Micro tank running small ATS

That's right as of right now I'm in the designing phase of running a micro tank (about 7gallons) which I'll be building my self as my first DIY project, in which on top of it will be a small but hopefully strong enough Algae turf scrubber (also built by my self) which will hopefully support the tank all on it's own. I'll lay a moderate sand bed of about 1 inch along with likely one live rock of moderate size with a cave of some sort. Using a 350 GPH pump to feed a ATS that will sit above and feed the tank with flow. This will be a test tank to see how well it will support life on it's own and most likely at first will only house a hand full of Mollies. I'll be supplementing the ATS with a grouping of Red and Warm white LED's that will likely be purchased from Rapid LED once i get a response back from them on driver options. And as for lighting for the tank a simple light on a flexible clamp just for lighting.

This tank will not yet be used for Coral growth of any kind and will solely be FOWLR so to test the ability of a ATS on a small scale and with LED's. This will be my first DIY so it might be crude and poorly made which will also likely result in catastrophic failure but if you don't try, it wont hurt later. I've been wanting to build something for quite some time but was unsure what and I figured this would be a grand project to undertake. So once I get some schematics drawn up I'll begin the project especially after I waste a few dozen scraps of acrylic while trying to learn how to bond it properly. (Good thing my dad works in a Plastics shop and has scraps laying around!) I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures showing my progress and if all works out I might just build a few and offer them up to some of the 3reefers! So Lets hope this works and I'm sure someone else has done this but I want to give my trial a shot!

So I figure a 7.5 gal tank at 12"x12"x12" will be a easy base to build upon, add a home built ATS on top with a 10" wide screen at 2 inches of grow space for the algae sitting atop the back of the tank, With that I figured it would be one sided for now and the bulked leading down to the tank would have a diffuser so to create surface agitation.

 

I like this idea, tagging along for the ride in this ;D

 

Not really an update but more of a pondering I've read that for dumps you should use weldon #4 but also I've heard to use#16 so I'm at an impas as both are concitered hazardous to transport in to california so either way it might cost alittle more to get but ehh not worried. But the real question is which do I use? For a small project I've heard #3 works but drys super fast so#4 would be best then since it's liquidy like water and will get the job done but perhapse later I want to build a sump or even a larger ATS? Do I step up to 16 or keep with 4?

Edit:new thought what do the pros on TANKED use? I'm sure they've got some kind of crazy strong two solutions you have to mix to make it bond junk LOL I'm at work and can't articulate my thoughts because of my lost little fishy.

 

Weld on #4 should do you, and if you have an area you need to fill you can mix shavings of acrylic with the weld on to thicken it up. That being said, you want to make sure all the cuts are straight and the seams are tight fitting. Do you have access to a router? A flush cut bit will clean up the edges good in prep for glueing.

 

I'll be working at my dads shop and they have all the things I'll need for the project because they build work stations out of plastic for acid baths and such for Novellus and Intel.

 

Micro update! Went to tap plastics and picked up some weldon #4 woo hoo got a simple rundown of how to weld acrylic in a non water tightcsense sadly with old #3 so it didn't holdlong but now is the practice phase along with the design phase the ats will be the same design as the Santa monica 100 except I'm thinking of boxing in some light fixtures instead of buying a prebuilt fixture and making it slide in. Figure if I can wire it all my self might save a dime here or there. And yes the caps will be silacone water proof/resistant

 

not really an update but something I thought I'd share. I found a site through looking for an idea on how to do the wire method of welding acrylic. If you google garf.org they have a build calculator that you punch in the dementiona of a tank you want to build and it will spit out the measurements plus some helpful tips on how to do it. Nothing too fancy but still good info for those whom don't want to measure over and over. Don't go to the actual site just the google page. The actual site is hard to find things in.