# My ugly homemade nano [page 4 updates]



## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

You are going to cut the glass now that it is done? You will be doing it again. I would recommend you cut the silicone and seperate the pieces before assembly. You will end up breaking that thin glass.


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## AndyN (Jun 2, 2006)

maybe make a canopy that covers the extra glass on the sides?


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Bah you under estimate me. The glass was easy to break without issue. Building my filter setup now.


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## bigstick120 (May 23, 2005)

What was the total cost of that tank?


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Well, lets see...

*grabs receipts*

$11 of glass, $3.44 of silicone

$14.44

(ignoring pliars and glass cutter, which together cost $11, but they're tools for the future, right?)

Stuff I'm adding now...

$2.88 scour pads, $3.59 15' of black tubing (anybody want 14' of tube? ), 60gph pump $10

So total is ... $30.91. Plus I suspect I might buy a $10-15 CF desklamp to put over it. Then it's plants, fishies, heater if needed, etc.


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## captured!byrobots (Jan 8, 2006)

You are my hero.
Building a fish tank in your hotel.
Sounds like something I would do.....

Keep on doing what you're doing! 
LOVE JBOT


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Fascinating story! This just goes to show that if you want to make something, the best way to do it is to do it.


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## aizaspurz (Sep 30, 2003)

Keep it up Zulu.....I wanna see more!


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## fshfanatic (Apr 20, 2006)

I might have to build one.. It would be a fun project. I wish you luck~


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## Y0uH0 (Dec 19, 2005)

This is really D.I.Y,way to go man! Reallly cuts the cost out of your expenditure while at the same time giving you a sense of satisfaction as everything is self-made.Simply inspiring.


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## RoseHawke (Mar 10, 2004)

What _I_ want to know is how the heck he cut that glass after it was already put together :icon_eek: !


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## Roy Deki (Jan 13, 2004)

Great job...I'm interested in making one myself. A couple of questions though:
What department of Home Depot did you find that glass?
Are those glass edges really sharp?

Thanks Roy


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

The glass was on the very end of an isle in the "doors & windows" isle. It's replacement glass incase the neighbours kids throw a baseball thru your stylish glass door or something, I guess.

The edges were very sharp, so I scuffed them a bit, then also put a bead of silicone over them to avoid slicing my arms up later on. 


RoseHawke; scored the glass along the line above the joint, tapped it with a ball hammer, then pulled out and down with the pliars?  You just have to make sure you've scored it deeply enough.


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## kzr750r1 (Jun 8, 2004)

Roy Deki said:


> Great job...I'm interested in making one myself. A couple of questions though:
> What department of Home Depot did you find that glass?
> Are those glass edges really sharp?
> 
> Thanks Roy


Glass can be carfully sanded. Use 200 and under git with a block and it turns out ok.

Not all home depot carry the same products so precut may not be and option in some stores.

Good luck with your build.:thumbsup:


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## Roy Deki (Jan 13, 2004)

Off to Home Depot...Thank you!!!


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Ack. I just did a whole post and didn't hit submit after preview. *sigh*

Here we go again, this time with less witty commentary.











The other goodies from Home Depot.






























Building the 'mattenfilter'












Pond/Fountain pump... of fury!





















Sending the flow to the other side of the tank.












Behind the filter.












Front of the tank.












Incisions on the end of the tube for controlled distributed outlet, as well as ugly silicone jobby to plug up the end of the tube.



The tank now has a 10x10x10 'living space' as well as a 10x2x10 'filter area' that I can chuck heaters or whatever else I want behind.


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## endparenthesis (Jul 13, 2004)

Hm, I guess those glass edges would have been another reason to cut first. They could have been on the bottom.  Are they sharp?


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## turbosaurus (Nov 19, 2005)

I LOVE IT ! I was looking at the pictures and thinking what the heck is this guy going to do with the scrubby pads? Oh my goodness! No! He is not going to build an overflow with scrubby pads! No way! He did! He did build an overflow out of scrubby pads! Too Too cool. 

Now I am going to have these on every flat surface in my house!


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## Ryzilla (Oct 29, 2005)

make sure you give us a $ total. This project has great economic value.


