What Kind?

[nate9]

i think i am going to venture out and make my own tank after reserching it for a while. i was wondering wether you guys think glass or acrylic is better and where do you get it. also do i need the corner clips or can i just use tap or something like i have seen in some threads. Where do you buy the corner clamps and how do you decide what size you need.

thanks, nate

 

[BigIan]

i`d go wth glass at least 6mm or 10 for a larger tank....
As acriclic will bend and will expand/contract more with heat changes and you run a higher risk of leaks.

Glass is redily avaliable from various sources look in the yellow pages for your local suppliers

you don`t need the corner clamps. you can make do with 8 G or F clamps and some metal strips made to a 90 degree angle, simply "glue" the edges get a friend to fold the metal angle in place while you tighten the clamps...

and as for what size you need how many fish do you want? what sort of fish... ect ect ect

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, I dont know what materials cost in Cleveland, but here in Buffalo its almoast prohibitively costly. Also, when researching, please make SURE you get tempered glass, not window glass. Window glass WILL fail against the weight of water in a fish tank while tempered will not. In either acryllic or glass tanks up to 50g you can use 1/4", and above that, you'll need 5/16" or 3/8" thickness stuff. Properly braced acryllic wont bow all that much and is actually a little more forgiving to setup than glass. Either material requires a lot of practice with silicone (for glass) or IPS Weld-On (for acryllic) adhesives to be good enough to get a watertight seal.

Just a note on cost as I'm not sure how much that affects your decision. I can buy a 30g tank for $30 but to purchase the tempered glass for the same volume aquarium cut to slightly different dimensions (I wanted only 10" wide instead of the standard 12") locally was $72 and the 1/4" acryllic cost for that same tank was over $100. Like I said, prices may be different in your area, but thats what I found here in Buffalo. You can usually get the acryllic at a Home Depot or Lowes (each store is a little different and some dont carry 1/4") and for tempered glass you usually have to call a glass cutting place or a car window repair place. I just looked under the yellow pages in glass cutting.

Good luck

 

[nate9]

i was actually told that tempered glass is the worst you can get because it is designed to mreak into tiny peaces upon even a little impact. i was told that car window glass is good. also i am biulding the tank because it will be a rather large tank(i.e. over 300g) because to buy a tank that big can cost in the several thousands so......

 

[SkiFletch]

Ah, then yeah, its prolly worth it

Dunno who told you that about tempered glass, but car window glass IS tempered glass... Its just double paned and adhered to a piece of plastic in the center to prevent it from shattering and splintering everywhere. Note, when a car window is struck by an object with enough impulse it spider cracks... Thats a textbook sign of tempered glass. Tempering glass makes it something like 100 times stronger than regular window glass. It does tend to shatter when under a tremendous point-impulse impact, but unless you're planning on playing baseball around your fishtank, you'll be fine

 

[Native American]

i was actually told that tempered glass is the worst you can get because it is designed to mreak into tiny peaces upon even a little impact. i was told that car window glass is good. also i am biulding the tank because it will be a rather large tank(i.e. over 300g) because to buy a tank that big can cost in the several thousands so......

Most big tanks manufactured these days have at the very least a tempered glass plate for the bottom. In fact, I can't think of anybody making a large tank that doesn't do it this way.

If you build your own, but want holes for bulkhead fittings, you'll have to buy standard plate, have it drilled then tempered afterwards; not the other way around. At my former stomping grounds in the Los Angeles area there were manufacturers who would do this, but it was terribly expensive on a piecework basis since they dealt in such high volumes of product.

v/r, N-A

 

[nate9]

Would it be easier to use acrylic and is it cheaper?

 

[SkiFletch]

hummm, good question... I'm not experienced enough with what thicknesses of glass and acrylic are required for a tank of 300+ gallons. Have you thought at all about dimensions for your walls? If you're making the tank of that size, acrylic will probably be easier to actually work with and assemble the final product, but I dont know about price