DIY Glass Tank

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J

john73738

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Nov 8, 2009
1,292
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68
Las Vegas, NV
If I were to decide to change my Ply tank to glass (wife's idea) I see on GARF that you should never have the bottom plate directly on the stand. Is this true?

Cause I am looking at 300 ish would the silicone support the weight?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Bear
 
I have never seen anyone build a glass tank but all of the manufactured tanks you see have the plastic frame on the bottom that does not allow the glass to set directly on the stand. Also, whenever glass is shipped it is shipped on end so it doesnt break. I would think evena single pressure point on a piece of glass would spell disaster.
 
Never Built an all glass tank that big, but the 90G DIY I did had the bottom panel floating between the vertical pieces. During assembly I put down a ton of dvd/xbox game cases on the floor, then set the bottom pane on top of them. Ran a bead of silicone all along the edges of the pane and then started adding my vertical pieces one by one. Once all panels were in place I did my interior seams w/silicone(obviously you need to work fast, a helper or two is definately best). Once dry the silicone did hold the bottom pane as well as the weight of all the water. Even if you do build w/the bottom panel not floating, you can always add insurance, such as using a sheet of styrofoam to keep the bottom pane from being directly on bare wood, or even adding corner wood trim to the entire bottom.
 
john73738;3796774; said:
If I were to decide to change my Ply tank to glass (wife's idea) I see on GARF that you should never have the bottom plate directly on the stand. Is this true?

Cause I am looking at 300 ish would the silicone support the weight?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Bear
Click to expand...

There are different considerations to be taken into account when doing a frameless glass tank. Debris under the tank is one of them. A thin piece of foam underneath the tank would prevent anything from protruding into the bottom of the tank.

silicone will be fine to hold it together.
 
are you seuggesting to put a thin layer of silicone under the tank? That's not going to work. I use the foam mats that are used in camping. You can use styrofoam or most insulation foam boards
 
apisto;3799382; said:
are you seuggesting to put a thin layer of silicone under the tank?
Click to expand...
Asking me?
 
Thanks for the replys. Got Plywood for the build sunday. 7 ply cab grade for $23 a sheet. So ply it is.

Thanks again for the replies. See my sig line for the ply build.

Bear
 
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