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

I've built a glass "tank" like this as a base for a kritter cage - something to replace the old rusty pan that came with it, and it worked really well.

I went to the department at Lowes where they sold wood trim and found a 90 degree piece of wood to fit over the edges where the glass comes together. This kept me from cutting myself on the glass and gave quite a bit of support to the tank too. That might be something to consider if you want a little extra support, but it looks like it is holding up just fine as is! Pretty neat project - please keep us posted!


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Haha "scrubby pads". This thread gives me the giggles. It's not an 'overflow' but more of a 'mattenfilter' - huge filter pad on one side that a large body of water can flow thru. Low flow-rate, large surface.

Running tally is $30 something so-far. (still ignoring the pliars and glass cutter - I can use that to rob banks later)

I've set the pump to its lowest setting, so I imagine this is flowing far below 60gph, I'd imagine more like 20gph. There is a very gentle swirl effect in the 'living space', enough to avoid stagnant water, but not so much as to actually move plants. I'm going to full'er up, let it run for a few hours, drain it, let it sit for a few hours. Do that cycle for a day or two.

I should be moving out of here in 10 days or so, but I might setup a hardscape at least. Plants as yet to be determined... Fish/critters as yet to be determined. 

*wonders*



endparenthesis; they WERE sharp, I tried to file them a bit, then chucked a bead of silicone over to cover up any edges that were left.

JenThePlantGeek; I might look into it, something very thin, plastic, and black would be nice. That said, I'd rather have some sort of support on the bottom.... All-in-all it's not exactly a huge volume, so there isn't much stress on any joint to start with.












Nice level floors, right? ;P






























Flow test - not naked, despite what it looks like. 














And here it is 60-75% full, you can see the gentle ripple in the corner.



Weee.


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## agdavis (Jun 23, 2006)

badass man


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## darkfury18 (Apr 1, 2006)

you've inspired me  just went to home depot and got the glass and siliconed everything together... waiting for the silicone to dry now.. if it works.. it'll be a nice $6 rimless aquarium


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## Ryzilla (Oct 29, 2005)

im highly inspired as well.


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## toofazt (Jun 18, 2005)

Nice......


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## the_noobinator (Jun 10, 2006)

i might do this and have it be a shrimp tank in my office.


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## darkfury18 (Apr 1, 2006)

the_noobinator said:


> i might do this and have it be a shrimp tank in my office.


my thoughts exactly :icon_lol: I've been looking for a small desktop tank to get some shrimps also.. it'll be perfect if it doesn't leak (crosses finger) :icon_conf


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## the_noobinator (Jun 10, 2006)

with my luck it will explode all over my laptop and paperwork. any updates zulu?


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

So it looks like I'll be living in a hotel for another month. Hurray. At anyrate, I've got some sand in there... no hardscape to speak of, but some micro sword and some lotus-ish thing that looks to be melting. 23 watts of CF light overtop. I'll take pictures tomorrow, then we can try and brainstorm some ideas on how to make things not-ugly. ;P


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## the_noobinator (Jun 10, 2006)

i would have thought that in a coupld days with your superb ingenuity you would already have hooked up some mini-DIY CO2 system! haha


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## defishfan (Feb 16, 2006)

not to crap in anyone's cornflakes, but couldn't you get a 5gal eclipse from wal-mart for $40, with everything ready to go? this is an incredible DIY project, but newbies on a budget would probably be better off buying a pre-built cheapo tank.


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Not sure. I saw some eclipse 3 gallon systems at a store for $75.99, 6 gallons for $99.99.

Building it was fun 

The lotus has more than melted. It's a thing of the past. I think today I'll setup a DIY CO2 unit and try to get the microsword to turn into a complete carpet. I'll keep an eye out for fancy bits of wood and rocks.


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

> Building it was fun


THAT is the reason for DIY! Plus customization, pride of workmanship, and props from everyone else that appreciates your ingeniuty and initiative! 

BTW - if I forgot to say it, mad props to Zulu  Still waiting for some pics of the 'scape though!


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

So, I still haven't managed to find any wood... or rocks... wtf?

