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25cm cube/stand build


jordan93

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hello everyone, im only new here and im already liking the forum and the people that fill it.

noticed there wasn't much in the DIY section so i thought i would post my 25cm cube build.

it is already on another forum, but i thought i would re-post it here

first of, this was my concept drawing

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then came making the tank itself using 4mm glass.

as it was my fist attempt i probably didn't go about doing it the right way (example: covering the whole tank in tape exempt parts being siliconed).

the silicone work didn't turn out the best and had a leak that i soon fixed.

tank was then painted on the back with black spray paint and clear adhesive plastic over the top to stop the paint chipping

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now that the tank was done, it was time to make the stand.

using 9mm MDF that i cut to size, then stuck together with small pieces of double sided tape which left a very small gap that then was fill after coating the whole thing in epoxy resin.

the epoxy glued all the pieces together and strengthened them at the same time, after that it was sanded and painted matte black.

a pice of rubber mat was placed on top to protect stand and tank, and a light hanger made from black aluminium and plastic angle joiner was attached to the back of it, which then, obviously, i hung a light from

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and finally, what the tank looks like today, filter will eventually be swapped out for a smaller one on the back.

plants:

mini fissidens carpet

weeping moss on the tree

mini pelia around the rocks

livestock:

at the moment its just glass shrimp but im going to move onto cherries and then hopefully chocolate cherries in the near future

P1160863.jpg

sorry if its a little vague, not really good at writing even at the best of times, would love to hear and answer all your questions though :)

cheers

Jordan

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hi Jordan, great work mate :)

now thats some DIY!!!

i wouldnt worry about the silicon as its the hardest part and for a first attempt is pretty good.

what are the plants you have in there ?

and what shrimp will you be keeping in there?

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hi Jordan' date=' great work mate :)now thats some DIY!!!i wouldnt worry about the silicon as its the hardest part and for a first attempt is pretty good.what are the plants you have in there ?and what shrimp will you be keeping in there?[/quote']thank you very much, plants are weeping moss, mini pelia and mini fissidensat the moment its just glass shrimp, but ill move onto cherries then hopefully some chocolate cherries thank you :)
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I really love this stand. Now I know where I know your nickname from!

The round light with the square base is very visually appealing. Looks incredible

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I really love this stand. Now I know where I know your nickname from!The round light with the square base is very visually appealing. Looks incredible
ha ha thank you :)
Great DIY man! Super slick too. Though is that spot permenant or will it be moved?
thanks :) was planing on possibly putting it in the living room once it it all up and running smoothly, it's getting a little annoying i must say, having it in the middle of my desk
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  • 4 weeks later...

do you think i have enough filtration? :P

once the two small filters have established i will be taking off the larger one, one of the small filter has the original filter pads and i modified the second one a little and filled it with bio media

P1160874.jpg

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Very nice work mate it's great to see people sharing there projects. I think 2 x HOB's will be fine wouldn't hurt to throw in a little sponge filter though. I always try to run double filtration that way you can always do maintenance on one and know the other is @ 100% performance. Sponge filters are great if you have a power out because you can always run a battery backed up air pump. Anyways well done and good luck, look forward to seeing some more pics.

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Sponge filters are great if you have a power out because you can always run a battery backed up air pump. Anyways well done and good luck' date=' look forward to seeing some more pics.[/quote']

Totally agreed. Although tanks are ok for a day without filter, oxygen is more important. That's why I've got an Oxydator which works regardless of power ;)

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thanks for the comments/tips guys :)

will get some more shots once i put the mini fissiden tiles back in there, others were looking a little patchy so i did them again and in my 3ft to grow a bit first, there looking good, not having much luck with the mini pelia though, and the weeping moss is growing but not at its best :/

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  • 2 months later...

Nicely done,i like it!:applause:....its put a few ideas in my head .....would you have a spare packet of motivation?. lol. I was thinking a small air powered backdrop filter to take away the hob's.....trouble is when you get this small theres not much room for filters/heaters with out making eyesores and to make a back drop this small will be fiddly...well done any way looks nice :encouragement:

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Truly impressive.

Excellent work Jordan.

Only question I have is with the stand build. Seems youve used particle boards to build it? Personally, I've found that particle boards tend to "bloat" when its wet.

Hopefully this doesnt happen to you.

Looking forward to seeing the completed tank with happy shrimps swimming around

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Hey Jordon, Totally missed this thread...just read through it, great work, reckon you did a fantastic job....do you have an update on your tank (pics) ?

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Nicely done' date='i like it!:applause:....its put a few ideas in my head .....would you have a spare packet of motivation?. lol. I was thinking a small air powered backdrop filter to take away the hob's.....trouble is when you get this small theres not much room for filters/heaters with out making eyesores and to make a back drop this small will be fiddly...well done any way looks nice :encouragement:[/quote']cheers. ha ha not at the moment sorry, it seems my pocket has a hole, because i dont seem to have much left at the moment :pyea a backdrop filter would probably work quite well, i had other plans for this them using the hobs though which would have been much nicer if it had of worked, but anyways, you win some you loose somethank you. yes that is MDF, but it was all soaked with epoxy resin and painted, there may be a couple spots where it may possibly get wet be i very much doubt it yes i should probably put a few pictures of it up, its had shrimp for quite a while i just havent gotten around to uploading the photos thanks BB.yea the tank it doing well apart form the ocasional death from the heat, i probably have about 50 shrimp in there now all from the 3 i bought a few months ago
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ok so i went through my photos and got a few from a couple weeks ago, and took a full tank shot of it as of today

sorry, photos are a little dodgy

P1160908_zpsccbfe999.jpgP1160911_zps5edafa45.jpgP1160913_zps4ad0228d.jpgP1160914_zpsbafd11f6.jpgP1160921_zpsb8fb80a0.jpgP1160924_zps2a60dce8.jpgP1160928_zpsf593b260.jpgP1160931_zps5fd26a25.jpgP1160934_zps36c0c5b3.jpg

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You have done an excellent job with the whole setup. I'm sure there will be more than one person out there emulating your design.

Also, the weeping moss looks like it has settled in nicely. I'm sure the shrimp are enjoying the shade that it provides.

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cheers guys.

after loosing a couple shrimp due to heat i thought i should probably do something about it, so i rigged up a small computer fan last night, the tank is now 24c, room temp is around 27c, so it seems to work well but ill just have to keep topping up the water, lost about 0.9l since last night

P1160935_zps19b6a458.jpg

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  • 5 months later...

Very cool dude, that tree looks amazing! Very cool DIY too, well done! :victorious:

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  • 2 months later...

Woow I don't think if ever seen a diy that's made me wanna go out and build it tank is awesome and what are the things over your filter intake

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