# DIY Acrylic bio-chamber and 150 gallon tank.



## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Here is the graphic for the bio chamber insert I made for a 30 breeder.










Here is how it turned out.










Here is the start of the 6 x 2 x 18 T aquarium. First I had to build a table.

Salvage plywood from a shipping crate.


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

Bio chamber looks sweet
You building the tank?


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Yes


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

opcorn:

Glass or Acrylic?


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Acrylic....

Work table cont'd. The hole in the top is to assist with clamping and to provide access for cutting holes in the panels with a router.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Shimmed, clamped and pinned side and back panel.










Left and right sides connected to back panel.










Front and back connected to the sides.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)




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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

Looking great
Questions
Whats the thickness of the Acrylic? if you dont mind me asking how much was the Acrylic and where did you get it?
Did you prepair the edges or did you glue them as supplied?
and last one lol did you use Weld_on?


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

Awesome, the pictures make it look so easy...and the clamps of course.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

fusion said:


> Looking great
> Questions
> Whats the thickness of the Acrylic? if you dont mind me asking how much was the Acrylic and where did you get it?
> Did you prepair the edges or did you glue them as supplied?
> and last one lol did you use Weld_on?


3/8"

The total for two 4 x 8 sheets was $354.00 cut to my specs. I have been told that the price that I paid is/was really good. The company is Sabic Polymershapes. They are natiowide. Google them.

I scraped the edges with a razor blade to remove the saw marks.

I didn't have any WeldOn 4 so I used Methelyne Cholride. (Dichlormethane)


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Here is a pic of the front to side piece seam. Disregard the spot in the middle. That is from the flash. There are a couple of bubbles of no consequence. I was pleased with the results. Practice certainly makes perfect!


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Now the top.. Here are a bunch of photos of all of the clamping methods I had to use to cut out the hole openings and also mortice the top. The mortice is for the glass covers to rest in. Thanks to prov356 for the idea.

Laying out the sections that will be romoved.










Fences clamp down as guides.. (I eventually switched in favor to a 2 X 4 over the aluminum angle. The plastic guide on the router was creating to much resistance on the metallic surface of the angle) Pilot hole to start the cut with the router.



















Removing 3/8" (diameter of bit) worth of material in a pass was really pushing my router so I decided to cut away most of the hole opening with a skill saw. I then went back and dressed the edge with the trim bit on the router.

After skill saw:










After dressed with router:










Removing the notch to access the overflow:










Kind of hard to see but here it is with the notch removed. The left & right edge was only 2" long so I cut those pieces out with a jig saw.


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

Looking good :thumb:


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## mpowers (Apr 8, 2011)

Very cool build! Q; is the edge of the front and back panels over lapping the side panels?


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

mpowers said:


> Very cool build! Q; is the edge of the front and back panels over lapping the side panels?


Yes.. By design..

That is the solvent lip & will be router edged once it has set up for a week. Will have pics when I do it.


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## mpowers (Apr 8, 2011)

Please do, I'd like to see the process!


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## mudbug79 (Sep 18, 2012)

Is this your first tank build? Just curious. I think it would be cool to build my own tank, but the thought of messing up a piece of acrylic and having to buy more scares me from doing it.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

mudbug79 said:


> Is this your first tank build? Just curious. I think it would be cool to build my own tank, but the thought of messing up a piece of acrylic and having to buy more scares me from doing it.


This isn't my first acrylic project, no. I have done several smaller projects like sumps, grow out tanks, etc. On those projects, my only concern was for the item to hold water. Cosmetics were of a secondary concern.

This project is certainly different in that regard. It isn't perfect either but I have been fortunate in the fact that the mistakes are not significant & are out of sight.

I am very confident that the tank is structurally sound though.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Here are some pics of the morticing around the inside lip of the hole opening. The polycarbonate covers will rest in these pockets.










Close up.. Cosmetically not perfect but will suffice to keep the covers in place on the top of the tank










And here is my 12 yr old sizing up welding the top..










Thumbs up... Couldn't have done it without him... :lol:










Will route edge & remove the plastic this weekend. Need to install the overflow & returns. Will probably install the back ground too.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Here are the poly carbonate covers and the living hinge from US Plastics.










Here is the Universal Rocks "Rocky" background.










And the trim bit that I will use to route edge the overlapping edges on the tank.


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## mpowers (Apr 8, 2011)

opcorn:


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Here is a DIY thread on the background install:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=250896


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

Done...

Plywood underlayment:










Foam batting:










Plumbing:










On the stand:










Finished: I put SeaChem Aragamax Select "sugar sized" substrate in it this time instead of PFS.
Hope to have a video with fish added soon..


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## mpowers (Apr 8, 2011)

Looks great and can't wait to see some fish in it!

But you turkey, I wanted to see some router work pics! You must be like me, abandon the camera and just work on the project :thumb:


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

Great build, you ended up with a SWEET tank :thumb:


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

mpowers said:


> Looks great and can't wait to see some fish in it!
> 
> But you turkey, I wanted to see some router work pics! You must be like me, abandon the camera and just work on the project :thumb:


I will get some references. It is hard to take pics if that kind of stuff by yourself.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

[youtube]-4gjNcekH[/youtube]


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## swk (Mar 16, 2010)

Great work man. Love the finished product


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