Need tips for building a fish tank

[Dogslovefood68]

I want to make  a tank about the same size as the UNS 90 U which is  L 35.43 x W22.04 x H22.04. How would I figure out the sides sense they wouldn't be the same length?

[Tired]

Any particular reason you want to make it instead of buying a product made by a company with a lot of practice in not having tons of water go everywhere? Buying the tank is probably the option that's least likely to fail and most likely to look good.

 

If you're determined- let me make a picture to try and explain this, I don't know how to explain it entirely in words.

[Tired]

 

Right. Here's an aquarium. We're looking down at it from the top, so we can see how the panes of glass overlap. The long panes are touching the ends of the wide panes. If we want the entire tank to be 20cm wide, we need to account for the thickness of the long panes. For easy math, let's say they're 1cm thick, and yes I'm aware that's very thick glass. 

 

To get the tank to be 20cm wide, we need the wide panes to be 20cm, minus two glass thicknesses. In this case, two glass thicknesses is 2cm. So the wide panes need to be 18cm long. 

 

(You also need the bottom piece to be 2 glass thicknesses shorter than the final dimensions, in both directions, if you want it to sit inside the walls instead of having the walls sat on top of it. I don't know which way is better.) 

[mcarroll]

Are you asking about the angle on the UNS tank's joints since they are mitered instead of butted like a standard tank?

 

I don't know the answer.  But I know if I was in your shoes and didn't already know that answer, I'd strongly consider doing standard butt joints.  This is what Tired illustrated above....and how almost all tanks ever built have been built. 👍🤷‍♂️

[sapling]

On 9/6/2022 at 6:14 AM, Dogslovefood68 said:

I want to make  a tank about the same size as the UNS 90 U which is  L 35.43 x W22.04 x H22.04. How would I figure out the sides sense they wouldn't be the same length?

nice!

 

I have done a couple tanks myself, however, it was because it was very economical in my case, and the total unavailability to source reasonably priced rimless tanks in my area at the time. In retrospect, the tank was nice and I was happy with it, but nowadays there are a ton of really nice rimless tanks available with fine workmanship in the US with a reasonable price, and purchasing one is much less stressful than building one.  

 

Tired explains the concept for accounting for the thickness of the panels when measuring the glass for cutting well here. 

 

I would avoid trying to be fancy with mitered edges and completely agree about using butt joints as Mcarroll explained. Worth mentioning ADA and Waterbox uses butt joints as well, very sharp looking tanks. 

 

 

I am unsure how well versed you are in tank building, but a few considerations for you to think about, I apologize if I'm patronizing; 

 

Tank height is the main thing that determines your needed glass thickness. it gets much much more expensive the thicker the glass you need. Don't attempt to make get tank glass thinner than it should be, it is an unnecessary risk for structural failure. 

 

Low Iron Glass is very pricey in comparison to regular glass. 

 

I would not recommend attempting to cut/score the glass yourself. contact your local glass shops, give them your needed pieces, all the ones I dealt with can give you a free quote. make sure to shop around extensively. Some charge by the sheet, some charge by the foot. Please also note that they charge for cutting and will definitely charge for a machine cut. some may give you some cheap/free hand cuts, but wont be as accurate. this is still better than trying to do it yourself, unless of course you are a professional glasscutter. 

 

Your Silicone work will look bad/messy in comparison to the manufacturer's, I did a careful job with mine but I think without experience and good technique it just wont be comparable. Expect your silicon joints to look more like aqueons or worse than ada/waterbox/etc.  

 

In my experience you will really really want a helper when assembling the tank, its not something I would advise you do on your own the larger the tank, you will also need clamps to properly construct the tank. 

 

Theres more to it than I mentioned here, and there are alot of resources available online to look into. 

 

I'm not a professional by any means and sorry to ramble but hopefully you can take something away from my experiences.