Glass Is Cut, Now To Start Building!

[denis coghlan]

In my opinion skip-jumping is a Nobel profession and activity!!!

At the moment the building that I work in is undergoing a bit of a face lift and as a result I have kept my eyes open for spare or discarded glass that I could use to build additional fry tanks.

I was just on my way back from my lunch today when what did my beady eye spy, none other than fours sheets of 200cm * 80cm * 7mm glass. For those of you who like to think in feet that is fours sheets of 6.6ft * 2.6ft * 7mm glass. Three of the sheets are completely intact while the other is missing about a quarter off the end of it. All of the sheets have a slight amount of damage around the edges/corners but I'm sure this can be remedied.

I have never moved so quickly, the glass was in my office within 10 minutes, thank god for lifts other wise I would not have been able to get it up four flights of stairs. Due to the fact that there where four sheets of glass I had to explain to four different sets of co workers, why I was bringing the rubbish from the skip back into the building! I got lots of weird looks!!!

Anyway, now to my question!

What size tank can I build? I am aware that the size of the tank is limited by the thickness of the glass. So this limits me to building a tank based on 7mm glass.


I have built a number of small tanks before and they have all worked well and are still in use to date. This find now allows me to undertake a larger project. At present I have no room in my house for another fish tank but I do have a shed where I can build things!!!!!!! and lots of power tools!!!!

Any comments and suggestions are welcome!!

 

[Tolak]

Check out the diy section at http/garf.org/ Just by looking & trying to figure in my head, 7mm is jst over 1/4". Each sheet would give you the 4 sides of 2 tanks around 16" high, 25" across, & 13" deep. You could easily get 3 tanks this size out of the 3 good pieces, maybe 4 depending if you can use enough of the 4th damaged piece to make up some of the shorter sides.

My main concern would be height, to be safe contact Windsor-Aquatics.

 

[And_Hef]

Wow, what a wonderful find!!!

I know dreams of a 6 1/2' x 2 1/2' x 2 1/2' x 1/4" tank would be expected, but a tank consists of 5 pieces of glass, front, back, left side, right side and bottom. Since one sheet is slightly smaller, there will need to be edges trimmed off all of the sheets (if I read your post correctly), and taking in to consideration the thickness, I would estimate you could get 2 - 85 gallon tanks (5' x 18" x 18") easy, which would leave the entire 4th smaller sheet as one small tank or lids. I would not recommend going higher than 18" on the height unless you're willing to add center support (say if you're not wanting the tank to be used as a display, but only has breeding/fry growout.) If you make one large tank, you could go approx. 72.5" x 30" x 36.25" and having a couple of 30" center supports = 341 gallons. I would not recommend this size for 7mm glass, also keep in mind the larger the tank the more it will weight, so make sure you have the flooring support in place.

 

[windsor-aquatic]

7mm thick glass is rather unusual; I would have expected ir to be either 6mm or 8mm. However, the maximum height you could build a tank at would be 18", as it's the height that generally determines the glass thickness used. If the proposed length and/or width was to exceed 18" it would also require bracing.

 

[denis coghlan]

Tanks for the input so far!!

I stand corrected about the thickness of the glass, after I read the last post from windsor-aquatic, I went upstairs armed with my digital calipers and the glass thickness is in fact 6mm.

So I have been pondering about what I am going to make with the glass!! I have been looking around on the net for DIY Custom Aquarium Glass Thickness Calculator and I found this one on www.about.com. It suggests that I can construct an aquarium of 92cm * 46cm * 34cm. Although this construction requires that I have a 9mm thickness sheet for the bottom, but hopefully this can be remedied by using a flat support under the bottom sheet of glass. They also dont mention anything about a bracing system for the tank. I have only built two tanks to date, one was a small twenty liter tank and the other was about 105 liter and for both I have had a bracing system, for the small one only at the bottom but for the 105 it was braced at the top and bottom.

See pic!

For the proposed tank that I would like to build I would include bracing supports in the form of a wooden frame at the top and bottom of the tank and also include further cross supports in the centre to stop the tank from bowing in the middle. Basically it would be the same design as the tank in the picture above, only bigger.

These are my calculations so far, roughly!!

92cm * 46cm * 34cm = 169280cm3

169280cm3 = 169.3 liters

Also if my cutting list/dimensions are correct I should be able to construct this tank out of one of the 200cm * 80cm sheets of glass.