I plan to put roots/whatever other wood bit I find between the ... tall green stuff in the back corner and the banana plant (nymphoide aquatica)... sort of in the middleish. I'm hoping to get the micro sword to carpet eventually.

Anybody know a shop that has rocks and wood bits in LA? I can't even find a patch of dirt to poke around in for stuff....










Once I've got some rocks and wood in there, I plan on letting it go more or less wild. Still not sure what critters are going inside... I'll worry about that when it's not completely ugly.  Might remove the other stuff in the back and just have the banana going nuts by planting new shoots, idunno.


... someone link me an aquatic photography thread.


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## alphacat (Apr 21, 2006)

Perhaps you should give the Aquarium Center in Sherman Oaks a call: also, I think The Big Fish in Chatsworth has driftwood & rocks too.

Good luck and keep us posted!


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

alphacat said:


> Perhaps you should give the Aquarium Center in Sherman Oaks a call: also, I think The Big Fish in Chatsworth has driftwood & rocks too.
> 
> Good luck and keep us posted!



Nice! I'll go check'em out today.


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

There we go;

glosso, microsword, banana plant, fox hair?





















....

Added another rock


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## JBN (Oct 31, 2005)

AWESOME DIY! I'm envisioning a bunch of 6 gallon glass tanks like these for shrimp breeding tanks . I'm assuming you can have it as 12x12x10 = 1440 cubic inch = ~6.2 gallons :thumbsup:. Keep us updated for further improvements


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

JBN said:


> AWESOME DIY! I'm envisioning a bunch of 6 gallon glass tanks like these for shrimp breeding tanks . I'm assuming you can have it as 12x12x10 = 1440 cubic inch = ~6.2 gallons :thumbsup:. Keep us updated for further improvements



Maybe if you were using different glass. 12x10s = 12x10x10, and two inches are left to the filter, so it's 10x10x10, and about two inches are lost to dirt, so... 10x10x8 ;P


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

looks like its coming out really good!! 

- fish newb -


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Just an update - ugly brown diatomic algae is raping my tank. If it passes without killing off everything the next update will be once everything has started to actually take off and full in a bit. So, don't hold your breath 

I might even be out of the hotel by then :O


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## darkfury18 (Apr 1, 2006)

hehe :icon_roll good luck  I'm having some trouble with diatoms in my nano too..


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## 247Plants (May 10, 2006)

two words...oto cat


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## bigstick120 (May 23, 2005)

247Plants said:


> two words...oto cat


I'll second that, common problem in new tanks, ottos will take care of it!


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

247Plants said:


> two words...oto cat


Three words; killed them both.

 - my nitrate levels climb FAST. It seems the algae is smothering the plants, and I don't have any weeds in there to suck it up. Shrimp are doing fine... I might start doing two water changes a day from a large bucket sitting out - water chemistry won't be radically different, and I'll be able to cycle out the nitrates produced by decaying plant matter.


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## scolley (Apr 4, 2004)

Sorry about the ottos, and the algae. But I gotta give you credit for SERIOUS DIY spirit! Sure, some off the shelf solutions might have cost a few bucks less. But it could not have been NEAR as much fun!:thumbsup: 

Good luck with this project. I can't wait to see how it turns out!


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## mecgeorgeneo (Aug 12, 2005)

sweet, i think the best part is that you built it in your hotel room... did you end up finding the rocks and wood you needed?


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## turbosaurus (Nov 19, 2005)

Dude- I am sending a whole bunch of weeds to some members in CA on Monday. PM me your address if you want to turn it into a mini-jungle of quick stems you can toss when you're done- its on me. You crack me up! I got a house ful of stuff, if you want some greg watson PMDD mix I'll toss it in there too with a 20ml syringe of flourish excel (I buy it by the gallon) and we'll get you all fixed up- as long as we get to see a DIY hotel room CO2 eventually.


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Well, turbosaurus is my hero. Lets have a peak at what arrived today!











Priority mail! Hurray! Lets see what's inside!












Excel flourish, some plants, and a free sampler of turbosaurus' reading material!












The magazine lady is clearly pleased with this delivery!












Lots of awesome plants floating in the tank - now, to plant them...


Thanks turbosaurus, you're my hero!


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

My photography sucks. I'll buy a real camera soon... in a while.... later.... eventually.... one day...



