# DIY Aquarium - Ideas?



## JustinBarley (Jan 13, 2011)

Hey people,
I just want to ask you how can I make my plan come true.
I am trying to make a 10 gallon tank... I have a lot of spare glass sheets and some neutral silicone. So my idea is to cut the glass sheets in the proper size and then glue them together with the silicone. First I`ll try to make an aluminum frame to keep it all together.

Do you have any ideas how it could be done easier? Have any of you made something like that b4? 
Every opinion and idea is welcome. 
Thank you in advance.
Justin

P.S - It's not that I don`t have the money to buy one. It's just the pleasure of doing things with my own hands.


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## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

i think that is a great project. my dad just recently started working on a new tank he is building from the panes from an old 120 gallon tank. he is going to make the face out of glass with the sides and back out of wood. that way he can make three of them from one tank(front pane, back pane, bottom pane) baisicaly he just builds the tank out of wood without the glass, stains the wood and then coveres it in several coats of polyurathane or epoxy. he makes the front so that it essentialy frames the glass, and after everything is good and waterproof, he applies sealant on the inside of the front "frame" and attatches the glass. the end result is an odd but beautiful 180 gallon tank that he can to make two more of from the extra glass laying around. here is a link to a more ambitious design than the ones my dad builds, but its good for giving you some ideas:
Another DIY Plywood Tank Article


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## GraphicGr8s (May 24, 2011)

Just use the silicone to hold it together. Forget the aluminum frame. How would you hold the frame together? Spot weld it? That's more trouble than it's worth.


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## JustinBarley (Jan 13, 2011)

GraphicGr8s said:


> Just use the silicone to hold it together. Forget the aluminum frame. How would you hold the frame together? Spot weld it? That's more trouble than it's worth.


Yep. I am thinking of welding it together
I have the proper tools to do it so it shouldn`t be so expensive.


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## GraphicGr8s (May 24, 2011)

JustinBarley said:


> Yep. I am thinking of welding it together
> I have the proper tools to do it so it shouldn`t be so expensive.


If your going to weld something together use stainless. Like Metaframe did back in the 60s-70s. That would look sharp. Aluminum will oxidize over time unless you keep a lacquer on it and salt will eat it up. But the silicone will hold the glass together. That's what they use for all size tanks professionally.

If you do use a frame fit the back/front/sides in first then the bottom last. All the glass gets siliconed to the frame and the inside corners siliconed also.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

lol, the whole project could be more trouble than it's worth. 10g are very cheap. But, good experience if you wanted to do something like that a little bigger down the road.


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## automatic-hydromatic (Oct 18, 2010)

jrman83 said:


> lol, the whole project could be more trouble than it's worth. 10g are very cheap. But, good experience if you wanted to do something like that a little bigger down the road.


agreed

10 gallons are all over craigslist for < $10

also, think about the bottom glass. it's usually a little thicker (and tempered on larger tanks) since it bares the weight of ALL of the water and everything else you put in the tank


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## JustinBarley (Jan 13, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> lol, the whole project could be more trouble than it's worth. 10g are very cheap. But, good experience if you wanted to do something like that a little bigger down the road.


That's exactly my point... I wanna get some experience in making aquariums myself. That's why I am starting with a small one. That way it will not be a problem to tear it down and star over... Once I learn how to make things perfectly I am planing to go on a higher scale...
Money is not a problem and the tank will be a freshwater one.
So there will be no salt to corrode the aluminium (if there is it is not a problem) because the frame will not be in contact with the water... 
First I`ll place the glass sheets together and glue them with the silicone. After that I`ll make the frame a bit bigger that the tank and will fill the gaps between the frame and the corners of the tank with silicone.


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## GraphicGr8s (May 24, 2011)

JustinBarley said:


> That's exactly my point... I wanna get some experience in making aquariums myself. That's why I am starting with a small one. That way it will not be a problem to tear it down and star over... Once I learn how to make things perfectly I am planing to go on a higher scale...
> Money is not a problem and the tank will be a freshwater one.
> So there will be no salt to corrode the aluminium (if there is it is not a problem) because the frame will not be in contact with the water...
> First I`ll place the glass sheets together and glue them with the silicone. After that I`ll make the frame a bit bigger that the tank and will fill the gaps between the frame and the corners of the tank with silicone.


Since you're stuck on a frame you silicone the glass to the frame first. Then fill in the corners. As in cabinetry, tight joints are imperative.


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## dstones (Jul 5, 2011)

hey, i built my own 30 gallon aquarium and its only held together by the silicone but i do have a wooden frame around it solely for decoration and to cover up some of the silicone around the edges. for a 10 gallon your glass is most likely going to be thick enough, but if you build a larger aquarium make sure to check your glass thickness, there are a lot of websites that can do this for you. oh and have duct tape and another set of hands while building this, the silicone will take a while to cure and the duct tape can hold it together in the meantime.
good luck, hope to see pictures of your home made tank soon!


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