Sealed granite in aquarium.

[Bill_68]

I was thinking of making a frag tank using a granite base for the bottom, instead of putting a glass bottom on it. I was thinking of using Dow Black 795 to attach glass to stone. It is granite which is supposed to be not so porus, but it does have a sealant on it. I think the sealant should be non-toxic enough for marine applications. I could also use acrylic for a base and use glass sides, but was a bit concerned about that seal. (Glass to Acrylic) I was thinking about putting a glass bottom on it, but I am getting numbers like 350$ for a 38" x 38 3/4" x 1/2" piece of glass. I could almost buy a new aquarium, shipped, for that.

 

Any thoughts? This is going to be a really cool looking project.

 

Bill

 

 

[bonsaidarrell]

I don't know if the granite is OK or not, but a couple of ideas:

 

1. Coat the granite with some reef-safe material, perhaps a two-part epoxy product? You could do that after building the tank, so you only treat the inside area.

 

2. Glue a thin piece of glass down inside, either before or after building it. Since it would be fully supported by the granite, it wouldn't have to be that thick.

 

Are you planning to have this be bare-bottom?

[StevieT]

Just use glass all the way around and put it on TOP of the granite base if you still want that look

[hey]

I like stevies idea, put the slab of granite down, set a piece of glass on top of it and then wrap the granite and glass on all 4 sides with glass sealing only where the glass touches glass. Basically a regular aquarium with recessed bottom that you put a slab of granite under.

[Bill_68]

Yeah, I guess I will just shell out the money. I'll just get a piece of 3/8" glass for the bottom of the rimless. I'd like it to be stronger, but I guess since the stone is nice and flat, it should be fine. I just got sticker shock from the cost of 1/2"bottom. Quotes of 350$+. I mean... really? Just feeling gouged. It isn't like glass is a rare material.

 

I got the stone for pretty cheap. Remnant. Very nice looking. 1" thick - with a square polished edges. Nice striping and flow. grey/black/silver. Going to use black adhesive with a bare bottom. Should be spiffy.

 

Bill