Build Your Own Aquarium within an hour and without any fuss. Here's everything you need to know about it.
How to Build Your Own Aquarium
The Facts:
There are certain facts that you need to know before you can proceed to build your own aquarium.- The size of the tank determines the thickness of the glass. A 1/4 inch thick plate glass can hold up to 30 gallons of water. Do not go for more than 30 gallons with a 1/4 inch glass tank.
- Some fish need more depth, while some prefer greater length. So decide upon the proportions based on this fact.
- Never use tempered glass because any damage on tempered glass will cause it to burst to small fragments instead getting cracked like plate glass.
- Silicon comes in many types and you should use non toxic, aquarium safe 100% silicon.
- 12 x 12 x 14 inches tank holds about 15 gallons of water safely.
Supplies:
- Sheets of 1/4 inch glass precut for the required dimensions.
- 100% silicon non toxic aquarium safe sealant
- Sealing tape
- Towels to clean yourself up.
- Sheets of newspaper.
- Supports like small boxes.
- Paper towels.
- Silicon carbide paper
What to Do:
- Lay the sheets of newspaper on the work table evenly.
- Burnish the edges of the glass sheet to blunt them.
- Lay the bottom sheet on the newspaper.
- Now take the back sheet and stand it beside the bottom sheet such that the inner surface of the back sheet is just touching the edge of the bottom sheet.
- Tilt the back sheet slightly so that there is a now a 'v' shaped gap between the bottom sheet edge and the inner surface of the back sheep.
- Apply a thin bed of silicon sealant in the 'v' gap and slowly straighten the back sheet and let its inner surface seal with the edge of the bottom sheet.
- Now attach a side sheet in similar fashion but this time apply silicon to the edges of the back and side panels too, where they touch each other and thus sealing them together.
- Seal the second side similarly.
- Finally seal the front sheet in the similar way, this time the silicon is applied to three places of the front sheet to seal the bottom and the two sides as well.
- Now add as sheet of six inch wide glass on the top extending from side to side. This gives more strength to your aquarium.
- Stick tapes two strips on the edges extending from one sheet to the other.
- Clean up and let the tank cure for at least 24 hours. Do not move the tank during the curing period.
- After curing, pour fresh water into the tank and test for leakages by allowing the water to remain in the tank for another 24 hours.
- If there are any leakages use more silicon to seal them.