Cutting diagram!

Comments and suggestion are more than welcome!! Please!!!

 

[SmileyMan]

Although this construction requires that I have a 9mm thickness sheet for the bottom, but hopefully this can be remedied by using a flat support under the bottom sheet of glass

silicone two 6mm pieces together for a 12mm base

 

[denis coghlan]

Thanks smileyman, thats a simple solution!

Now for my next question!

Is the ballast systems used in interior fluorescent lighting kits suitable for aquarium lighting? In the same place that I found he glass I managed to pick up four sets of twin 30w lighting kits. I am aware that the exposed parts would need to be made water proof and similar for the mounts at the end of the tubes, but can they be used effectively for lighting aquariums?

Tomorrow I am hoping to find a TertaTec external 1200 in the skip!!!!!!! Fingers crossed!!!!

 

[And_Hef]

You can silicone the lamp connections to make them better suited for aquatic life, and you can remote mount the ballast (say have them 3' to 4' away and run the wires back to the tubes). The further away from the tubes you mount it, the less power the tube will actually get, so take that into consideration, too.

My personal thoughts would be to build a hood like you did in your picture, but have an additional cover for the lights/ballast between them and the water (say made out of leftover glass). Silicone the glass and wood to keep out moister and then silicone the entire enter box yet having adequate ventilation for the heat.

Shouldn't be too hard.

 

[Nick Sw]

It`s another "McGyver" like piece of aquatic DIY from Tanks ! this should be interesting !

 

[denis coghlan]

Thanks and_hef regarding the information on the lighting. I have another question for the masses!

With a 30W ballast system, it is possible to add an additional mount/end unit and run two 15W bulbs instead of a single 30w bulb?

 

[denis coghlan]

So, I spent yesterday evening with a glass cutter and a ruler and now I have the desired sheet of glass to make a 130l tank. Cutting the glass started literally in shattering style, I was moving one of the completely intact sheets onto the table and I bent it a little more than it could handle. Half the sheet disappeared off the end of the table and made a god almighty mess on the floor, fortunately that was the only piece of glass that broke in a fashion I didn't want it to. All of the rest cut like a charm although I did have to use my entire body weight to split the glass, I hadn't expected that.

Anyways onto my next question. For those of you who have made fish tanks in the past, can you recommend a brand name of silicon (that is available in the uk or Ireland) that I can use to make the seems on the tank. I am aware that they sell, the silicon in my LFS but its a touch on the pricey side and far away. I'm sure that there is an alternative that I can buy in a local DIY store and not have to make the 2hr round trip.

tanks

 

[SmileyMan]

You need pure maximum strength aquarium grade silicone. (Must have no fungicides in it)

There is some for sale on ebay @ £3.99 plus postage

I can get loads of it from work but you to far to come pick one up.

 

[denis coghlan]

I check ebay this morning, but thank you very much smiley man for you post.


Aquarium Silicone Sealant CLEAR or BLACK in 310ml tube


I bought three tubes (just in case I want to make more) and with delivery it is costing me 25 euro, plus I dont even have to leave my house. Brilliant, god bless the empire that is eBay!

 

[denis coghlan]

Well I started work on the tank this evening. I think that I might be over engineering this puppy "just a little bit"!!!

So far I have only constructed the base.

The base is comprised of four length of 3 x 2's and a single length of 6 x 1. The glass being used in the base is two sheet of 6mm glass (still to be adhered together), the dimensions of the sheets are 85cm x 34cm.

I used a router to create a deep lip along the inside of the 3 x 2 lengths for the two sheets of glass to sit in, while also leaving enough of a lip to support the walls of the tank. The four corners are joined together using simple interlocking joints which will be strengthened by screws. The length of 6 x 1 timber sits in the centre of the square to increase support under the glass.


Some pics to show how the progress is going.

All the glass cut from the (6.5ft x 3ft sheets) to be used in the construction of the tank.

Raw materials used in the base

The semi finished base

Next step will be siliconeing the tank together!!

 

[Neal]

It looks great so far, but if it was me, i'd strengthen the middle of the frame a bit more, but what do I know? I'm only 14. I worked with my dad building some cupboards for his friends tools, and we made very strong frames with three crossbraces, and they worked like a gem. That's just my input for now, but great work you have there!

Neal