# DIY aquarium planter



## Heartnet

Now this is what I can renew, recycle and reuse. I think this is a great idea, aesthetics aside. But I think it might take up a lot of room in smaller bare root tanks won't it?


----------



## M1STE2TEA

yeah it does take up a lot of room. I suppose it would also work with other plants that just grow vertically. Although I wanted the plant to block out as much light as possible in the tank that its in... here's a link to it... here


----------



## Gatekeeper

Maybe give yourself a bit more room at the rosette of the plant to grow some. Looks like it will choke off at some point.

I use terra cotta pots for bare bottom tanks.


----------



## M1STE2TEA

Gatekeeper said:


> I use terra cotta pots for bare bottom tanks.


I used to grow some plants like that but I ended up knocking them over a lot when I was doing water changes with a gravel vac and the substrate in the pot would spill and it was just a big headache


----------



## jreich

imo it would look better painted


----------



## NatCh

I think it's quite a clever solution. Ideally, I would prowly want some sort of re-open/closable container, but for materials on hand it's a nice kludge. :smile:


----------



## M1STE2TEA

jreich said:


> imo it would look better painted


you know what... I had a can of krylon fusion with me and I was really tempted to spray it. So far I do not like the way that the crazy glue makes the plastic look white but I do love being able to see the roots. if the roots do not satisfy me then Ill pull it out and spray it.


----------



## M1STE2TEA

NatCh said:


> I think it's quite a clever solution. Ideally, I would prowly want some sort of re-open/closable container, but for materials on hand it's a nice kludge. :smile:


true, I was trying to go for something that doesnt require glue, but it was just too weak without the glued seam. If I ever need it opened I can just cut it open and put it into a new soda bottle since I just happen to like pepsi so much


----------



## NatCh

Excellent point!


----------



## trixella

I'm getting ready to make a riparium and would love to know how you made your diy hanging planters? I like the way your planters look.


----------



## M1STE2TEA

16 inch, 7 inch and a 5 inch, made to fit into a standard 10 gallon tank with a 4 inch internal filter in one corner. the design uses a plexiglass frame that is tightly wrapped in plastic screen mesh and spot glued on all edges with krazy glue.








they are all 5 inch when righted up. the diagonal cut design should help avoid shadows underneath them so that more can be seen underwater. furthermore the diagonal line improved the surface area/volume ratio, more water flow will be in line with the root system. the sides have a triangular hole to aid water flow through the planter.








this view shows the support used for the long planter, that holds the two long support pieces for the front. It also serves as a divider for the roots between two different plants.








a view from the top 








a view of the back of one of the smaller planters. I used neodymium magnets glued to the inside of the plexiglass that will then attach itself to another magnet on the outside of the tank. (I later discovered that these are not strong enough for the weight of the gravel and resorted to siliconing the planters to the dry tank. This is okay only because the sides and the back of the tank was painted black so you can't see the silicone glue)








smaller planter from the front. I chose not to paint these models because the mesh was on the outside and the glue spots were not as noticeable as with the previous model.








inside the smaller planter

I have also made another planter for a 55 gallon tank that I will soon take pictures of, to show you its installation


----------



## trixella

Bummer, for some reason I can't open up the images. :icon_frow


----------



## trixella

Does any one else have problems viewing the images? I tried looking from Firefox, Explorer, and from my Android phone and can't pull them up on any of them.


----------



## Gatekeeper

Yea, they are linked to a website that needs membership and password.


----------



## AirstoND

*Fishtanks..we don't need not stinking fishtanks!*

Wonder if it will grow and flower without being submerged. My aponogeton is about to flower hopefully. Check it!


----------



## M1STE2TEA

sorry guys, I thought I'd take a shortcut, save my file attachment space... doing it the right way now.










16 inch, 7 inch and a 5 inch, made to fit into a standard 10 gallon tank with a 4 inch internal filter in one corner. the design uses a plexiglass frame that is tightly wrapped in plastic screen mesh and spot glued on all edges with krazy glue.







they are all 5 inch when righted up. the diagonal cut design should help avoid shadows underneath them so that more can be seen underwater. furthermore the diagonal line improved the surface area/volume ratio, more water flow will be in line with the root system. the sides have a triangular hole to aid water flow through the planter.







this view shows the support used for the long planter, that holds the two long support pieces for the front. It also serves as a divider for the roots between two different plants.








a view from the top. I used neodymium magnets glued to the inside of the plexiglass that will then attach itself to another magnet on the outside of the tank. (I later discovered that these are not strong enough for the weight of the gravel and resorted to siliconing the planters to the dry tank. This is okay only because the sides and the back of the tank was painted black so you can't see the silicone glue)







I chose not to paint these models because the mesh was on the outside and the glue spots were not as noticeable as with the previous model.
I have also made another planter for a 55 gallon tank that I will soon take pictures of, to show you its installation


----------



## jasonpatterson

M1STE2TEA said:


> true, I was trying to go for something that doesnt require glue, but it was just too weak without the glued seam. If I ever need it opened I can just cut it open and put it into a new soda bottle since I just happen to like pepsi so much


It might be a bit of a pain to set up, but I wonder if you couldn't punch a few holes through both bottle pieces and tie loops of fishing line through to hold it together. If the loops were reasonably tight and there were 3-4 of them it should keep the two together soundly and still be able to be opened without being overly conspicuous visually.


----------



## M1STE2TEA

jasonpatterson said:


> It might be a bit of a pain to set up, but I wonder if you couldn't punch a few holes through both bottle pieces and tie loops of fishing line through to hold it together. If the loops were reasonably tight and there were 3-4 of them it should keep the two together soundly and still be able to be opened without being overly conspicuous visually.


Thats a good idea... or maybe even small zip ties would work as well. 

BTW I just remembered to mention, it would have been a lot easier to punch the holes with a hot fork rather than drilling them all.


----------



## Yve

What a great idea. Well done. I'm off to make one myself. 😊


----------

