I suck with DIY projects

[noobtank]

Well i dabbled in the DIY department and all i needed to do was make baffles. Silicone kicked my butt and all i did was make a mess. The baffles are drying right now and hopefully i'll finally have my refugium. Just wanted to put my hands down to people who always do everything themselves.

[Mad Mech Master]

It sounds like you got it together though. That all that matters. I'll bet that it looks better than you think.
A refugium won't be seen without a close look. All it takes is to build on your experience for projects to work out.

[RLG2182]

Well, DIY is just a risk that people have to take... depending on their skill. I'll usually DIY if either:

1) I can make the unit for half of the price of what the stores will sell for

or

2) If I can't find a retail unit exactly how I want it

I couldn't find a stand that I liked in any of my LFS, and none that had the front center brace missing to let me put a long tank in. So, I said "eff that" and built my own. IMO looked better than any of the LFS stands, was half the price, and fit every need that I was looking to fill. If your DIY project didn't set you back much, then don't worry about it Especially if it's for usage, not for looks.

(Just be careful when the materials for the DIY cost about the same total as the retail version new)

DIY!!

[midiman]

all i needed to do was make baffles. Silicone kicked my butt

Were you trying to glue acrylic to glass using silicone? Not the strongest of holds, but good enough to hold acrylic baffles to glass in a sump (I hope), because that's what I did to build my sump from an old 10 gallon tank.