Custom ATO container... where to have it made?
- Thread starter dburt520
- Start date
brian cummings
New member
Custom ATO container... where to have it made?
My ATO was made by Dominic, who did all the custom work for reef culture. I think he does stuff through aquarium arts ( reef culture being gone and all) and I have his contact info somewhere. There's also Caesar...
My ATO was made by Dominic, who did all the custom work for reef culture. I think he does stuff through aquarium arts ( reef culture being gone and all) and I have his contact info somewhere. There's also Caesar...
HowManyClowns
New member
John at advanced acrylics in California makes some awesome ato containers. All black with a window slit so you can see the level with an led floating in it
woodwrangler
New member
Order pre-cut material from Port Plastics, and glue it up yourself
saintsnsinners
New member
Glue isn't used.
woodwrangler
New member
Enlightening post saint...... you continue to provide incredibly helpful information, thank you. Yes, as saint so eloquently pointed out, "glue" is not used, but rather cement. To be specific, get some Weld-on acrylic adhesive cement from Port Plastics while you are there.
There was some talk about ATO water containers in this thread, maybe it will help: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2411896&highlight=ato
There was some talk about ATO water containers in this thread, maybe it will help: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2411896&highlight=ato
brian cummings
New member
As far as I know, Carlo's acrylics guy is Caesar, who also built displays for Club Reef.
How big were you thinking? Does it need to look good? ( I like my stuff to look good, even when it's not usually seen, but I'm picky). How much were you wanting to spend? My 8-ish gallon ATO container cost about a $100.
If looks don't matter much. And there's flexibility on size/space you can go the repurposing route and save a lot of money.
You can make your own, but it's not as easy as some people might think. I have never seen a YouTube video on making your own tanks that really shows the best practices of strongly chemically welding acrylic, just the easiest fastest ways. Having stuff precut by a supplier and then just butting it all together and "gluing" ( solvent welding ) it together is somewhat undesirable because usually the precut material will not have the edges ready to go, they'll need prep, and generally you make the pieces slightly oversize, welding them together with excess edges that later get flush routed off. I used to make acrylic casework for art museums-- I have made some of my own aquarium stuff, but I've also paid a pro to do it a couple of times, to save me the time.
How big were you thinking? Does it need to look good? ( I like my stuff to look good, even when it's not usually seen, but I'm picky). How much were you wanting to spend? My 8-ish gallon ATO container cost about a $100.
If looks don't matter much. And there's flexibility on size/space you can go the repurposing route and save a lot of money.
You can make your own, but it's not as easy as some people might think. I have never seen a YouTube video on making your own tanks that really shows the best practices of strongly chemically welding acrylic, just the easiest fastest ways. Having stuff precut by a supplier and then just butting it all together and "gluing" ( solvent welding ) it together is somewhat undesirable because usually the precut material will not have the edges ready to go, they'll need prep, and generally you make the pieces slightly oversize, welding them together with excess edges that later get flush routed off. I used to make acrylic casework for art museums-- I have made some of my own aquarium stuff, but I've also paid a pro to do it a couple of times, to save me the time.
saintsnsinners
New member
Edge prep is crucial. best done with a table router.
saintsnsinners
New member
Yes, Cesar did club reef's tanks. he's out in Cass Grande now.
m-six hundred
The Most Diabolical Hater
