Raised Garden Bed Out Of Old Aquariums?

[DreamertK]

 
I was thinking about punching out the bottom portion of the aquarium glass to allow water to drain and then fill it with dirt and plant things in it. I want to use a 4 foot (122cm) long tank, though the height is still a problem since most of those tanks are less than 2 feet tall (60cm). To make it less horrible on my knees, I was thinking about stacking two tanks ontop of each other to increase the height. But I would probably need to design some sort of shelf so that the bottom tank doesn't break under the weight of the top tank? Though if I just filled the tanks with compost/dirt, it probably wouldn't be that heavy, but perhaps that is still too heavy to go without extra support to the bottom tank. I'd at least have to build a frame so that they stay in place. I kind of have faith that the glass wont spontaneously crack, I mean filling them with water is way more stressful to the glass than dirt. They say that glass doesn't loose it's stability over time. As far as the elements are concerned, it is constantly 70F/24C throughout the year (40-80F/8-28C) since I'm a mile away from the beach.
 
Any immediate concerns come to mind with this project? Do-able? Impossible?
 
I've surprisingly never heard of this being done.

 

[sawickib]

Ummm, what i would do is get a glass cutter and put holes in the bottom of the tank, then make a custom stand maybe with a plastic slide type thing for the water to slide out the back of the tank. 
 
So just to clear this up the stand will have a diagonal plastic "slide" going out the back so water can slip out without maybe ruining the stand with water, you could also make the water go into a trap or something and hook a tube up to it so you can control where the excess water goes. Then you can have doors in the front and store stuff in the bottom still. Hope this makes since dont know how you would accomplish it but thats my idea

 

[BubblesLotsOfBubbles]

Winter frosts may be the killer. Expanding into the glass till it fractures.

 

[betta fish]

Nooooo! tanks are for fish 

there is no chance of me ever having a spare tank to do this with! and I am a keen gardener 

it's an interesting idea but i'd just build something out of wood or get some plastic boxes they are safer and you won't feel they are wasted 

 

[FriedFlowerHornFillet]

Indoors you can grow herbs in them or cactus you don't have to drill holes just put rocks and gravel at the bottom, layer your soils and don't over water Out doors glass is really not a good idea. Yeah as long as the wood isn't treated I'd go with that I saw a really awesome cantaloupe patch with old wooden ladders used as  borders and trellis.