Neptune Aquatics

Stupid mistake that you made when DIY

Elite

Elite

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I will start :D ..

I have a habit that I only measure once and cut several times.. Sometime I measure couple times and still make mistake.. Something that I hope I will learn someday :-..

Cost me over $100 for wood today and I mess it up >:( ..
 
Nice, this should be good.... let's see my latest mistake was I forgot to calculate for water draining from my son's display to the sump so I made the baffles too tall. Luckily I noticed before I brought it in the house and filled it up :)

Also, I have a bad habit of installing fixtures and outlet without cutting off the power. I've been lucky so far... knock on wood. DON'T TRY THAT AT HOME :)
 
I build a hood for my 40 gallon breeder tank. The dimensions were made exactly so that there was 1/4 " space around the rim. Then I went to drill the tank. I put it into my bathtub so I could pour water on it as I drilled...and hit the tank on the edge of the tub, thus cracking it!

Then I went and bought a 58 oceanic RR (forget drilling!) because it had the same dimensions. BUT the Oceanic has a much larger trim than my All Glass 40 breeder. By pure luck, the 1/4" that I added as extra space was just enough for the hood to fit. Sadly, there is no gap between the hood and the rim now so I can't hang things off the edge of that tank.

The stupid part was trying to haul a large tank by myself.

I routed an acrylic sump in the kitchen of my (then) apartment. I routed out the top to make the access hole larger. When I was done, my kitchen was filled with plastic chips that stuck to everything (static?) it took weeks to clean up all the stupid bits of plastic!

V
 
When I built my 1st stand I built a frame and then skinned it but the wood looked really bad, so I decidied that I should paint it. I got some spray paint, taped off everything around the tank in a boundry of at least 2 feet (tank was filled hence why I was painting inside). I thought it would be a good idea to open the door and get some ventalation, well a strong wind was blowing that day and after I finished and removed all the protection I realized the ONLY part of the carpet that wasn't slightly black (the color of the stand) was the protected area..............
 
Well I did a stupid DIY with a 20g acrylic tank, and a 10g rubbermade testing out a surge device... did so in my bathroom, with freshwater just to get an idea how it worked, I had it on my toilet balanced perfectly!

While it was going I went into the kitchen for something then I heard a "kerplow" and the rush of water... guess I should have realized that the surge action would redistribute the weight around the center of balance... DUR! acrylic tank cracked in half (yeah think about that the next time you think earthquake safe!)
 
Don't try and cut acrylic with a dremel or a razorblade. I can't believe how easy it is with a scoring tool.

<- Lesson learned.
 
The list goes on.

Measure multiple times still screw up cuts.

build bad ass canopy - come up with measurements that are exact fit of the outside of the tank (hint next time leave half inch on either side)

Cutting baffles for sump - cut installed to make it high
 
[quote author=Raddogz link=topic=5087.msg62618#msg62618 date=1225927803]
The list goes on.

Measure multiple times still screw up cuts.

build bad ass canopy - come up with measurements that are exact fit of the outside of the tank [bold](hint next time leave half inch on either side)[/bold]

Cutting baffles for sump - cut installed to make it high
[/quote]

exactly ... I tried to leave the gap, but it got eaten up by the new tank dimensions...



I made a sump out of an old acrylic tank. I measured the width to make baffles...and didn't realize that the width at the top was greater than the width at the bottom! So I had to recut and then shim the baffles...what a pain!

I made a kalkwasser "reactor" after my measurements and giving myself "wiggle room" in case I screwed up....left me with a 4.5 FEET TALL reactor. Ah well...

V
 
I once made a 10g sump but didn't realize that the silicone that I bought was white and not colorless. I was so eager to put the thing together that I went ahead and used the white silicone. Needless to say, it is without doubt the ugliest and most pathetic looking sump you will ever see! I'm half tempted to try to cut out the silicone, remove the glass and start over, but it doesn't seem like it's worth the effort at this point.

Not so much a mistake as overkill...

When I bought a used 135g tank for FW some time ago, it came with a stand that was falling apart. I opted to build my own. Being fearful of building something flimsy, I went to the opposite extreme. There were no 2x4's on the thing. It became a hulking monster of 4x4's and 1" plywood everywhere! Needless to say, the stand weighed much more than the glass tank empty and required a crew of people to move!
 
[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=5087.msg62599#msg62599 date=1225921540]
Well I did a stupid DIY with a 20g acrylic tank, and a 10g rubbermade testing out a surge device... did so in my bathroom, with freshwater just to get an idea how it worked, I had it on my toilet balanced perfectly!

While it was going I went into the kitchen for something then I heard a "kerplow" and the rush of water... guess I should have realized that the surge action would redistribute the weight around the center of balance... DUR! acrylic tank cracked in half (yeah think about that the next time you think earthquake safe!)


[/quote]

cmon Mike I know you can do better then that :)
 
It's not like Mike could top that...I mean, well..hypothetically, he'd have to do something extreme like...remove the center brace from an acrylic tank.
 
[quote author=Gomer link=topic=5087.msg62662#msg62662 date=1225954080]
It's not like Mike could top that...I mean, well..hypothetically, he'd have to do something extreme like...remove the center brace from an acrylic tank.
[/quote]
hahaha.. LMAO ;D :D ;D
 
Nah the center brace incident while not the brightest thing wasn't exactly that stupid of a DIY blunder, yeah it was my fault, I expect those tanks (not going to mention brand since I think they're a sponsor) would be built to better than minimum specifications but it was an old tank so maybe it was in fact made for freshwater. But it forced a hand which allowed me to move forward with a better tank, so it was a beneficial DIY blunder.
 
[quote author=sfsuphysics link=topic=5087.msg62667#msg62667 date=1225983198]
But it forced a hand which allowed me to move forward with a better tank, so it was a beneficial DIY blunder.
[/quote]

I'm Tony Gomez and I approve this message
 
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