislly the sump.

[chondro-python]

I already have the materials and enough confidence to have a go, I have made a smaller aquarium a long time before, but since I have the stuff already I am gonna do this. I thought about having the tank drilled but The stand its on belongs to my mother so I cant really drill through, its the only place the tank will fit with athetics in mind!

Thanx to the above and keep those replies coming in, cheers all.

[Tangman]

I already have the materials and enough confidence to have a go, I have made a smaller aquarium a long time before, but since I have the stuff already I am gonna do this. I thought about having the tank drilled but The stand its on belongs to my mother so I cant really drill through, its the only place the tank will fit with athetics in mind!

Thanx to the above and keep those replies coming in, cheers all.
Hi Karl you say you cant drill through your stand as its your mothers, is it a cupboard or something if so make sure it will hold that amount of water as it will be heavy. 1 gallon of Salt water weighs 12 lb so a 100 gallon tank will have 1200lbs of water in plus the glass and rocks sand etc. If you cant drill the bottom of the tank drill the side at near the top about 2 or 3 inch down and feed your water down the side or rear of the tank. HTH Eric:D

[Mark J]

I built a tank for a friend the other year when I went to visit him (some of you may have seen the pics on another forum with me holding a tube of silicon and the pad still on my elbow as I had just had an operation on my elbow lol!)

the tank was a 4x2x2 (i think!) tank for a sump with a couple of dividers in it.
As long as you have a spare pair of arms, it shouldnt be tooooo tricky, just remember to plan it all out well and have some tape handy to temp hold the sides together etc, and also the number 1 rule is to remember to use Aquarium grade silicon!

I also drilled it for him too as I recall!

(glass was already cut to sizes he had specified though, so I didnt have to do that bit luckily!)

[moorish]

not to hard to build a tank that size,just make sure you get the right silicon.i built mine and myself and saved a few thousand quid.i am sure you will get plenty of volunteers to give you a hand.derek

[chondro-python]

Well, I have now glued the aquarium together, gotta wait for it to set (2 days) then will test for leaks. Its already sat on polystyrene in place where it will stay so all I have to do after testing is rig up the current filteration and skimmer and put water from the old tank accross - if I do this "can I then place the corals / fish straight in from old tanks"? as the water will be the same (apart from top up water) and the filter will already have bacteria, also the live rock / sand will be transfered (its just the larger volume of water that concerns me). The filter I use is an Aqua one CF1000 should I take the media out and use the phosphate and activated carbon, just wondered coz Tangman said about it, but ive decided to try and run the system without the sump for now so unsure if I should still do it?

Oh & dont forget over easter stock might be tricky to order so get every thing early or you might have to wait a couple of weeks ; 0 )

Happy Easter!!!

[Kev]

Don't see why you can't stock straight away. My current setup was stocked fully on day one, with live rock and mature water taken immediately from my old system. Fish / coral and all went in straight away.

I did keep a careful eye on parameters mind you have disturbed things a a major way!

[chondro-python]

Cheers 4 all the help so far. After some consideration Ive decided to get the tank drilled and to get a different stand altogether for the weir to pass through. I have yet another question for you all (sorry, but I know nothing about this!)

... How do Sumps work, I cant figure out why, in the event of a power cut the sump doesnt over flow and the main tank empty?

I cant find anything that explains how to set up a sump either, im hoping to convert an aquarium (30" x 12" x 15") so how many partiutions would I need, been reading the other post about sumps - I think various methods work, if you wanted to add a protein skimmer shouldnt it go at the beggining to remove the rubbish prior to the water flowing through the rest of the sump. And how do you figure out the size of the pump required to return water back to the main tank and the size of the weir etc, OMG this is confusing. HELP

[MR Teee]

Karlos, sit and watch this for 10 mins, then ask some more questions.

http://www.melevsreef.com/plumbing/refugium.gif

Red and green lights show when the pump is on or off.

Oh and visit www.melevsreef.com ->goto the site map and the link on the left, how sumps work.

This should give you a good intro, but like I said ask any Q's after you have digested it all.

[chondro-python]

Well its done Ive made and stocked the aquarium and I made a funky stand which it is all sat on the animals look so much better in their and I cant wait to chuck a few more fish in, I kno patience and all that... Im getting a majestic angel soon. Anyone kno anything about them?

Ive shifted the live rock accross and it looks bare now they filled the other tanks gonna hav 2 get some more, will increase the corrals in their too.

Will update with a few pics asap. L8R People.

[moorish]

there is no way your tank is big enough to keep a majestic angel,these fish require plenty of swimming space and caves to hide in as they are quite a timid fish .the minimum size i would keep one in would be a 5x2x2.derek

[Blue]

Any pics yet :confused: come on, we can't wait :D :D