Building a tank, help

Hmmmmm... based on your drawing, that's NOT the way traditional glass tanks are made with just the corners of the glass touching on the inside but I understand why you had to do it that way with the pre-cut 10" square panes. In a *normal* tank, the edges of the side panes would be covered or overlapped by the front panes so that there wouldn't be a "groove" on the outside of each corner that would be filled with silicone like you did. While your design leaves two corner edges that would normally be sanded, the way you did it and then filled that corner groove with silicone, as long as there's enough silicone, will protect the sharp edges BUT remember that silicone is very soft and the thin tapers at the edges of the silicone on both sides of the bead can delaminate/peel and possibly expose the sharp edge of the glass. Because you do have the silicone there now, it would make it very hard to try and sand the glass corners now but on future tanks, after you silicone the inside corners and they have dried, you could use some sand paper on the outside corner edges to smooth down any sharp edges first and then put the bead of silicone on the outside corners so that even if the silicone doesn't fully and permanently protect the sharp edges, at least they will be sanded a little to remove the sharpest edges.

So... at least, from what you've shown now, only the top inside and outside edges need a little sanding, a flexible piece of sandpaper with very fine grit would be the best thing for quickly sanding those edges down.... or as I said earlier, if you put a wood frame around the top and bottom, the wood would protect you from the sharp eges on the outside and a bead of silicone, like you've done with the outside corners, would protect you on the inside edge, if the wood was siliconed in place with about 1/8" sticking up above the top of the glass.

I hope that's understandable.

What program did you use to make your drawing?
 
My biggest concern was if the way I put the tank together, would it still be strong or just as strong?
How thick would the wood have to be? I have wood frames that are 1in, half inch and 15-20in long strips. Would this be ok or should I find thicker wood?
I will get sandpaper when I go out to find a glass cutter and the oil for it if need be.
Thanks for all the help!
 
Your way is fine... just different. It wouldn't matter how the glass edges were placed together as long as there is enough silicone to seal the edges. The one concern I do see with your design is that any of the four sides could be pushed IN also. In other words, on a tank that has two sides and then the front and back are placed where the front and back panes are supported by the side pieces, then the front and back could not really get pushed in like the sides could be. In your case, any of the four sides could be pushed in, causing a possilble leak in the silicone. This means you want to make sure you have enough of a bead of silicone on the inside corners to keep this from happening. On the bottom, you have the four sides on the outside of the bottom glass plate so the weakest link for this to happen is near the top of any of the four corners so even an extra glob of silicone in those four spots would help to keep this from happening... although making sure you have a good bead on the inside of all four corners is still advised.

The wood doesn't need to be thick. Probably 1/4" is all you would need, maybe even a little thinner if that's all you have. The wood is just a bumper to keep the glass from receiving any sharp knocks that might cause a fracture that could turn into something worse.... AND to protect you from glass cuts.

EDIT... I should add that thickness is not the same as wide. A 1" wide (by however long) would be fine. Even a 1/2" wide (by however long) would probably be fine. It all depends on your tastes and how it looks on the small tanks. The thickness of 1/4" seems to be about the least amount that would provide some support and protect the tank. Heck, I guess even 1/8" type balsa wood would work but that wood is so soft, I'm not sure how long it would hold up with water splashing from time to time. A 1/4" thick piece of wood would probably hold up better... even better if you were to seal the wood first. If you have any paint that you like, any color would work and different colors could make them "pretty" from a girls perspective. (You know us guys are grunting "UGH! UGH! MORE POWER!!! CAN I PUT A BIG FILTER ON THAT LITTLE TANK???" instead of worrying if it's "pretty".. lol)
 
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Cool... I know MS Paint can do those kinds of things but I've never really thought about using it for simple drawings. I've used it for labeling pictures and cropping, resizing, etc... but never for a start from scratch type drawing. It looks like a nice little CAD (Computer Aided Design) program did the drawing... and I never really thought of MS Paint as a CAD program.... but technically it is. Good job!

You know the old saying, "A picture speaks a thousand words" and if you tried to describe how you had the four sides set up, it would probably take a thousand words. LOL
 
You know, something else I just thought about. For your next 10x10 tank project... if you got some wooden dowel that was the right diameter to fit in the V-grooves at each corner and then wooden strips for making the top and bottom frames, and then paint the wood either the same color or different colors and mix and match or make them the same, you could make some nice little 4G Betta tanks that I bet would sell at your LFS... if you're into trying new business ventures. The wooden dowels on each corner would save you from having to sand those corners and would cover any silicone that might not look as nice as the pretty painted dowel corners. And the wood frame around the top with a bead of silicone on the top of the glass sides would save you from having to sand those edges and I think the sanding would be the toughest part of making these little tanks safe and marketable.

Then you could start breeding Bettas and mass growing a simple easy to grow live plant that would look nice in your Betta tanks and you could supply the LFS with set up tanks, including a live plant or two and a Betta... so folks could buy a nice looking thing for their desk instead of them tiny cups with Bettas in them or the Betta vases that are so undersized.

Then all you'd have to do is find a source of low priced 10" x 10" glass panes and you would be in business... "Betta Tanks by Lillyan" (with 10% royalties to me of course! lol)
 
lol, that would be cool. But the closest petstore is Petco and they are 30min or so away. Plus petco is a big chain mess, they refuse so much. They will take in pets for 'adoption' and give you nothing, but sell the pets for $20 or more.
 
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