building a glass tank

Joel A

Started over.
so i thought i was completely game for this.. most everyone i know that's done it says that it seems tough at first, but it's really a lot easier than most people think..

I thought it would save me a good deal of money, and wouldn't be to hard for me and a couple other guys to figure out.. but now after opening a thread on RC i'm a bit discouraged.

I thought that i could build my 48x24x20 rimless tank out of all 1/2" glass, use black silicone, clamps, tape, and a couple of right angle squares and be all set... but after starting a thread there, some people have gotten me worried.

People are saying i should at the very least do 3/4" glass on the bottom, and 5/8" glass on the vertical panes would be better. Why is this? I understand that it's rimless so it's better to go with thicker glass to be safe.. but 5/8" and 3/4" glass? That SKYROCKETS the price of glass compared to 1/2".

Is this really necessary? I've been quoted by a few different tank manufacturers, and they've all said that they would use all 1/2 glass... so why would i do anything differently?

I thought about maybe euro bracing, as i'm fine with that too... but euro bracing would probably add to the cost as well as the difficulty of building the tank.


I got a good quote on 1/2" from a local glass shop, and i was really excited.. but now i'm starting to get a bit worried. Is it really as easy as people say it is?
 
I have never built a tank, but I have built everything from end tables to a house. I would think that if you planned it out correctly, and used the correct materials it wouldnt be that difficult. I am looking forward to the day that I have the $$$$$$ to build my own. You have to remember what might be difficult for one person, is a piece of cake for others.

When I was installing my sump, I was afraid it wasnt going to work, and I waited about 3mo to do it. I built it in about an hour. Then I was affraid to put it under my stand with my tank full of water on top, because everyone warned me about the danger. I used a little common sense, and some yankee ingenuity, and it took no more than 10min.

Drilling the tank, I measured, and measured. Then bought some acrylic to drill some "practice" holes. Well I kept cracking the practice pieces. They must have been a different type of material than the tank, because the hole saw went right thru the tank. Well I was pissed, because I wasted about 3mos, and countless emails and PMs to jimmy7090, for nothing. It was all fear.

I am sorry I am long winded, but I have found in life, and reefing fear will hold you back. If you dont think you can do it with the help of other who have soem experience in building tanks, then dont do it. If you think you can do it, by all means go for it, and learn from it.

Another thing I have learned in life is, there is alot of satisfaction in building something with your own two hands. There is also alot to be said to have a nice new tank delivered to your front door, and not have to worry at night.

My vote is BUILD THE TANK!
 
I cant offer much help here Joel, but 1/2" glass would be thick enough IMO. I have no experience building though. My 48" 90 is only 1/2" I believe. If tank manufacturers use it then it should be ok. I would agree to go thicker on the bottom though. Better safe then sorry.
 
Joel I think 1/2 glass is fine if you at least do a 4 in wide center brace with 1/2 glass.
If the stand is well built and there is insulation board under the tank, you will be fine.

Good luck, sounds like it might be a cool build.
 
Joel I think 1/2 glass is fine if you at least do a 4 in wide center brace with 1/2 glass.
If the stand is well built and there is insulation board under the tank, you will be fine.

Good luck, sounds like it might be a cool build.

you see... here's where i'm confused... people are saying that 1/2" thick would be ok if i used a center brace, but i was quoted by different tank manufactures for a RIMLESS (meaning no center brace or tank trim at all) with all 1/2" glass..

Maybe it just makes more sense to do a glass center brace? I was just kinda hoping i wouldn't need one.
 
i think you will be ok i personally would put a euro brace on it even if it is only 2" wide. as far as adding to the difficulty of the build just build the tank how you would rimless then put the strips on top after. pm me when you plan on putting it together i have 2 suction cups :)
 
You should be fine with 1/2 in with no eurobrace.. if you bought the tank it would come with 1/2 in and if you take your time and do research you'd probably do just as good if not better than some manufacturers.
 
yeah, i did a bit more research on it.. i guess i was just confused.. people were just trying to tell me to be really careful about it.

I guess you can construct it out of all 1/2", but AO, and AGE would use 3/4" on the bottom for added safety, so i might do that...

I'm still thinking about euro bracing, but i think eurobraced glass has to be tempered?
 
That sounds like a great idea to use 3/4 for the bottom.

I would just go with the center brace or if your more of a gamblin man, no center brace.

Don't waste your money on the extra pieces for the euro bracing. By the time you have them cut and the edges ground, the price could get up there.
 
IMO, Euro bracing, a center brace will attenuate some light (regardless of glass quality) and cause shading that will drive you nuts. Not to mention eruo bracing looks so much better.
 
have you ever had a rimless?? have you ever cleaned a rimless??? i thought about it and just that thought of having to be careful when you clean so to not splash turned me away..............something to think about
 
have you ever had a rimless?? have you ever cleaned a rimless??? i thought about it and just that thought of having to be careful when you clean so to not splash turned me away..............something to think about

yeah, i know what you're saying... and i definitely wouldn't have any problems with eurobracing it either... i guess i'll have to look into how much extra eurobracing will cost.
 
I don't think I have ever seen a rimless tank. I know the standard plastic rim tanks and euro bracing but I always thought you needed to use something to keep the glass from bowing out. Is rimless only an option on smaller size tanks?

Very interesting thread and great info here.

Is it cheaper to build your own tank than buy a pre-made one?

I am a huge fan of DIY and have done pretty much everything except a DIY tank as I thought it was to pricey to get all the glass custom cut.
 
Rimless can be done on most tank sizes, but probably not the very big ones. Rimless tanks are more apt to fail than the other method of tank building that you mentioned though, that's why you need thicker glass and need to make sure you build it correctly.

As far as is it cheaper to build a glass tank... well yes and no. It depends on how custom you want it... if all you want is a standard 55 gallon tank, or something similar, then it's probably cheaper to buy a premade one... but in my case, the tank i wanted is pretty custom... it's not regular dimensions, it uses starfire glass, it's rimless, needs to have black silicone, needs to have polished edges, needs to be reef ready. So when the custom tank manufacturers quoted me for the tank i wanted i got a wide variety of quotes, but none came in any cheaper than $1000 or so.

So i'm building it on my own... the glass should cost me about 500 dollars... but i also have a connection there.. the glass for this project for your everyday person looking to buy it would likely be considerably more.. probably a few hundred more dollars. I also have all the equipment needed to make the tank already, so i don't need to spend money on more clamps and similar things.

So from a money standpoint, it makes sense for me, mainly because i wanted the quality of a tank that would cost 1000+ dollars, but i didn't want to pay that much. Hopefully i'm not in over my head though, and hopefully i can actually pull it off and make it look good.
 
Sounds like a good reason to give it a try yourself.

I really like the starfire glass, my next tank will use it for sure.

Have you seen Dave and Gina's custom built monster tank thread here?
 
Back from the dead..

So I'm dragging this one back up a few months later... I'm really wanting to get going on this.. any reason why i shouldn't? I'd love it if some of the experts who have built there own tanks (Dave, Steve (not that he's ever around ;) ) , I think Liam built his own? ) Anyone really, just looking for people with more experience than myself/average hobbyists. Of course anyone can give me input, but looking for some experienced help here.


I uploaded a file with the old glass measurements plan.. My thoughts were 1/2" glass for all of the vertical panels, and then a 3/4" panel for the bottom. The tank would have no bracing, would be simply silicone and glass ;).

Let me know what you think
 

Attachments

  • glass measurements.jpg
    glass measurements.jpg
    6.3 KB · Views: 319
Upcoming Events

April 21, 2024
Paul B
Club Meeting

Back
Top