DIY L Shaped Aquarium???
 

I am planning on upgrading my 120 FOWLR. The maximum I can fit into my basement is an L shaped aquarium. One side of the L would be 5 feet and the other side 7 feet. The width would be 2.5 feet and the height 2.5 or 3 feet.

Is this possible to do as a DIY project? I am afraid such an aquarium would cost $10,000+ if specially ordered.

My main concern is for this tank to hold. Is this even possible? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Anythings possible;) You may need some custom top bracing but its totally doable IMHO. Make sure you bring us along on your journey;) :D :D

Any idea where I can order custom bracing?

Also, I don't think an L shaped piece of glass (for the floor of my aquarium) will fit into my basement; can I make the floor out of 2 pieces of glass?

Perfect option for a plywood tank, or as i was planning to do. Make a brace frame out of angle iron and have it powder coated and then glue your glass inside that. Much like most tanks have a plastic frame, just metal.

bottom glass can be two peices, just get a strip to glue over the joint for more surface area.

for that size, i would go acrylic... add to that the shape you are going for and i wouldnt want to trust silicone holding it all together... the acrylic can be solvent welded together and if done correctly will be much stronger in the long run

there is a reefer in boulder colorado that had this done, im not sure on the dimensions of his but it was cutom built in his basement. It looks awesome so far. he might have a thread in the large tank forums.

Here is his thread on our local site
http://www.marinecolorado.org/forums...read.php?t=635

acrylic.
wouldnt even attempt something like that in glass.

I always thought that would be cool to have! But yeah Acrylic for sure.

Perfect tank for doing a plywood bottom with steel frame to support some starphire pannels. You could make it rimless that way too. :)

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1295659

Same thread as runningstix mentioned, just here on RC instead.

Awesome build tho

There are a lot of professional companies that do an external frame made of either steel or aluminum. I mean that every joint is surrounded by metal, not just the top and bottoms of the tank.

a metal frame is easy to make and actually it wouldnt be that expensive compared to a custom made acrylic tank. You could spend 10k+ on a tank that size if made from acrylic.

Figure out your dimensions, have a shop make a frame made of 3/8" thick angle iron and then powder coat it. Get your glass cut and then silicone it in. Vwalla, tank.

good idea

Send a PM to bchbum189. He is a friend of mine who owns http://www.spaquatics.com/ in my area (builds custom acrylic tanks) and was doing a L shaped tank for his own house.

He has tons of info on it to.