Benefits and questions about building custom tanks

[SammyTargo]

Hello all,

It seems I have another teeming question every day now , but that makes sense as I am only just getting back into the nook of the hobby.

Despite my many years of fishkeeping, I never thought of the benefits to building custom tanks. They always felt like too much work and my "donations" to my LFS(s) gave me store credit which I often used to lower the costs of my builds, though most were just smaller tanks for breeding and grow outs.

I had some questions about building custom tanks:

• Do they cost less, and if so how much?
• Does it require a lot of supplies?
• Where would I buy the glass that is properly fit for aquariums? (I would suppose IKEA but I'm not sure what brand/store is the best for it)
• Is it hard or tedious, because I would do this for the budget. If it is very time-consuming, I wouldn't bother and I'll spend the extra 50 bucks for those 2 weeks of my time building the tank.

 

[GaryE29 144]

If you have a good glass company locally, all you need is the thickness for the size you want, and the dimensions for them to but it. If the cuts are square, silicone and duct tape'll do the job.

Using the IKEA shelving, I spent about 40 minutes per tank. They then had to sit and cure for 24 hours minimum, in my summertime garage. That gave me a good tank. If I had applied the silicone as the online directions counseled, they didn't leak. I got two tanks for a hair less than the off the shelf price for one.

Tanks are more expensive here, as we're off the beaten path for cheap shipping. You might find better deals in a major city, and would have to take that into account.

I met a young man in Benin, in a village with no electricity or running water. He built his own aquariums to breed local fish, his fascination. If he could do that with his limited resources, what's stopping us?

I'd be wary of my skills if I wanted a monster tank though. I don't know why, logically, but I'd want more experience before I did say a 75 or larger.

 

[MattW29 145]

Tanner from Serpa Design has been making custom aquariums and enclosures for over 10 years. The video below shows his guide to an Ikea glass DIY aquarium.

 

[SammyTargo]

I'd be wary of my skills if I wanted a monster tank though. I don't know why, logically, but I'd want more experience before I did say a 75 or larger.

Of course, this would be for a nano tank to start with at least. I want a small tank for shrimp most likely, and it seems unreasonable to spend $80-100 CAD on a 5/10 gallon aquarium.

Tanner from Serpa Design has been making custom aquariums and enclosures for over 10 years. The video below shows his guide to an Ikea glass DIY aquarium.

Yes. I have been a fan of Tanner for a long time now, subbed since 30k. However, even when I use him as inspiration for builds, especially aquariums, I consider that he has an amazing amount of skill and makes things look simple (when it takes a real talent and years of experience). If you look at my initial post, I didn’t mention how to build it because I know the process through all of this time watching Serpa. He makes things that can take a lot of tries look very simple, whether that is because of editing, or raw experience and talent.

I wanted to know from other people’s perspectives, as Serpa is (IMO) one of the most talented people in this hobby, and extended hobby of not just fishkeeping but animals in general.

I hope you understand what I am trying to say.

 

[MattW29 145]

The video was in response to your questions, sorry . The full video includes costs compared to prebuilt, the costs of supplies & what's needed + where to buy the glass itself.

I have siliconed a couple of tanks, the most recent being a 2.5gal/12L. I bought an old tank that had been outdoors and had perished silicone for £8 and a week's worth of norovirus early last year. Prepping was quite easy tbh. I removed the old stuff with a razor and cleaned the glass with 99% IA. Siliconeing was a short job. I prefer using generous amounts as a piece of mind, just make sure you have the room and a disposable surface so you don't ruin a worktop or table . If you can find cheap glass, I believe it's a cheaper alternative to buying a new tank. The one thing I am wary of is glass thickness; the minimum I would use in a tank smaller than 40L is 5mm. Since it's rimless, there is no support frame.

 

[SammyTargo]

The video was in response to your questions, sorry . The full video includes costs compared to prebuilt, the costs of supplies & what's needed + where to buy the glass itself.

Yes, of course. My comment was not to say that the video is useless, but rather that it didn't answer all of my questions. I wanted to see how the experience was for other people that have tried it before, not just instructions on what to do.

I really appreciate your (and everyone else's too!!) advice, and I definitely will take that stuff into account along with the video which I vaguely remember watching a long time ago. The part where he intentionally applied silicone to the bottom of the tank to simulate manual error sprang back my memory.

Thanks again

 

[GaryE29 144]

The thing to me is I watched a lot of live presentations on tank making, as well as youtubers. I knew one guy who had made all his own tanks for a shop, and who had done so to maximize space for both customer viewing and fish living space. When he retired, he moved the whole set up (150 tanks) to his basement. He gave lessons on tank building, but I was scared to do it. In the back of my mind, there had to be a catch.

As a DIY person, I'm not skilled. I have a mild learning disability with spatial tasks, and really have to double and triple check measurements and such. I make my own tank racks, worked a lot on my fishroom, etc, but it doesn't come easily. That undermines my confidence for tank building.

I followed that video's advice and had tanks in no time. They are dead solid things - better made then many of the commercial frameless ones. I used thicker glass and importantly, more silicone. It was ludicrously easy. The price of glass has risen, but so has the price of tanks, and if I were building tanks under 12 gallons, I wouldn't worry about it now. I'd just do it.

 

[SammyTargo]

I followed that video's advice and had tanks in no time. They are dead solid things - better made then many of the commercial frameless ones. I used thicker glass and importantly, more silicone. It was ludicrously easy. The price of glass has risen, but so has the price of tanks, and if I were building tanks under 12 gallons, I wouldn't worry about it now. I'd just do it.

where did you buy your glass?

 

[GaryE29 144]

I used the IKEA trick for glass. But any good glass place will custom cut glass to your specs. That's where all my lids are from - glass shops and scavenged pieces that weren't tempered and that I could cut by myself.

 

[TwoTankAmin24]

I refuse to even try to make a tank. When I have a leaker it goes to the dump and I buy a new tank. My reason is that i am sure if I did build one it would cost me more and likely would end up leaking.

But there is another aspect to this, time. It is one thing to DIY something because you cannot buy it. But when we moat folks do DIY they are considering their time to be worthless. I do not agree that this is the case. When you are retired and do mot work, this might be less of a consideration. But, you have to get all the supplies which entails time and tansportation which have a cost that most fo not count.

Then the actual time you spend setting up then doing the work and then cleaning up afterwards. I would bet if you worked for just $20 an hour and you added that to your DIY cost the actual cost of the DIY will be more than buying whatever it is you built.

I can spend my time on fish related things more productively than spending it making a tank. I also do not want rimless tanks for anything. So I need to get frames as I also use lids on all my tanks. I prefer to buy used tanks than to build them. Both both my 5 foot tanks used, I have 33 and 20 longs I got used and even a 75. I have lost as many tanks I bought new to leaks as used tanks I bought which ended up leaking.

But, I am also fortunate enough to be able to afford to buy my tanks and supplies. What I cannot do it buy more time.

As always this is what works for me and how I [refer to do things. This does not mean it is either the best or the only way to do things.

p.s. At my peak I had 28 tanks in use and the 8 were only in the summer and/or for using in the vendor room at fish events. What I liked most about being a vendor was not the sales or even the money form them, it was being able to talk fish all day long with other fish keepers. I used to arrive to set up Thursday evening and would leaves on Sunday. So it was like a 3.5 day fish club meeting

 

[SammyTargo]

I see. I was just curious about it as an alternative. Selling my tanks away was not a good idea. I could have kept them in case of something like this where I suddenly come back to the hobby headfirst and want to build up a collection. Shame I gave them away, and sold very few of the ones I lost. I used to have tons in order to grow out, breed, and quarantine mostly bettas and guppy/endlers, with the occasional niche project. I would have so much to build on. I still have my chemical bottles, but it’s basically square 1 from here on out.

 

[Boundava7]

Hello all,

It seems I have another teeming question every day now , but that makes sense as I am only just getting back into the nook of the hobby.

