DIY Glass NANO , NEED LOTS OF ADVICE PLEASE

[gixxerryder]

Ok Guys , here goes , i would like to build this...

 

 

 

As a nano ,

 

I plan to Route a grove in a piece of wood to use as the bottom brace for all the sides , not sure what to do for the top .

 

I Would like to make the Back and bottom out of smoked Acrylic , Is it possible to join glass and Acrylic together? if so how? I dont want the sides to be Acrylic because im a little abusive and i know ill scratch it.

 

I want to do the corner seems with Black silicone , does anyone know where i can find some?

 

Is there anyone , please anyone , who would be able to figure out the demensions for a Gallon mesurment? I want the tank to be about 12 inches deep and just a little taller , each leg of it would be around 18 inches long , want to do the corners hexed so there really wont be any right angle joins in it .

 

Picturing the tank being under 40 gallons but more than 20 .

 

Want the tank to be kinda short so the lighting is more efficient all the way to the bottom of the tank

 

Planning to make a very cool lighting hood for it that will house 3-4 PC bulbs over each side that will be between 36 and 65 watts. The top of the fixture will be made from Diamond studd steal and it will be shaped like a right angle with even length ends.

 

I havnt ever made a tnak before and i know this is going to be a hard one to start with but im willing to take a few tries at it . just need some advice on which roads i should take as far and materials and stuff

 

Thanks for any help you can offer. Really appriciate it , will keep everyone posted on my progress.

 

thanks

Phil R .

[lizbeth]

This is April 2nd...... so this isn't a joke right?

 

That's a really nice design. I would suggest that you build a fuge to go under that tank first so you can practice tank asembly. You can figure the approx. gallonage by breaking the measurments into rectangles and using this tank size calculator.

http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/rick.clark/Tanksize.htm

 

Glass and acrylic can't be joined. Just paint the back the color you want it and the bottom will be covered with sand. You can get GE Silicone 1 in black. I don't know about bracing for the tank...I'll have to think about it.

 

That's a start.

[gixxerryder]

There has to be a way of joining the two materials ... I want the back to be acrylic because its easier to drill and i want the bottom acrylic because its going to be a wierd shape and i dont think i can cut it from glass .

 

I posted this same topic on a different message board and somome helped me figure out the mesurments .... heres what the floor plan will look like .

 

Im going with 19 inches tall which will make it almost an even 35 Gallons

 

 

Biggest problem right now is joining the acrylic and the glass...

[gixxerryder]

Think I am going to do everything but the bottom glass and just do an overflow box or standpipe in the corner of the tank and drill through the bottom . This still leaves me with how to join the bottom and the sides... I Was thinking I could use a really good 2 part opoxy on the seams and go over it with silicone after it dries , That would give strength and seal right?

 

 

Thanks for help : )

[gixxerryder]

Wonder if i Route a grove into the acrylic for the glass to set into would it make it alot easier to join them?

[ngericke]

Glass and acrylic cannot be joined together in a feasable manner in order to hold the wieght that is going to be exurted on it.

If ya decided to go with a glass back and overflow-why not go with a glass bottom als?

[gixxerryder]

Look at the post above that shows the shape of the bottom of the tank... It would be really hard to cut the glass to that shape... I'd probably have to take it to a glass shop and pay them to do it ..

 

If you guys know a better way let me know please heh .

 

Do the wet saw Tile cutters you use to lay ceramic tile work on glass as well?

 

Thanks , Phil

[freakaccident]

Acrylic is a better way. That looks like a tank that Acrylicman from RC built. I am sure he could build you one.

[gixxerryder]

So in the end the tank is going to be 50 inches accoss the back and 16 inches tall . I'm going to construct it completly from glass . Called the glass supplier near me and he is willing to do all the cutting for free as long as i buy the glass from him , He is also going to drill the holes for me for just 10 $ a hole . I plan to use 1/4 inch glass but im going to look into the one size thicker glass , if the final price is withiin $20 of the 1/4 inch im going to go with that .

 

Started thinking about how the stand is going to look and i think im going to just build a triangle shaped stand for it . The shape of the tank doesnt make a very good space for a fuge . im sure the fuge will be a triangle so it will look cool : )

 

Will get some pics posted soon as I have some cash to start the construction.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone has offered.

 

OHH! Im still searching desperatly for black silicone that i can use .. If you have any leads as to where I might find some please , please post them .

 

Thanks,

Phil

[Twobuck40]

good luck making it hold water (with glass). the original is made from acrylic, and the front is one piece thats bent.

glass hex aquarium joints are beveled for better strength and the top and bottom frame are one piece molds for extra strength.

[lizbeth]

http://www.gesil.com/product.asp?pid=GE312...nd=&saleprice=0

[gixxerryder]

Ohh your the BEST , Thanks so much , was having such a hard time finding it .

 

Sent of a few faxes today for estimates on the glass , figureing it to be in the range of 150$ , its about 34 sq ft of glass .

 

I plan to do alot of re-enforcing on the corners of this tank , the bottom will be a solid piece of glass and is going to be sunk into a large piece of wood that will hold everything together nicely i think.

 

Pretty sure I've got it planned out to be plenty strong enough to hold the 30-40 gallons of water its going to hold.

 

thanks for the help

 

Phil Resmer

 

ps. will keep you posted on its progress as it comes along , the glass ship will be doing all the cutting , beveling and drilling at no extra charge as long as i get the glass from them.

