Gail Blundell shown here inspecting a beautiful showpiece
aquarium.
Background
Ever since the beginning of aquarium keeping there has been aquarium experimentation.
I think we can all remember back to our first 10 gallon freshwater aquarium.
We enjoyed arranging the plastic plants, installing a hang on filter, and turning
on the light each morning. But of course it didn't end there. It wasn't long
before you decided you could breed some mollies and sword tails, and maybe even
modify a hang on filter to serve as your new baby fish fry growing tank.
Here are examples of home made aquariums complete with custom
made acrylic dividers and supports.
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During the past decade this attitude has flourished among the salt water reef
aquarium keepers. The term Do It Yourself (DIY) has become synonymous with reef
keeping. In fact internet search engines will often times direct more traffic
to some hobbyists websites by using the search word "DIY" than any other word
or phrase (author's personal website statistics). With the increased cost of
mechanical equipment utilized in reef keeping, there is of course more money
to be saved by building items yourself. However, the money saved from DIY projects
is not the real reason you should be experimenting with those projects. I'll
get back to this later (in the conclusion section).
What Type Of Items Can You Do Yourself
Everything.
What Are some Examples
I've seen so many items that people have made themselves. It is unbelievable
to see the ingenuity and creativity that takes place in Do It Yourself projects.
Additionally some projects may be designed to replicate current products, without
a personal touch to the project. The following are simple examples, starting
from the most important reef aquarium items, to the fun additions that fuel
the hobbyist flavor.
Phytoplankton cultures are of increasing popularity as more
and more hobbyists begin their own home brews.
Aquariums
Twenty years ago you couldn't find someone with home
made aquarium. They were rare. Today a personal home made
aquarium is no further found than to a friend's house in
your local aquarium club. Acrylic
plastic fabrication is now a popular item commonly used by
hobbyists to build aquariums. Even glass tanks are now
being made by hobbyists to meet specific measurements to
best fit their place in the home.
This showpiece aquarium was made by using one piece of glass
from a broken aquarium. The other five sides are made of plywood.
Renowned aquarium photographer Corey Kruitbosch captures
his amazing photographs in his two tank system, which he made himself out
of custom cut glass.
Stands and Canopies
Now we're getting away from acrylic and glass and now
onto wood working. Yes stands and canopies can be found at
any local pet store, but for many hobbyists the site of a
stand in a store sparks a thought "I could build one of
those", and so they do. Often times
the stands and canopies are simple (my euphemism for crude
looking) items designed for a purpose. Other times these stands and canopies have
intricate wood working to display the showcase aquarium.
Personally, I've had to apologize to
hobbyists after spending a half an hour looking at their
aquarium only to realize I hadn't actually looked at the
aquarium (as I was preoccupied looking at the amazing stand
they had built).
A complete, well designed home made stand.
Some people may like the looks of this canopy. But for the
rest of us we can at least admit is serves its purpose.
Some people just can't find enough ways to show how much
they love seahorses.
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The Plumbing
Is there a tank out there that doesn't have home made
plumbing? If so, I haven't seen it.
A homemade overflow system
This hang on the back filter is shown on the author's aquarium
where it has been converted into a hang on refugium.
Closed loop systems provide great circulation, without needing
a large pump.
The Big Additions
There is a group of aquarium items that are typically large, costly, and used
in the more advanced aquarium systems. These items include protein skimmers,
calcium reactors, and kalkwasser reactors.
This is a home made kalkwasser dosing pump.
Even very large protein skimmers can be home made.
A very rare but nice addition to an aquarium is a carbon
filter.
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They may seem like more advanced projects, but in fact they usually have simple
designs and principles. Local hobbyist clubs often have demonstrations on these
items as a way to show people just how simple their construction is. Plans and
diagrams on these items can be found online or by asking around with a group
of fish friends.
Chris Singley is shown here describing how he makes his aragocrete
rock structures.
"Chemical Jon" and Coral Planet owner Jake Pehrson are shown
here teaching hobbyist club how to wire a lighting system.
