Making own aquariums

[rubinsteinnyc]

Hey there
This is my very first post. Been searching this forum for anyone who has been making their own fish tanks for their fishrooms but couldn't find anything. Majority of aquariums are one with plastic rims around and that just bothers my eye I have recently found a glass wholeseller where a piece 1x1ft of .25inch glass costs 2.55, pretty good. I will be attempting to make breeder aquariums 24x18x18. Also, in a near future I will be attempting to make a 250gallon all glass tank with a 3/4inch starphire tempered glass. Does anyone here have any experience in making fish tanks? I could go ahead and buy a fish tank at a LFS but I think a majestical fish like the Discus should be in an estetical tank plus I kinda like doing things myself and putting up a few all glas fish tanks sound like an awesome summer project.
Any input and comments are more than welcome.

[Inland Empire Discus]

In my opinion most of the time it is cheaper and less of a risk to buy the tanks.

[ericatdallas]

24x18x18? You want to make a 33G tank? The seller is selling glass at $2.55 sqft and that's regardless of size? So that's about $34.43 for the glass in the tank. Let's not forget the frame, silicon, time, and effort (maybe add another $5+ whatever you feel your time is worth?).

So $40 for a 33G tank. Is it that specific size you're after or just the practice? I think at that price for a 33G, you can get much better deals on Craigslist and Petco when they have their $1/gallon sale once a year.

Also, are you planning on have a sump on your 250G? Keep in mind you can't drill tempered glass... I'm not sure if you can get it manufactured that way though.

[Darrell Ward]

How do you plan on working with tempered glass? As stated above, you can't drill it, as far as I know you can't cut it either without shattering it in a million pieces. If you don't like tanks with rims, you can get a custom aquarium maker like Glasscages to build you a few tanks probably cheaper than you could do it yourself. When I had a bunch of breeding pairs, I bought 10 matching tanks from Glasscages much cheaper than I could have got them elsewhere, except for perhaps used. Oh well, good luck. It would be interesting to follow your progress at any rate.

[roundfishross]

I have a friend in south Ga who had an angel fish farm and he use to be a distributor for hans. this guy made about 90% of his tanks in his fish house. he told me it was really easy but you have to make a jig to hold everything together while the silicone dries. he told me they would get most of the glass practically free from old store fronts then have a glass company cut it all up to size. the best part about it you can design the tanks to fit your available space and not have to design the room around the shape of commercially available shapes and sizes.

as far as cutting or drilling tempered glass, it has to be done before the glass gets tempered. at least thats what the glass company told me.....Leo

[rubinsteinnyc]

i'd get the glass cut to size and drilled and then TEMPERED. IDK about glasscages... I have read many unpleasant reviews about them.

[rubinsteinnyc]

glasscages sells their rimless approx 20-33 gallon tanks for $130-140, get that drilled... nowhere close to what I could make it myself. However, now that I think about it, having that ugly plastic rim would allow me to place a glass cover with plastic hinges. I called Petco and they said the $1=gallon sale will be within 30 days... however, is 12inches of width enough for a discus? I saw DiscusHans' setup and that's what he has(or it seems like it) I feel like an 18x18x18 would be more comfy for a pair of Discus. Please contribute as I am looking for an opinion of experienced hobbyists.
Thanks

[Darrell Ward]

i'd get the glass cut to size and drilled and then TEMPERED. IDK about glasscages... I have read many unpleasant reviews about them.

LOL! I've always been happy with their tanks. I've bought 16 or 17 of them over the years. I know Hans has way over 100 of them in his fish house.

[Darrell Ward]

I always prefer 18 to 24" or more width for adult discus. 12" is OK for youngsters, but adults benefit from the extra room.

[ericatdallas]

LOL! I've always been happy with their tanks. I've bought 16 or 17 of them over the years. I know Hans has way over 100 of them in his fish house.

I've seen a lot of bad reviews about them online...

[rubinsteinnyc]

I always prefer 18 to 24" or more width for adult discus. 12" is OK for youngsters, but adults benefit from the extra room.

so would you agree that an 18x18x18 would be a better choice than 24x12x17 for BREEDERS with the fry until it is the time to transfer the fry. How big were the tanks that you have purchased from GC?

[dean9922]

I have made my own tanks, (2 of them a 76 and 100 gallon) out of plywood with just a glass front. They have been running over a year and a half with no problems. Is it cheaper to buy glass ones, ....yes.....especially in the states with the prices I've seen.
But for me it was cheaper to build my own.....I got all the info you need at

www.garf.org

scroll down to the navigation page and look for the DIY section.

Dean

[Darrell Ward]

so would you agree that an 18x18x18 would be a better choice than 24x12x17 for BREEDERS with the fry until it is the time to transfer the fry. How big were the tanks that you have purchased from GC?

I prefer wider tanks. However, either one would work fine. The tanks in question I used were 36"x18"x17". This allowed me to place a foam divider in the tank in order to keep 2 spawning pair in each tank. When it was time to remove the parents from the fry, I simply transferred the parents to another tank, removed the divider, and let all the fry in the tank use the entire tank until they were large enough to cull out, and transfer to larger tanks. This allowed the fry to grow without being disturbed, or risk injury being moved while they were still tiny.

[JamesLibTech]

My very handy DIY neighbor made a few smaller acrylic tanks while back, they last until he gave up on fish. If given the proper adhesive, materials and jig to hold it all together I would imagine it would be a cool project to have made your own tank. Just try not to spend more on materials and tools to get the job done, then it would be just to get the tank made. Good luck!!

[ockyra215]

I would watch using tempered glass on a 250 gallon tank its going to flex more them regular glass and it would be almost impossible to drill it.I have seen big tanks built by diy guys and they only use glass for the front and marine grade plywood for the rest. I think it be cheaper to scan thru craigslist for used tanks.
JMO