5g side project

[tanks2u]

As if I don\'t already have enough to do in my work and personal life, I decided to finally start the 5g nano tank.  I had been thinking of building this tank for the better part of a year, but never started it.  Well, I finally got in the mood tonight and began the process.  I will post some info and pics below, but I\'d like as much feedback as you guys/gals are willing to give; maybe you\'ll think of something I didn\'t so I don\'t have to learn the hard way.  Enjoy.  :lol:

Parts so far:
-5g tank (duh) :wink:
-1/8 x 12 x 24 sheet of blue plexi
-all-glass aquarium silicone

I started by making the compartment inside the tank from cardboard, then moved to foam board before finally cutting the plexi myself (what a pain in the a$$).




Here is a shot of what it will look like from the front (again I just am using the foam board as reference now).




Here is a shot from the back; I normally paint the backs of my tanks blue.  Not sure what I\'m gonna do here.




Here is a shot looking straight down; let\'s you see what is the front (main) chamber and the three rear chambers.  Sorry the picture is blurry.




Here\'s the individual plexi pieces; I need to glue them together and then silicone them in place in the tank.




And finally my beautiful artwork!  This is a diagram of the three rear chambers and their purpose.  Again feedback is appreciated.



I can\'t claim this to be an original idea.  I found someone selling a tank like this over a year ago in NJ.  I wanted just the tank, he wanted to sell it complete with livestock and all; never worked out.  So have at it, let me know what you all think and if it could use adjusting/corrections anywhere.  Thanks everyone. :mrgreen:

EDIT - pics are not displaying right for some reason.

[Chrishew09]

looks good so far, i think 5g is a pico...hehe
doesn\'t look like there\'s much room for live stock......

so what did you use to cut the acrylic?

i am going to start a similar project soon, but i\'m going to have the filtration box on the output of the glass held in place with the bulk heads for intake and return.

[tanks2u]

I bought a plexiglass cutting knife from Home Depot.  I didn\'t get a smooth break everywhere, but it was close enough.  I actually used a metal file to grind down the lines that weren\'t smooth; worked out pretty good.  word of advice, make deep cuts to ensure your breaks are straight; I think my initial cut was deep enough which is why I had a few problems.

Pissed the pics didn\'t turn out right, I\'m gonna try to post them again. :evil:
Just tried previewing pictures after making them 75% of their original size, but they still won\'t display right.  Any ideas?

[tanks2u]

Ok, I\'m not going to repost the other five pictures, so I guess I\'ll just have to live with them sucking.  Below is the one image I wanted everyone to see correctly so the compartment setup makes sense.  In the original pic at the beginning of the thread you could only see two of the three compartments.

[tanks2u]

I think my initial cut was deep enough which is why I had a few problems.

Make that "I think my initial cut was NOT deep enough which is why I had a few problems.  It\'s late and I\'m tired. :?

[crabman]

Very cool.  Keep us posted on your progress.

[tanks2u]

thanks for the comments so far.  does anyone think I have the overflow slots coming down too far?  The plexi will go almost right to the top of the tank, and obviously the water level won\'t be that high.  I just guessed come 3" down to be honest.

[subielover]

This is cool. I think 3 inches should be plenty of room. Looking forward to seeing it up and running.

[tanks2u]

I was bored and pulled the 5g tank out tonight.  I glued the acrylic pieces together using weld-on like everyone suggested.  I\'ll let the glue dry and then if I get around to it over the weekend I\'ll drill out the overflow slots and silicone the acrylic into the tank.

[reeftanknewbie]

Did this ever get completed? very curious to see how it turned out.