Mind : Blown!

[WarDog]

I was just quoted $190 for a custom 13 gal ATO reservoir made of polycarbonate. The material alone is $120. I am completely shocked! I haven't spoken to a glass shop yet but I am guessing it isn't much cheaper.

Anyone got any ideas? Perhaps some used glass or poly/lexan kicking around? I need 7 feet by 18 inches.

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by WarDog

I was just quoted $190 for a custom 13 gal ATO reservoir made of polycarbonate. The material alone is $120. I am completely shocked! I haven't spoken to a glass shop yet but I am guessing it isn't much cheaper.

Anyone got any ideas? Perhaps some used glass or poly/lexan kicking around? I need 7 feet by 18 inches.

Post up a few pics or sketches (with dimensions) of what you're wanting to build. $190 seems pretty ridiculous. I've built many acrylic/polycarbonate items and I have a hard time believing it's that much. Hell, the custom, polished-edge glass sheets with coast to coast overflow notches cost to build my 50G cost less than $200.

If you show me what you want to build I can give you a pretty good ballpark cost and tell you how (or even help you, if I'm in town) to build the thing.

[MarkoD]

It's because the place/person you asked to build it doesn't wanna screw around with small projects for small amounts of money.

[BMW Rider]

I found a nice 12 gallon RV water tank that was the right dimensions to fit where I wanted it to for my TO water. It was around $100.

[WarDog]

Originally Posted by ScubaSteve

Post up a few pics or sketches (with dimensions) of what you're wanting to build. $190 seems pretty ridiculous. I've built many acrylic/polycarbonate items and I have a hard time believing it's that much. Hell, the custom, polished-edge glass sheets with coast to coast overflow notches cost to build my 50G cost less than $200.

If you show me what you want to build I can give you a pretty good ballpark cost and tell you how (or even help you, if I'm in town) to build the thing.

Thank-you for your offer. Please find sketch below. I am still shopping around and thinking of alternatives. It's been about 25 years since I have bought any plastics so maybe I am just in shock as to the inflation of it all. Perhaps $120 is what a 7'x18" piece goes for.

Originally Posted by MarkoD

It's because the place/person you asked to build it doesn't wanna screw around with small projects for small amounts of money.

You are probably correct, although he did say the material was $120. That puts the labour at $70. I could do it myself. I was really blown away at the price of the plastic.

Originally Posted by BMW Rider

I found a nice 12 gallon RV water tank that was the right dimensions to fit where I wanted it to for my TO water. It was around $100.

I am still trying to find something that will fit the space, sounds like you got really lucky!!

[ReEf BoSs]

70 is pretty cheap labour costs for anything unless it take less than an hour.

[The Guy]

I used a 10 G tote tub for my RO water storage approx. $10 at walmart or Canadian Tire and a DIY Aquahub kit from BRS and it has everything you need for building your ATO, 2 floats, power relay and assembly strip $39.99, a small gph pump I paid $15 if I remember correctly. some misc. tubing and wire I had on hand. So for under $70 bucks I have a great non- fail ato system that I've been using for about six months now. I'm sure you could hunt down a container of some sort for water storage that will fit in your space without selling the farm.
Here's a couple of pictures of my set up.


Not real fancy but it does a good job for me, so I guess it depends on how much you want to spend. I tried a couple of the other more expensive ato systems and nothing has worked as good as this one has for me.

[SpateD]

Thats nothing... I was quoted over $500 to build 1 30G acrylic ATO reservoir. I need 2, so the bill was over $1000 with tax.

Luckily, I just kept looking, and finally found some agricultural water tanks that fit the size measurements I needed for under $200. Although they are now 100G + instead of 30.