So, images.










Because a body of water near power outlets is always fun! You'll note a lack of brown algae. I was amazed. I planted it yesterday and did a huge overdose of excel. Where did it all go?












I'll put a black something or other back there at some point. Probably when it's not on the floor... of a hotel room.












You can just see whatever the heck those other plants are near the top. They're those crazy hanging thingies... they grow in just about any condition and quickly too. Maybe I can get a big root ball in the filter side 



If anybody happens to be in the market for dedicated servers, particularly dedicated servers with DoS/DDoS protection let me know - you can sleep well at night knowing that you not only get a dedi box, but also contribute to the "Move Zulu out of his hotel room" fund.






[edit]
I've now added a secont spotlight of sorts, so in total I have 46 watts of CF light over this bad boy :O, tank also has 10 little endler/guppy hybrid dealios. They're very little, and I got 10 of them for $1. Methinks with this much light I might need to get some CO2 happening soon.


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## turbosaurus (Nov 19, 2005)

So where you been? How's it coming along?


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

oh god this is getting better and better... im waiting for a diy co2 tank to explode..... LMAO!

good job though!

- fish newb -


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Removed the floating ... things... They were awesome, but grew WAY too fast under the amount of light I've got, essentially turning the rest of the tank into a shadow. So they're growing in a bucket by the window now instead.  I also pulled out the "caboma"? I'm not sure... that very fine green thing.

You'll have to tell me what these plants are, if you know, turbosaurus... The leafy things that were green when I got them are now mostly red in colour - I suspect from the high light. And the mostly dead/brown brushy thing, I ripped the dead bits off and planted. It has already grown quite large.

I'm not doing Co2 injection yet - I do have an airstone that I leave on tho - remember, it's not just oxygen in the air  - also have 10 guppy/endler hybrids that I'll get a better shot of once things clear up a tad (been murky for the last two days).

I should learn what plants are called, so I can say names instead of "thing".

At anyrate, 46 watts of CF light over a nano. kaboom.



















[edit] /\- look, she's preggers!











I only realize how much it has grown when I look at the pictures taken 10 days ago. Wow.


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## evilknieval69 (Aug 4, 2006)

Nice looking tank man, might make some sort of nano for my mums desk one day  

Just one question though, if you want to clean the scourer pads making that 'mattenfilter' how will you do it as i believe it is siliconed in......
Surely it will need cleaning some day!!!


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

evilknieval69 said:


> Nice looking tank man, might make some sort of nano for my mums desk one day
> 
> Just one question though, if you want to clean the scourer pads making that 'mattenfilter' how will you do it as i believe it is siliconed in......
> Surely it will need cleaning some day!!!



You don't. Cleaning is for HOBs.


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## evilknieval69 (Aug 4, 2006)

Zulu said:


> You don't. Cleaning is for HOBs.


LOL

Looking pretty fresh!!! I like the lights :biggrin:


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## turbosaurus (Nov 19, 2005)

No wonder you haven't found a place yet- you keep messing around with your nano and this forum when you should be apartment shopping! 

The one I sent that had gotten burned at the very tips is water sprite- it wasn't dead/brown when I packed it BTW, just the very tips had been emerged and turned a little, but I am glad it is coming back. The feathery one that you thought was cabomba that you took out was l. sessiliflora. Why did you remove it? growing too fast? 
The floaters were frogbit and the one that is growing in pink, believe it or not has got to be hygrophelia polysperma- don't quote me on any of the spelling, I'm just winging it. I can't believe your hygro poly is so pink- when I first looked at the pictures I thought it was ammania gracilis- but I am sure I sent you hygro poly. Its beautiful. 
Just be careful when you get rid of them because you don't want these weeds to end up in your local water supply.

So what about the CO2?


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## JenThePlantGeek (Mar 27, 2006)

Hygro poly will do that if you restrict the nitrates. If your not dosing and your fishload is light, that makes sense


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Funny, my nitrates are in the 20ppm range 

turb; I don't like how little bits of the sessiliflora come loose and you've got a tank full of hair like debris... Plus the sprite was fulling up that corner nicely and I prefer its look. 

