Shallow Frag Tanks?

[JRodrig692]

Those shallow frag tanks that people use, any ideas where to get them? I have also seen some people have made them but is it worth it?

I have a friend that owns a glass comapny, so I can get the glass for free but I am concerned over me missing up the seal job and my system draining out if the seals break and the tank falls apart.

Thanks.

Joe

 

[Phyl]

I'm interested in this as well. I'm not necessarily looking for a shallow frag tank as much as I am something I can see through the side on. My "top down" skills are seriously lacking and if I have to take one more ribbing from Steve68 on that I'm going to throw myself in the frag tank!

If we make one it would be acrylic though.

If I had a friend in glass I might think otherwise though!

 

[RichT]

For the shell of sumps, which is basically the same as a frag tank, I figure it like this if it’s somewhat standard in size:
All in feet. L = length left to right, D = depth front to back, H = height top to bottom
((L x D x 2) + (L x H x 2) + (D x H x 2)) x ($ of materials/sf + $5 labor)

 

[JRodrig692]

Bumping this up, seeing if anyone has had some experience making their own tank.

 

[Phyl]

Renee's made quite a few acrylic tanks. Rich has made a bunch of sumps. Lots of acrylic experience around the club! The demo at Renee's was enough to make me interested in giving it a try.

 

[JohnS_323]

Not to jack this thread, but I think I'm missing something. When I cost out doing anything in acrylic my jaw drops at how expensive it is. It almost seems cheaper to buy a glass tank. I guess if you need something custom you're forced to pay a premium, but otherwise how is it cheaper to DIY?

 

[billyr98]

i just finished a 36"x36"x12" frag tank!! come to the meeting and you will see!!!
Here is a thread about it.. I just made the stand last night, it will get plumbed in this weekend!!

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums/diy/16250-diy-frag-tank.html

 

[RichT]

Its by far cheaper to by a standard glass tank then to DIY anything close to standard dim's. I automatically suggest to anyone who wants a small sump to consider siliconing baffles into a 10 or 20g. 1/4" Acrylic bought in small quantities, even a full sheet, cost around $5 sf at HD and most glass retail shops. You can get if for about half $ but you may need to buy more than one sheet and travel to the factory or distributor. I've tried every which way to get the price down on sumps but the cheapest I can come up with is about $100 in materials for a smaller sump and a ham sandwich to put it together. Place's like Glass Cages will put you together a custom sump or tank cheaper than what you can get the materials for and less than what they'll charge you for shipping. I'm sure they buy the raw materials by the tractor trailer load for under a buck a sf. and pay their help minimum wage. But that shows in the quality of the craftsmanship.

 

[mfisher2112]

I think for me it's more about the "look, I made that myself" factor.

 

[IrradiatedReef]

A suggestion... If you can deal with top down approach, get a 8-12" tupperware/rubbermaid tub the size you want and place a rack in it to line up your frags! Put powerheads on both ends on a cheap wavemaker to mix it up a little. Can even pipe it into your main tank filtration system and have access to a huge water supply!

 

[Phyl]

Personally, I take abysmal top down shots. After having to use a "top down" approach to photography for over a year now we're looking to replace the stock tank with an official frag tank that you can see through.