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Is it possible to order the panes of glass the sizes you want from a glass/window dealer and just make your own tank with (lots of) aquarium-safe silicone? I could make the stand easily too...

Cause new tanks around here are way too expensive, probably quadruple the price just cause they put a sticker on it, and used tanks are too much of a hassle to go and pick-up hours away...
So is it cheaper the way I'm thinking?

If you are handy, you can make your own tank. Check out some online sites that have some DIY instructions about building tanks (and stands) like http://www.garf.org click on DIY pages and there's a calculator for tanks stands etc. Good luck and let us know how it works out!

Just a few tips from me experience....

Stress that the glass be exact measurements.

Be sure you get a thick enough glass, which will depend on the size of the tank

Find a nice level area (concrete floor) with lots of space.

And be sure you have all the proper clamps before you begin construction

Do you think it would be easier to use acrylic rather than glass?

i was wondering the same thing, and made a couple of phone calls...came to the conclusion that if its a bigger tank lets say 100+ gallon it is WORTHED to do it yourself, but if its somehting like a 55g or smaller, you might save some small money which doesnt make it worth while.

When u get into large tanks, thats where you save the money. As far as acrylic or not, im not sure about that, i kno Acrylic is somewhat clearer but you can scratch it alot easier than glass. But than again it glues easier and lasts longer....so take that into consideration

and its lighter

Do you think it would be easier to use acrylic rather than glass?

Acrylic panels have to be cut perfect....and I mean perfect. Its also alot harder to put together because you use a "glue" that melts the pieces together. It takes alot of practice, and if you mess up then you are starting all over.

there are some tricks to doing it, but its more of a hands on learning experience. Its hard to explain about pinning and how to apply the glue using capillary action to draw the glue into the joint.

glass is def. alot more forgiving as far as the construction goes.

But than again it glues easier and lasts longer

I take it you have never built acrylic tanks if you think it glues easier

[span class="edited"][Edited by DarkRealm Overlord 2004-07-16 02:28][/span]

I can get a 125-150 gal for about $300-$400 here and would rather go with that than building my own. The risk are too high and the time and aggrivation involved may not be worth it.

Anything over 200 gal would probably make it more worth my while.

Yeah, well my planned project is 96"x24"highx30"wide (299 gallons)... this isn't until my current tanks are completed. I don't find it aggrevating since I'm choosing to do it. The stand will be the funnest part, actually assembling the tank seems to be the hardest part with big huge panes of glass. That's what family's for, to help me make my tank.

Yeah, but the unsuspecting problems that occur. It's never aggrivating when everything goes my way (like it should). But then I here stories on this site about people having to start all over because something wasn't right. Pictures in my head of tanks leaking and my basement flooding. Where to put all the fish I have in the tank while I fix it (how long will it take)?

It would be cheaper to buy a glass tank that size than it would be to purchase the acrylic and the amount of glue that it would take to build it out of acrylic. If you decide to go with acrylic and build your own, I would go with 3/4 inch acrylic since it is your first time working with acrylic......3/4 inch will give you more glue surface and be alot more forgiving......if you were experienced with acrylic then 1/2 inch would be more than enough IF you put a top on it.

Good luck in your project......it sounds like fun, and will def. be a learning experience.

I prefer glass... Since it's easier to build, I'll stick to it...

hmmm on my aquarium sillicon package, it said not to use this to build tanks bigger than 30 gallons... and i always feared that my tank explode in my room, and ruins everything, carpet, my computer, my books, paperworks... just a nightmare for me. and a couple months after i first setup my tank in my room, we had an earthquack, which really made me myself. but luckily nothing happened.