A local reefer gave me a PNW Custom 1 gallon pico tank about 6 months ago and I've been hooked on pico tanks ever since! However, it is time to upcycle the PNW and give its components new lives. There are many things that I didn't enjoy about the PNW 1 gallon. I believe the tank is one of the earlier productions and came with A LOT of imperfection. Edges were rough, panels didn't line up perfectly, bent lid, flimsy light mount, the light also didn't have a memory function and would always stay in the middle setting. I honestly didn't mind any of that, but my biggest gripe with the tank was the acrylic. Being a small tank, cleaning the viewing panels was already a tedious task... add acrylic to the mix... and now you have to be extra careful of the rock work AND scratching the acrylic.
I will be swapping out the PNW for a UNS16T that I have lying around from a previous project. I will be reusing the light from PNW and it will be remodeled and switched over to a pwm controller for better tuning. This way, the light can be stronger so it can reach the bottom of the UNS16t tank. For now, the PNW tank will be tucked away for future projects.
This is the plan for the build. For this project, I want to upcycle as much as possible, rather than buy something new. Building the tank through CAD first also gives me a clear image before doing anything. Learning CAD has made every project enjoyable because hiccups are drastically reduced.
This is what the PNW tank used to look like
This is how the project is going right now
More to come! Stay tuned!
I will be swapping out the PNW for a UNS16T that I have lying around from a previous project. I will be reusing the light from PNW and it will be remodeled and switched over to a pwm controller for better tuning. This way, the light can be stronger so it can reach the bottom of the UNS16t tank. For now, the PNW tank will be tucked away for future projects.
This is the plan for the build. For this project, I want to upcycle as much as possible, rather than buy something new. Building the tank through CAD first also gives me a clear image before doing anything. Learning CAD has made every project enjoyable because hiccups are drastically reduced.
This is what the PNW tank used to look like
This is how the project is going right now
More to come! Stay tuned!
Last edited: