Hi everybody!
So I am very new at all this and have never really made large aquariums before. But now I am wanting to build an aquarium that is 42 inches wide, 67 inches long and 10 inches high. I calculated that it will hold about 120 gallons of liquid (I am growing a bacteria, its not for fish). It is really important to me to not have a brace for the nature of the project.
I have seen online a lot of people talking about old aquariums holding 125 gallons and being made of 12mm glass, these old models don't have braces but apparently its fine because the glass is so thick. I figure I can use 12mm thick glass for walls ( so I do not need a brace) and have a plywood bottom (to save money) that would be 1.5 inch thick. That bottom would have a 1.5" by 1.5" frame sitting on top of it, with the glass sides held snuggly within the frame (picture of the frame and base, with the glass sitting inside is shown in the below two images). This method of attaching glass to wood is something I have picked up from the DIY king's youtube video on building a 500 gallon tank. The DIY king uses 10mm glass, but he has 3 inch braces lining the tops of the walls. If I went with this method, do you think I would need 12 mm thick glass to not have braces? Or do you think, considering my tank is significantly less large then his, I could get away with using 10 mm thick glass?
I was going to get the tank built completely out of glass, with the walls being 10mm thick. The designers told me I would need to double up on the bottom pane of glass, but its so expensive. So I was also thinking that instead of building the aquarium myself, I could buy the tank from the designers with only one bottom pane of glass and silicon a 18mm thick piece of plywood to the glass bottom, reinforcing it. The tank is going to sit on the floor, so it will be supported by that as well.
I am just trying to think a lot about cost. Obviously, the cheapest option would be to make my own tank, with the plywood bottom and 10mm thick glass side walls. The next cheapest option would be to buy the pre-made tank and slap a piece of wood to the bottom, the more expensive option i believe would be to make my own aquarium using 12 mm thick glass walls and plywood bottom. The most important thing is that I have no brace.
I AM SO IN NEED OF HELP, and people don't really know what I'm talking about around me. Thank you thank you thank you thank you for giving me the time to read this and I really look forward to hearing from you experts.
So I am very new at all this and have never really made large aquariums before. But now I am wanting to build an aquarium that is 42 inches wide, 67 inches long and 10 inches high. I calculated that it will hold about 120 gallons of liquid (I am growing a bacteria, its not for fish). It is really important to me to not have a brace for the nature of the project.
I have seen online a lot of people talking about old aquariums holding 125 gallons and being made of 12mm glass, these old models don't have braces but apparently its fine because the glass is so thick. I figure I can use 12mm thick glass for walls ( so I do not need a brace) and have a plywood bottom (to save money) that would be 1.5 inch thick. That bottom would have a 1.5" by 1.5" frame sitting on top of it, with the glass sides held snuggly within the frame (picture of the frame and base, with the glass sitting inside is shown in the below two images). This method of attaching glass to wood is something I have picked up from the DIY king's youtube video on building a 500 gallon tank. The DIY king uses 10mm glass, but he has 3 inch braces lining the tops of the walls. If I went with this method, do you think I would need 12 mm thick glass to not have braces? Or do you think, considering my tank is significantly less large then his, I could get away with using 10 mm thick glass?
I was going to get the tank built completely out of glass, with the walls being 10mm thick. The designers told me I would need to double up on the bottom pane of glass, but its so expensive. So I was also thinking that instead of building the aquarium myself, I could buy the tank from the designers with only one bottom pane of glass and silicon a 18mm thick piece of plywood to the glass bottom, reinforcing it. The tank is going to sit on the floor, so it will be supported by that as well.
I am just trying to think a lot about cost. Obviously, the cheapest option would be to make my own tank, with the plywood bottom and 10mm thick glass side walls. The next cheapest option would be to buy the pre-made tank and slap a piece of wood to the bottom, the more expensive option i believe would be to make my own aquarium using 12 mm thick glass walls and plywood bottom. The most important thing is that I have no brace.
I AM SO IN NEED OF HELP, and people don't really know what I'm talking about around me. Thank you thank you thank you thank you for giving me the time to read this and I really look forward to hearing from you experts.