Despite my many years of fishkeeping, I never thought of the benefits to building custom tanks. They always felt like too much work and my "donations" to my LFS(s) gave me store credit which I often used to lower the costs of my builds, though most were just smaller tanks for breeding and grow outs.

I had some questions about building custom tanks:

• Do they cost less, and if so how much?

Depends on the supplies and size of tank you're building

• Does it require a lot of supplies?

See answer above ...

• Where would I buy the glass that is properly fit for aquariums? (I would suppose IKEA but I'm not sure what brand/store is the best for it)

Local glass store/provider is the best source.

• Is it hard or tedious, because I would do this for the budget. If it is very time-consuming, I wouldn't bother and I'll spend the extra 50 bucks for those 2 weeks of my time building the tank.

It does take patience to design, assemble, waterproof...
I would take a look at this YouTuber to get a nice idea, Aquarium Domain. His fish room is all custom and he does a couple DIY, episode 69 is one of them.

I will be building one for 3 reasons; 1. cost, 2. I can make it as long/wide without worries about getting it down into the basement due to dimensions or weight as large glass tanks are heavy and 3. I had 2 new acrylic tanks pop on me so won't trust them again.

 

[kwamjing]

He makes things that can take a lot of tries look very simple, whether that is because of editing, or raw experience and talent.

^^^^This...

It doesn't matter what the task is, plumbing, electrical, tile laying, cabinetry...If you haven't done it before you're going to feel some pain. I dread taking on new tasks, because 9 times out of 10 I either end up having to redo it or I discover an unforeseen problem that needs to be sorted first. Unfortunately, due to a lack of access to skilled professionals locally I have ended up becoming a jack of all trades, master of none.

I have built my own aquarium, a 175 gallon. I had to do it twice because I couldn't get the silicone to flow properly. It looks easy when a professional does it, but it's not. It's an acquired skill. I can't tell you how much of a PITA it was tearing that tank down and removing the silicone for the rebuild.

I learned from my mistakes and have no doubt that the next time would be much easier (and less time consuming), but I have no plan to do so. Unless you plan on keeping multiple tanks, save yourself the trouble and buy a pre-built.

 

[GaryE29 144]

I dunno. With small tanks (30 inch front glass) I was able to make a shape that fit better than a commercial one in the time I watched a video and worked for half an hour. Someone else cut the glass, and I would have had to make a phone call and pick it up if I had bought from a glass shop. Five pieces of glass to make a box, held together by silicone and gravity.
It took less time than buying one would have, with the driving I would have had to do, et. And it cost half as much.
I don't like rimless tanks, which was the only disadvantage.

I'd do it again.

I mistrust my skills in general, but this was an easy thing to make for a self confessed klutz. I make my own stands and can make my own tanks, should I choose to.

 

[Boundava7]

^^^^This...

It doesn't matter what the task is, plumbing, electrical, tile laying, cabinetry...If you haven't done it before you're going to feel some pain. I dread taking on new tasks, because 9 times out of 10 I either end up having to redo it or I discover an unforeseen problem that needs to be sorted first. Unfortunately, due to a lack of access to skilled professionals locally I have ended up becoming a jack of all trades, master of none.

I have built my own aquarium, a 175 gallon. I had to do it twice because I couldn't get the silicone to flow properly. It looks easy when a professional does it, but it's not. It's an acquired skill. I can't tell you how much of a PITA it was tearing that tank down and removing the silicone for the rebuild.

I learned from my mistakes and have no doubt that the next time would be much easier (and less time consuming), but I have no plan to do so. Unless you plan on keeping multiple tanks, save yourself the trouble and buy a pre-built.

Well I have a 120 and 125, I guess a 180 too, but I don't trust it to hold water so it holds my box turtle and a little water.
This about the extent of the size that can fit down the stairs without me calling movers and removing walls. The other option is to build in place.

I know it's not as easy as shown, but my next tank is going to be in the 400 gallons, something that (in glass) will not fit down the stairs, will need a crew to haul and will cost a small fortune to buy.

Don't get me wrong, if there was a wand some place I would jump on that option, lol...as they say reality sucks, and just roll with it.

Look at me full of cliches