Building a tank, help

cutting glass is easy, really. you just score it on a flat surface and break it with your line supported on a straight edge. knurling/sanding the edges so nobody gets cut is the hard part. it CAN be done with a dremel but it takes a lot of time, patience and a little cussing... and doesn't always come out great.
 
Lillyan said:
Did some actual measuring.
20in by 8in, I have 3 of these right now, but I can get more.
12in by 8in, 4 of these, but again, I can go out and get more from the old windows outside.
I will have to cut glass for the sides, any ideas on how to do that? Maybe I can find a bottom pane big enough for the sides to fit w/o cutting.
Click to expand...

My inclination would be to use the 20x8 panes for the bottom and sides. Then cut 2 12x8 panes down to 8x8 for the ends.

Or if you can get a 12x12 piece to use for the bottom, you can use the 8x12 panes to make a 12x12x8 tank.
 
For an 8" tall tank, that thin glass will be OK for the water volume but thin glass is still VERY fragile in general... so you will have to be very careful when doing anything to the tank.

This article goes into LOTS of details about glass thickness and the height of the tank. That's where the glass thickness matters... on taller tanks. http://www.austinglass.com.au/aquariums.html

Since most glass tanks use some kind of framing on the top and bottom, to provide structural support, you will have to do this with your DIY tank as well. Otherwise the long (front and back) panes might bow too much and at some point the bowing will turn into stress cracks and eventually burst. Of course, you could use 2" strips of your glass and silicone them on the top of the front and back panes and to the side panes so that should stop any bowing from happening. You could also make wooden frames fro the top and bottom. At least that would provide support and also give you a place to hang your filter if you are going to use an HOB. You might want to go with sponge filters though since I would be afraid to fool with hanging stuff on the glass too much.

If you want a larger tank, you could make a plywood tank and make the cut-outs for the size of your glass panes. Here's an article. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_plywood_aquarium2.php
 
That's a good article.
But when you use glass as the frame on top, do you attach it on its short side, like the Euro bracing? Or?
 
Here is a 10in cube, I believe I will need bracing before I can fill it with water. It's 1.5-2mm thickness. Am I right?
I found these panes while taking apart other window frames. Found 3ft long panes too. But all are just barely 2mm, how big of a tank can I make with that thickness? I will be adding bracing, after I figure out how.
How do you make them out of wood, does the silicone I work on wood too??
DSCN8869m.jpg

DSCN8868m.jpg
 
Lillyan said:
That's a good article.
But when you use glass as the frame on top, do you attach it on its short side, like the Euro bracing? Or?
Click to expand...

You wouldn't have to brace the sides, just the front and back panes, like Euro bracing. The 8" long sides wouldn't be subjected to much bowing where the 20" front and back would, so they would need the Euro style bracing on the top... if you're not planning any other kind of brace. Another thing that would work is just a single strip across the center of the tank, connecting the front to the back, which would prevent either from bowing out. Just remember how fragile this single strip would be. If you hit it with something, it could easily break and fall into your tank. As long as these are going to be low maintenance tanks, like for a Betta or something like that, they would probably work but I wouldn't want to start hanging stuff on the sides and having to fool with them all the time.

BTW... I speak about this from experience of having worked in apartment complex management and maintenance and having changed MANY window panes and seeing how easy this type of glass breaks even when trying to replace a broken pane, if in a hurry.

EDIT - Ahhhh.. I see you added some pics while I was typing the above. Did you silicone the 10" cube yet? I don't see any so I was curious if you did that good of a job? ;-) Or is it just taped together for now?

With 10" sides, they shouldn't bow much but to make this stronger and also impact resistance the corners, adding a frame around the top and bottom would be a good idea. Just some firring strips, maybe 3/4" wide by 1/4" thick, and then either stained or painted and then siliconed to the top and bottom, would add strength to prevent bowing and also add protective bumpers for the occasional accidental bumping of the corners so you don't have corner breaks.

I should add that having the wood stick up a little above the top of the tank and then running a bead of silicone along the top of the glass would also prevent cuts... just use a tool when smoothing the bead since the inside edge of glass will cause some nasty paper cuts to your fingers if you used them. ;-)
 
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I am holding off on the longer tank, since I found a wasp nest while collecting panes. Siliconed the 10in cube, found enough glass to make at least 4 of these. Wondering how I should continue with this cube until the wasp nest is taken care of. Thanks!
 
This is such a cool idea! Now I want to make a long shallow tank with clear jalousie glass! Looking forward to how you do the frame.

Did you silicone both inside & out?
 
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