# Aquarium building



## Oranda

I used to work at Home Depot for 4 years and I know I can buy glass from them. I've built a 5"x5" ant farm that is wall mounted before as well. So I was wondering if building my own aquarium is something that is recommended or not?


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## Cichlid Man

I have my tanks custom made, I think it's all in the sealent you buy, if you seal it right using the right sealent then what can go wrong?


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## Mr. fish

You can build an aquarium almost out of anything... Like cichlid man said, as long as it's sealed properly with aquarium safe seal.


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## Oranda

I'd rather get a 2nd opinion than just tackle it head on. I know how to build stuff, but wasn't sure if the glass had to be above a certain diameter thick. I was thinking of using 5/16' thickness. I'm looking at building a 6" L x 3" W x 5" H tank. Would I need to consider a form of support in the middle of the tank?


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## emc7

You can buy trim from a place like glasscages.com or http://cciaquarium.com/. There are some tricks, you need the right thickness glass (search for a chart), good sealant and good joints. With thicker glass, you can skip the supports. But I understand most of savings in making your own tank come from replacing glass with something cheaper. If you really only need 1 or 2 glass sides, you can use painted plywood or something else for the back and bottom.


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## Oranda

I was considering glass for everything except the bottom, is that something I could consider plexiglass for? Could the whole tank be plexiglass? I can easily make a stand for whatever size of tank I make, my brothers a Cabinet maker (licensed) and he already sent me some diagrams to go off of. Just considering a few options and I wanted some other opinions.


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## emc7

plexiglass, PMMA, can make a good aquarium. I think this is what 'acrylic' aquariums are.

Its softer than glass, so you have to be careful not to scratch it. I don't think you can use normal 'aquarium cement', though. You need a solvent or heat to join the stuff. 

Here's an random article from the web. http://www.duboisi.com/diy/BNdiytank/bndiytank.htm


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## Mr. fish

emc7 said:


> plexiglass, PMMA, can make a good aquarium. I think this is what 'acrylic' aquariums are.


Plexiglass is a form of acrylic. It is much more flexible and break-resistant than regular acrylic. Acrylic is a lot more brittle and breaks and scratches very easily. Plexiglass usualy comes wrapped in white plastic and regular acrylic comes wrapped in blue plastic.

Its usually $8-12/sq. foot for 1/4 inch, try to stay away from the 1/8.


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## TheOldSalt

Plexiglas bows under pressure where glass does not, so you need braces. The hardest part about making a tank out of plastic is finding the glue. Silicone won't work; you need to use some stuff called Weld-on #4.
You could also make a big plywood box and use a 1/8" veneer of thin plexiglas on the interior. That would keep you from having to use fiberglass or several coats of expensive epoxy paint, and the optical effect you get from this adds a peculiar illusion of depth.


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## lohachata

over the years i have built over 100 aquariums..from 2 gallons to 240 gallons...i don't use any kind of plastic at all due to the fact that it scratches too easily..kind of a wasted effort to me..
with 5/16" glass you can build a 20 gallon high..when i build 120 gallon plywood tanks i use 1 sheet of plywood and 1 piece of 1/4" glass....for the 240's i use 1/2" glass...
i use Sherwin Williams Polane "B" black paint..you can also use S/W "TILE CLAD 2" epoxy paint..


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## Oranda

Thank you for all your advice, I will post updates after I get my tank built.


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## Oranda

First thing I did when I built my own aquarium is read up on the internet and search my local library for books and information to assist me. As GI Joe says “Knowing is half the battle.” You can look at my references at the bottom. 

I also went to a few places that deal in second hand pet products. I was able to locate a 55g that was in dire shape. The glass had been completely broken on one side and the rest looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years. The plastic on the top and bottom were still in great shape. I figured it’d be easier to build a small aquarium first verses attempting and failing on a large 200g for my first build. So I purchased the broken 55g aquarium for $10 and took it home to my garage. 

I proceeded to slowly separate the old silicone from the plastic surround with a razor blade. CAUTION Wear gloves when doing this. Not only is the blade sharp but you’re also working around glass. Rushing this process will only result in either damage to you or the surround. It took me 3 and a half hours to get the bottom surround and brace to fully separate from the glass. I than cleaned off any excess silicone and used Di-Aqua Aqueous Silicone Oil Remover. It took me 2 hours to get the surround off of the top. I cleaned up the silicone with a simple cleaning agent, than I used Krylon Fusion black paint to touch up the surrounds. I let them sit for 24 hours to cure, and then washed them thoroughly to make sure I got everything looking like new.

After talking with a few other places it was cheaper to go to a vendor rather than a home hardware store. I went with 8mm ( 5/16ths) thickness annealed glass. The rep helped me with the dimensions of the tank and even told me I should have the corners of the glass smoothed out since they’ll be capable of cutting flesh otherwise. Good call on his part. I spent roughly $250 on glass. I could have got this for cheaper but I wanted nicer glass.

While I waited for the glass to be cut and prepped I built a cardboard enclosure. It’ll support the glass while I am applying the silicone and also help ensure that the glass is straight and I don’t have a lopsided aquarium that hangs or sits funny. I used a level as often as possible here. I can’t stress the importance of this. Since cardboard is very cheap and this only takes patience and time it is easy to see what you’re tank will look like and how big of a stand you’ll need. Remember to build it slightly bigger than your tank will be since your tank has to fit into this, remember its purpose is to assist you with the tank. Make sure that the bottom surround fits snugly inside your cardboard box. If it does than you’re on the right path. This really is a good idea because once you add the silicone to the glass you only have a small window before it starts to adhere and you don’t want silicone all over the glass, you really want a streamline looking job.