[Twobuck40]

What I'm thinking is that there are 2 joints that will not create a good seal. Glass tanks use the water pressure to wedge the silicone into the joint, sealing it. The frame just keeps the glass in about the right spot. That's why when you repair a broken seal you do it from the inside not the outside.

[gixxerryder]

I plan to reinforce those two corners with clear corner shaped pieces of plastic that will go over the silicone in those joints holding in a little extra silicone and adding ALOT of strength to the joints... will post pic of example in a couple hours when i get out of work.

 

Thanks for lookin out though..

 

Phil

[gixxerryder]

Wanna hear somthing great ... Rather than having to drive a catrillion miles to some stupid retailer in the middle of nowhere to get this product i thought would be something hard to find . the Ace hardware 1/10th of a mile from my house carries it . yes thats right they actually have somthing i need ,. when i need it ...

 

Thanks for the link to the silicone , that link is what lead me to Ace Hardware..

 

Happy Fish watching : )

[Twobuck40]

OK. show us how and lets see it work!

[gixxerryder]

The glass shop is sending all the glass off to be polished and angled to match my plans. They said this will add TONS of strength to my joins , especially the ones that come it at harsh angles.

 

Will keep you posted , should have the base piece back soon and will start making the top and bottom frames that will help hold everything together.

[wetworx101]

I hate to say it, but I've been watching this link for a while hoping someone else might say it first, but nobody has...that is going to be one ugly, silicone everywhere, leakin like a wet sock, 100 distorted angle looking tank. Dont do it man!! Think of how distorted hexes are, the small ones, and multiply that by ten...maybe the tank would be better if the sides were just bent out of a single piece of plexi and joined in the back corner...many sign shops that make plastic signs for commercial use could pump a piece out like this, but let me tell you, I hate distorted aquariums, and so do many others...as I want to see the contents of the tank, not all of it's corners. Then again, I've been proven wrong before.

[Christopher Marks]

Originally posted by gixxerryder

So in the end the tank is going to be 50 inches accoss the back and 16 inches tall . I'm going to construct it completly from glass . Called the glass supplier near me and he is willing to do all the cutting for free as long as i buy the glass from him , He is also going to drill the holes for me for just 10 $ a hole . I plan to use 1/4 inch glass but im going to look into the one size thicker glass , if the final price is withiin $20 of the 1/4 inch im going to go with that .  

 

Started thinking about how the stand is going to look and i think im going to just build a triangle shaped stand for it . The shape of the tank doesnt make a very good space for a fuge . im sure the fuge will be a triangle so it will look cool : )  

 

Will get some pics posted soon as I have some cash to start the construction.  

 

Thanks for all the help everyone has offered.  

 

OHH! Im still searching desperatly for black silicone that i can use .. If you have any leads as to where I might find some please , please post them .  

 

Thanks,  

Phil

 

Hopefully I'm not too late to stop this...

 

If you were to manufacture this tank the above dimensions with 1/4" thick glass, and fill it without it leaking, the panels will bow and break. The glass for a tank this size will need to be 3/8" thick if you use extensive bracing. Thicker if you don't.

 

That's not the only problem. Large glass aquariums without 90 degree angles require special cutting of the panels. The edges must be cut to the proper angle, which is not a task for the average joe. Glass cannot just be cut to an angled edge, it must be ground. If this is not done, and the gaps are filled with silicone, the silicone seams are put under additional stress.

 

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but I do want to save you from spending a lot of time and money only to gain a soggy floor and a head ache. The aquarium pictured is made of acrylic, because the angles are easy to make by just bending a solid piece of acrylic.

[wetworx101]

THATS WHAT IM SAYING!!!!

Why dont you just make a triangle for your corner tank?? Then it wont have all the distorting angles either.

[gixxerryder]

FWEW Lotta feedback since i last looked , Going to try and tackle all this postive'ness at once ,

 

First off . The mesurments i posted ... 50inches ... Ya im a retard that shouldnt be posting while hes working nights. the back to sides will actually be 26 inches , yes 2 ft 2 inches . At that size the tank will only be in the neighborhood of 36 gal and will only need 1/4 inch glass

 

Second The glass shop that im going through is going to have all the glass send off to have all the proper angles ground into the glass then polished so everything should fit together very well and have good seals with good strength.

 

Third and i think final thing . Im going with this tank because its not the average BOX sitting against a wall looking like every other friggin tank on earth , because of its shape i plan to kinda set up two different enviroments in the same tank , softies and stuff on one side and SPS and hard corals on the other , think it will look cool , I dont go with a triangle because they are just so BLAND , no personality , nothing cool and original to show off .

The reason i dont go with acrylic is simple , I dont like it , im abusive and it will get scrathed to hell in six months or less . Yes it is easy and fun to work with, nothing like heating some bends into a nice big piece of acrylic but glass is just so much more durable/scratch resistant .

 

Im going to build a really really supporitve upper and lower framing for this tank , it will be well supported and it will NOT leak , the polished angled corners in addition to my ecessive use of silicone will garuntee that ..

 

Will keep you guys posted as things unfold . plan to buy the base piece and build the frames in the next week or two will post pics.

 

Thanks for the concern , keeps me on my toes : )

 

See ya , Phil

[ruf911gt2]

1/4" glass may work but would not risk having the glass crack just to save money. Getting 3/8" is like buying insurance. You will also have more surface contact along the mitered edges with 3/8". Looks like your gonna need 22.5 degree miters "very important". Not too sure about the silicone you found at ace. I would go with the GE SCS1203 silicone.