The water has started to clear up a little today, might stop in somewhere and look for bits to make a co2 unit... depends. Have a few more servers to build and that usually keeps me busy until everything else has closed already :-\


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Alright - question for you plant guys... The water sprite in the back corner was growing quite rapidly... suddenly stopped.. tips started to look "burnt" ... started to yellow and now almost all tips are "burnt". New shoots are coming out that look pefect and are a rich green. What gives? Just random melting or... ?


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## darkfury18 (Apr 1, 2006)

Zulu said:


> Alright - question for you plant guys... The water sprite in the back corner was growing quite rapidly... suddenly stopped.. tips started to look "burnt" ... started to yellow and now almost all tips are "burnt". New shoots are coming out that look pefect and are a rich green. What gives? Just random melting or... ?


Sounds like some kind of deficiency... from looking at thekrib.com
I'd say a Magnesium deficiency..



> Magnesium-----------In dicots---Yellowing of older leaves that starts from the
> egdes inwards. The midrib may remain green while the edges
> are yellowed or whitish and dying (I don't know what this
> deficiency looks like in monocots like Vallisneria, but it
> should involve death of the older leaves. )


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Handy resource. Methinks it's time to get a supply of various nutrients. Thanks.


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Oye. I've been so busy with work I haven't kept you guys posted! Just got back from spending all night in the datacenter working on a firewall machine. Ugh.

At anyrate - the pregnant guppy gave birth. I now have about 20 new little guppy/endler hybrids. The garden pump stopped pumping water... so... I'm going to have to replace that. I never got around to buying ferts, but started grinding up (don't laugh ;P) centrum multivitamin tablets! They worked! hahahaa. 

Real update/pictures soon.


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## GreenerSideofLIfe (Dec 24, 2005)

Zulu said:


> Oye. I've been so busy with work I haven't kept you guys posted! Just got back from spending all night in the datacenter working on a firewall machine. Ugh.
> 
> At anyrate - the pregnant guppy gave birth. I now have about 20 new little guppy/endler hybrids. The garden pump stopped pumping water... so... I'm going to have to replace that. I never got around to buying ferts, but started grinding up (don't laugh ;P) centrum multivitamin tablets! They worked! hahahaa.
> 
> Real update/pictures soon.



***LOL*** dude you are the ultimate in DIY. 

I'm going to make my own attempt at a mattenfilter for my 2.5  Hows it working now?


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

So... the real update is never going to happen... Some hotel staff opted to steal some of my stuff... so I left in a bit of a rush. Sadly the tank did not. :-\

However, now I'm in an actual place and will setup a full sized tank in a bit.


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## AnneRiceBowl (May 18, 2006)

Whoa. That's horrible! You left your nano at the hotel, or the staff stole it?


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## Aquamanx (Sep 28, 2006)

Man, that's a major Drag! Did you file a complaint? "No one steals my stuff & gets away with it!" (I'm Very good friends with most all motor cycle clubs from New England... LOL! Seems they have a Reputation for being Tough guys... & for good reason with many of them!)

I'd still do something about the whoel thing though... Sorry to hear about your missfortune! Please keep us updated on how you make out & the setting up of your new Larger tank!

Steve X.


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

They stole a bunch of my other stuff, and there was no real recourse available... what am I going to do, take out the whole staff?  At anyrate, when I left I was unable to take the nano with :-\

However, I'm living in an actual place now and am starting a 30 tall instead.


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## fish_lover0591 (Nov 11, 2006)

interesting little journal lol good luck with the 30 gallon Tall and keep us updated


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## legendaryfrog (Dec 21, 2006)

what bulbs did you use at the time?


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## Spyke1969 (Dec 11, 2006)

I am crushed!! It's like getting hooked on a great show then the network pulls it from the air. Sorry to hear that your stuff got stolen, that reaally bites. loved the little nano, Will probably have to build one my self.


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## TigerLilly (Oct 11, 2004)

Wow! This was a great thread to read. It makes me want to build my own tank. Are you going to build the 30 gal aswell? Please say yes..lol


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

Here's the thread for the 30 tall. Sadly I am not building it from scratch ;P

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/photo-album/39307-new-30-tall.html


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