Guide Steps
Step 1: Gather quartz for glass
Collect 2 quartz from the Safe Shallows seafloor (bright white crystal clusters — abundant and easy to spot). In the fabricator, go to Resources → Glass. 2 quartz → 1 glass. Quartz is everywhere in the Safe Shallows, so this step takes under 2 minutes.
Step 2: Gather titanium
Collect 1 metal salvage from the seafloor. Process in the fabricator: 1 metal salvage → 4 titanium. You only need 1 titanium for the air tank — the remaining 3 can go to other tools or base construction.
Step 3: Craft the air tank
Fabricator → Equipment → Standard Air Tank. Materials: 1 titanium + 1 glass. The air tank goes in a body slot and replaces your default oxygen capacity with a larger pool. Equip it immediately.
Step 4: Oxygen management with the air tank
The Standard Air Tank adds roughly 30–45 seconds of additional dive time. Combined with fins (faster swimming = less oxygen used per distance) and later the rebreather (normalized depth consumption), you can more than double your effective dive time. Always upgrade oxygen before attempting deeper biomes.
Upgrade path
The Standard Air Tank is the first of several oxygen upgrades. Later, you can craft a High Capacity Air Tank (requires more advanced materials) for even more oxygen. Each oxygen upgrade stacks with the rebreather for maximum depth exploration capability.