The Small Additions
Small additions are items I consider to be a convenience or simply something
that "looks way cool". Most of the time these items are not made to save money,
since the home made construction may cost the same or more than a store bought
product. These items are just fun. Some of the most popular small scale projects
today are moon lights.
You may think using car interior lights held to a clothes
pin with a rubber band is a cheap way to make moon lights. Well, you'd be
correct, which is why this picture was taken of the author's moon lights.
Although moonlight is important in natural reef systems, in all reality it
doesn't have a useful purpose in the aquarium. Hobbyist try to argue that it
does, but come on lets be honest here…. we like moon lights because they
look cool. Seeing items come out at night and seeing the blue nighttime glow,
is simply fun. Another small addition that is gaining popularity is small float
valves. These are typically installed in a sump area, and allow for a constant
water top off. These items can be made cheaply, and do serve a purpose in the
aquarium as a big time saver for maintenance.
Float systems are growing in popularity. Just remember eventually
they will fail… but don't worry for you I'm sure it will be many many
years from now.
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The Odditities
What are the oddities? They are things that didn't fit
in any other category. Aquarium chemical expert Jon Finch
makes his own calcium and alkalinity test kit reagents.
Also, algal turf scrubbers,
lighting pulley systems, refugia, and cooling fans are also
commonly found.
Not everyone has Hydrochloric acid in their aquarium supplies, but home made
test kits can be very informative on the processes of water chemistry.
Here an algal turf scrubber is placed between the display tank and the refugium
below.
Having a lighting system on pulleys allows for easy maintenance.
Refugia can be made acrylic, small glass aquariums, or even plastic storage
containers.
Here a picture of an internal Styrofoam refugia is shown. The owner suspects
that it may be the world's first floating refugium.
Fans of all shapes and sizes are bought at local stores and are attached
to aquariums.
Old computer cases make great boxes for holding aquarium ballasts that can
be cooled with computer fans.
Timing relays can be wired at home to control aquarium pumps for a wave making
effect.
Sugar and yeast in a water bottle will provide months of CO2 gas bubbles
using in aquariums.
Disclaimer
If you happen to burn your house down, flood your basement,
shock yourself, or cause great bodily harm in the process
of a Do It Yourself project, the author and the publishers
of Advanced Aquarist Online Magazine claim no
responsibility. Please consider all such unfortunate
events to be your contribution to the scientific and
experimental efforts of the marine aquarium hobby.
The author is shown here in his natural environment….
working in the lab.
Conclusion
I hadn't paid much attention to the growing trend and
online discussion of DIY until something important was
brought to my attention. Expert reef keeper Shane Heil was
explaining the reasons for DIY projects to a group of
hobbyists. I learned from him the real key reason to
taking on this adventurous attitude is to simply learn more
about your system. If you built your own protein skimmer,
calcium reactor, and water test kits, then you are
certainly going to know more about how your system works.
In reality, isn't knowing more about your aquarium what
this hobby is all about?
Acknowledgements
This article is dedicated to my father Gail Blundell and
to my dear friend Mark Peterson. I can't count how many
times growing up that I would tell my dad that I bought
some new lights and needed to wire them up. My dad would
quickly run to the garage and get out all of the electrical
tools. Thanks dad. Mark Peterson has spent a decade
showing people that you can be cheap, have a tank, and have
a cheap tank. I've never seen anyone as "super frugal" as
Mark. The king of DIY he is widely known for his 24 hour
help line, always ready to help rig up cheap tank.
Author Information
Adam Blundell M.S. works in Marine Ecology, and in
Pathology for the University of Utah. While not in the lab
he is the president of one of the Nation's largest hobbyist
clubs, the Wasatch Marine Aquarium Society (www.utahreefs.com). He is also
Director of The Aquatic & Terrestrial Research Team,
a group which utilizes research projects to bring
together hobbyists and scientists. His vision is to see
this type of collaboration lead to further advancements
in aquarium husbandry. Adam has earned a BS in Marine
Biology and an MS in the Natural Resource and Health
fields. Adam can be found at adamblundell@hotmail.com.
If
you found this article worthwhile, help support future
AAOLM publications with your generous contribution.
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