AIO 20G DIY

[Corbin]

So my 5.5 lasted me almost 2 months, need bigger! :lol:
i know ill end up having 20 tanks again in no time, who needs a bed anyways right?
So im gonna get a 20g at the end of the month.
Was planning on doing a AIO blue prints in picture
no experince in this, just a little reserch. so what do you guys think.

and questions i have are, i have a old clear acyrilic tank 20$ piece of crap i was thinking of cutting up, but painting it black, is spray paint good, or to toxic, should go with a safe kinda of paint.

whats a easy to find aquarium safe sealant, preferably black.

and what kinda pump you recommend for the return, to either create enough flow on its own for the whole tank, or just for the fuge, and use other power heads.

oh yeah.. and Skimmer or no skimmer? im not running one right now just weekly water changes on my 5.5g

8258

[Lampshade]

If you only paint the outside it won't matter about the paint too much, and will still look black.

As for the silicone, there's some aquarium stuff that's pretty cheap and 100% silicone at some fish stores, forget the name. Pretty cheap is still 3x the price of the clear stuff at Home depot, but $6 instead of $2 isn't the end of the world :P.

You'll want to put your mechanical filter before the fuge, the fuge provides a lot of pods, etc for the tank, and they'll just get caught up in the filter. at the same time, the stuff from the tank benefits the fuge, if possible would you be able to make them in parallel? so that water either gets mech filtered OR goes through the fuge? You'l still get everything filtered and get the full benefits of the refugium.

[Corbin]

well i mean the Acrylic im gonna put inside the tank, its gonna have contact with the water, so enamel paint wont leech any?

well the mechanical filter is just an ocasional thing for the most part. well the carbon anyways.
its possible to make them side by side - but a fuge thats only like 3 or so inches wide big enough?

[FishyFishy!]

Use krylon fusion for the paint. That's what everyone uses. It's good for inside and out.

As for silicone, black silicone is GE 1200 construction silicone. Great black silicone.

Look up my for sale thread if you want to see a couple of pictures of a 20 gallon all in one tank.

[Corbin]

quick question, i made the AIO its a 33g now can be seen here http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=78947
But for the fuge, im assuming even if it does make pods, will they live going through the Power head on the return, or could they swim/crawl out the intake.
not a major problem either way.