I took the cardboard box and the surrounds in with me to the glass shop, with the help of the glass shop we set the bottom glass into the surround and also set the sides in to make sure it all lined up. Everything fit great and looked like it’d come out once put together. I took it all home and placed it all out. 

Just like in my references (# 1 ) I followed their lead, and went with GE Door & Window Clear Silicone. Make sure it doesn't say that it prevents mold and mildew. And don't be alarmed if there is a disclaimer on the tube that says it’s not for aquarium use. They have to say that so they won't be held liable if your aquarium breaks or doesn't seal properly. And it will make your job so much easier if you get the kind of tube that you can put in a caulking gun.
First piece I chose to do was the bottom, this is probably a simple yet wise choice since all the other glass sits on this. It’s also easier since your bottom surround will have the largest silicone to glass ratio. I didn’t go easy on the silicone here, it’s not a part of the tank people will be looking at and it also is what supports the majority of your weight. I let this dry for 24 hours before moving onto the sides. Once it was dry I used duck tape on the outsides of the aquarium and got all 4 pieces inside the box on top of the base. Once everything was all lined up I used my level one last time to make sure it was all lined up. After that I used the silicone and went over each joining, I started along the base and than moved to the sides, going in a counter-clockwise direction. I let this sit for 48 hours at which point I came back and fit the top surround on, I applied silicone and let it sit for 24 hours.

The real test came when I added water to the aquarium. I let it sit on three saw horses for 24 hours on top of a white bed sheet. If it leaked it’d be noticeable. It never leaked so I drained the water, had my wife help me carry it inside and we began to set it up. She decorated it with some things she got from a place called Pet Traders in Winnipeg Canada. Great little second hand pet products store. She was able to find a really beautiful red water rock there. It’s the centerpiece for our aquarium now. She also added 2 Red Crabs to the aquarium, but they killed our Gold Bushy Nose Plecostomus. I bought another heater and filter from Pet Land. 

All in all I spent around $400 to build my own 55g aquarium. I could of bought one for a lot cheaper than that but the cost to learn how to do this successfully was worth it for me. :fish::fish:




























References:
# 1. http://beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Aquarium.html

# 2. http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium (GREAT website to help calculate glass thickness)

# 3. http://www.duboisi.com/diy/BNdiytank/bndiytank.htm (Pictures are always helpful)

# 4. The Everything Aquarium Book: All You Need to Build the Aquarium of Your Dreams (Everything: Pets) by Frank Indiviglio.


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## funlad3

That looks GREAT! Can you get some close ups of the seams? Just curious!


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## Mr. fish

Great work!

Now my question is and dont take this the wrong way, but, what was the goal of outcome for this project? Seems like it would cost and take alot more time than just purchasing one?


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## funlad3

"I figured it’d be easier to build a small aquarium first verses attempting and failing on a large 200g for my first build."


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## emc7

Good luck with the big, custom one. Glass shops are great, they make perfect cuts and smooth the ends, but the ones near me charge $10 a cut. I can't even make a lid cheaper than I can buy it. And even big makers like Marineland will do custom tanks for you.

But now you have a skill. You can grab the 'free broken' tanks on craigslist and fix them up.


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## Mr. fish

funlad3 said:


> "I figured it’d be easier to build a small aquarium first verses attempting and failing on a large 200g for my first build."


Again, what do you attempt to gain out of this?

Cost more money and time to build...


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## TheOldSalt

There are numerous places online now where you can learn now to build big plywood tanks. One good one is the GARF site, although it's not well laid out and you'll have to sift around a bit to find the info. Nonetheless, it's really good info worth the search, including calculators for glass thickness needed and such.
TheKrib is another really good place for do-it-yourself aquarium info.


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## Oranda

I've built a great many things in my time , my biggest project currently is a replica of a P-51D Mustang. So I am more of a hands on kind of guy. I know I could of just went and thrown the money down and got a 55g that's probably built a lot better. But just like with my 76 Mustang.. it's built, not bought. And the things I have learned with building this smaller tank will go a long way with helping me build a larger tank. Mr. Fish you ask what I achieved, well I made my fish happy. They're no longer crammed in a small 29g aquarium. It's a heck of a feeling to be able to have people over admiring my aquarium and being able to say "I built that."

:fish::fish:

I moved the rocks out of the picture so you could see the bottom silicone job, it's not pretty but it will definitely hold and not leak. 










I tried a trick for getting a nice seam job along the sides but the silicone bled through. I tried running tape along the sides to keep the silicone even but it didn't come out as nice as I hoped.


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## emc7

first attempts are always ugly. Spoon or finger, I can't get the stuff pretty.


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## Mr. fish

You know what Oranda, I respect that bro. I guess I didn't look at it that way.

Building to some people IS also a hobby and for the small cost of a few extra dollars I'm sure its a great feeling to look at things you've made and say "I built that". I feel like I lack the patience when it comes to building.. Not a bad builder, but only build if I have to.

And very true statement about giving your fish a bigger home and making them happy.

Great Job bro!! Can't wait to see the bigger one you're aiming for...


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## iheartfish:)

Just wanted to say, great project oranda! I'm looking to build a tank too, and this thread (with the links) told me pretty much everything i needed to know. Can't wait to get started


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