DIY glass nano tank build

This will be the journal for my 5.5 gallon windowsill nano tank. It's a learning expirience for me, and if it goes well, I'll likely make more small tanks like this, perhaps with different dimensions.

I found a place here that sells salvaged materials and they were able to cut the glass for me for only $16.50, including the cost of the glass. I did not have them sand the edges though, as that was an extra $14 and I can do that myself with some 180 grit wet/dry sandpaper and a sanding block.

First, I'll start with the diagram I made. You have to be at least somewhat good at geometry, and make yourself a detailed drawing with every measurement. I also did a hand-drawn 3-D drawing and a front view with front glass removed to see how the walls fit. MAKE SURE TO ACCOUNT FOR GLASS THICKNESS!


I used 3/16" glass for this, since it's such a small tank and not very tall. The taller the tank, the thicker the glass should be, since it will have more weight pressing against it.

The dimensions will be 8" tall, 6 3/8" deep, and 30 3/8" wide. I wanted the interior dimensions to be 7x6x30, plus a little height since it won't be filled all the way to the very, very top.

Here is the glass:



And here is the window the tank will be sitting in when finished:



I will add more as the project progresses.

Okay, first we have supplies

rubbing alcohol or acetone
paper towels
latex or nitrile gloves
Silicone caulk (I am using GE Silicone 1 Window and Door)
Blue painters masking tape
Scissors or exacto knife
A clean, stable work surface


I dry fit the glass together and taped it with masking tape (no, I didn't use the blue stuff because I couldn't find any and the white stuff was handy, but the blue really is better)


You want to put on a pair of gloves and clean the surface of the glass with alcohol and paper towels. I put on gloves so that I wasn't getting fingerprints on the glass as I cleaned it. MAKE SURE YOU CLEAN THE EDGES TOO! The silicone will be sticking to the edges of the glass and it must be clean! Set each piece aside on your clean, flat, stable work surface. I put a drop cloth over a table in my garage.

Tape off the edges of the glass, leaving about 1/2-1/4 inch border. Keep in mind which pieces of glass are going side to edge, as you'll need a larger border on the sides that will have an edge facing them to account for the thickness of the glass. Use scissors or a knife to clean up the corners. If you feel like you are probably going to get silicone on other parts of the glass, tape off the entire glass face.

The way I did it was to lay a bead of silicone along three edges of one of the long pieces, and the bottom edge of one of the short pieces. First, I lifted the short piece into place and pressed it against the bottom glass, then while holding that in place, I lifted the long side and lined up the corner first, using tape I'd already applied to one side on the outside (or you can leave some strips stuck to the edge of the table or somewhere else handy) and taped up the corner. You want to have enough silicone that it oozes out of the seams, but don't press ALL the silicone out, you don't want glass-on-glass. Once the first corner is taped, I then lined up and pressed the rest of the long side to make sure it was lined up properly. The two perpendicular pieces will hold each other up while you apply silicone to the bottom edge of the other short side. Lift it up the same way you did the first side, but it will take a little finagling as there is already silicone on the front side. Tape this corner together as well and make sure all the edges are snug against the bottom glass.

Apply silicone on the 3 edges of the other long piece and lift it into place, lining up both corners and taping them. I then used my gloved fingers to gently wipe away some of the excess silicone on the inside and outside and applied a little extra around the bottom inside corners.

And that's how she sits.

Here's a couple pictures of the tank in the windowsill. I'm going to let the silicone cure another day or two before I fill it and leak test it in another location, but I wanted to see how it looked and my parents house is alot more humid than my basement as they have a swamp cooler.

It's been 48 hours so I decided to fill it up! First I put it on a piece of plywood and filled it, then realized that it wasn't fully supported on the edges because the plywood had a slight bow to it, so I moved it to my back porch and put some thick foam under it, since my back porch is an even, level concrete slab.

Initial leak testing looks promising. There are no leaks right off the bat, and glass bowing is 1/32", not even noticeable, which makes me very happy. So now I leave it for about a week and see if anything catastrophic happens. *knocks on wood*