DIY glass aquarium

[Kronk]

So i am waiting on a quote from bigals to build a custom sized aquarium nothing crazy just 40g. I priced out the glass at well under $100 and may do it myself if they charge a ton. Has anyone built there own tank ? i found some tutorials and it doesnt look too difficult so long as you have the proper silicone... anybody ever built there own tank?

Thanks,
Ken

[justinl]

i built my own 60gal acrylic. Id imagine glass is not any harder. My main tipsas follows:

practice. Get scrap pieces and make a couple 1gal tanks for fun (they may come in handy later anyways).

DO NOT SKIMP ON SILICONE. this is the most important part, get the best silicone you can. it will lengthen the life of your tank.

do whatever you have to to avoid getting silicone on the glass (other than the bonded parts duh). i would suggest covering both sides of the panes in newspaper and taping down the paper using masking tape close to the edge (within an inch or so).

[Kronk]

OK big gay als big gay animal farm wants $229 for a 40g tank me thinks i will build it myself... some questions

1) what is the best, strongest brand of silicone?
2) where is everyones favorite place to get glass?
3) Any other tips?

Thanks,
Ken

[Rippin]

Originally Posted by Kronk

OK big gay als big gay animal farm ...

Wow, can you feel the love..?

[Kronk]

HAHAHA havent you ever seen south park...

[Rippin]

Oh, I knew what you were referring to.

[kwirky]

people say to "degrease" your glass with turpentine to remove fingerprints, which I never understood, since turpentine is grease based.

I know this from my lithography (printmaking) experience. I'd say when you're using turpentine, make sure you're wearing a respirator with properly stored organic filters, and follow it with a wiping of rubbing alcohol.

The turpentine leaves an oily residue, and the rubbing alcohol will make it squeeky clean afterwards. Basically they're solvents for two different things, and using both will make the glass super clean to work with. Rubbing alcohol's cheap anyways, so it doesn't hurt to use it.

Just make sure you're wearing new rubber gloves while handling the glass afterwards. Don't want to go through all the effort cleaning it only to muck it up again

Oh and don't be cheap when applying the silicone. Allow a 1mm thickness of silicone between the two glass panels. Apply masking tape before you silicone to get a clean edge. Just remember to remove the tape before the silicone dries. And if you get sloppy and get silicone somewhere that you don't want it, don't clean it while it's wet. Wait for it to dry and it'll come off real easy with a razor blade.

As for strongest silicone, I think GE 1200 would be just fine for a tank that size if you properly degrease it before-hand.

Big al's might have quoted you that price because getting polished glass isn't cheap usually. They charge by the inch to polish the glass to that nice smooth edge we all like. With a tank of the 40g size, you might be able to build it with acrylic for cheaper. You'd be dealing with a completely different set of problems if you did though.

[hqgc]

Here is a good link for diy tank building. http://garf.org/tank/buildtank.asp

[Kronk]

Cool thanks for the link, one wierd thing about that is it has the bottom piece surrounded by the 4 sides... i was planning to stack the sides on the bottom piece... makes more sense to stack it to me because the pressure from the water would push OUT, separating the bond between the bottom and the sides. If they were siliconed on top of the glass it would be pushing ALONG the bonded edge not away from it... know what i mean?

[Kronk]

For the benefit of people searching for DIY tank links in the future here are a few good links...

Tutorials

Examples

Glass Thickness