# DIY 5 Gallon Aquarium



## evanb (Jul 10, 2013)

I was wondering how much is appropriate for a DIY 5 gallon aquarium. I am considering making one and the total is around $225. This is including livestock, plants, substrate, and everything else. The aquarium itself is about $125. The only catch is that it isn't a normal aquarium. You can see a drawing of it here.
Sorry, no dimensions on the image yet, but the boxes are (bottom to top) 6"x6"x3", 6"x6"x6", 6"x6"x6", 6"x6"x6", 6"x6"x6", and 7x4x4. It will be a sort of waterfall terraced aquarium. Is this the kind of pricing I should be expecting? Thanks!


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Very interesting design.Have you considered that fish may go over the "water fall" and end up in the bottom catch basin?
What fish would you be considering.
Petsmart uses a similiar type set up(multiple overflows) for their plants on a much larger scale.
I can't speculate what the cost should be as there are some variables(type of wood,pump,I see no mention of lights....)
Still very cool ,but seems more like "art" than a functional aquarium IMO?


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## evanb (Jul 10, 2013)

The waterfall will be slit in the acrylic (near the top incase of power outage). I will put a cover on top of the cubes. Not all of the way of course, water has to fall in at the back. The slit is about 1/8", but I will cover it with mesh from an old net. 
As for the light, I am thinking about this. It's included in the $225. I probably don't really need it as I am planning on a low tech setup (duckweed, banana plant, java moss, anubias nanas). 
For livestock, probably just inverts. I could have thai micro crabs, shrimp, snails, adfs, and maybe even a freshwater clam. Each overflow could have a different species, as some of these aren't compatible. 
It would be a fully functional aquarium. It would have a large filter (just a box) in the back with duckweed, maybe a clam, snails, and sponges (for bacteria). 
I have a gdoc of the items and livestock here. I may not even get around to making it. It's just a concept for now. If anyone wants to try making one, feel free, and make sure to post some pix.


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