# DIY - 14" cube+lights+base (with pics)



## damianrosario2000 (Nov 3, 2009)

Good Evening! About 2 years ago when I visited my mom, I found 2 29"x15" 4mm glasses that used to be shelves but where removed from the wall and left on the yard because they had some broken corners. Automatically I brought them with me and kept them in the room where everything to be repaired goes.

I completely forgot about them for several months and only remembered them when I cleaned my room (that says a lot of how much I clean, right?). As they were slightly shattered on the corners, I took some measures and decided to cut them to make them even and to take maximum profit of the glass surface. I had them resized in order to make a 14"x14"x14" cube. And purchased 1 more 14"x14" glass to make the other side.

First of all, covered the sides with tape to avoid staining them with silicone and in order to make them more professional.










This is a picture of the whole thing already glued with silicone (my wife helped me with the setup). The blurry places is regular scotch tape (ran out of white tape and was a cold Sunday night ;p ).










I used an old credit card with one of the edges chopped to make the silicone line even on the inside.










After 3 days of waiting the silicone to dry, removed the tape and proceeded with the water testing.

Only 1 small leak, so cleaned everything and placed silicone once more. 0 leaks 










It was going to the placed on some old cabinet so I decided to make a small custom fit base and a closed hood for the lighting stuff. Used some 18mm MDF.

The hood with and without the opening wing



















Sanded all and used a regular wall finisher to make everything professional.










This is the base after 2 coats of brilliant white acrylic paint. I made some holes on the bottom to improve adherence and to let water out in case of an accident. Six coats of acrylic where done, just to make sure. MDF does tend to absorb water, but I never had issues with it when is properly isolated.










No screws or secrets where used for the base, just regular woodworking glue. The hood was first glued and then screwed on the internal sides to increase strength. This is the wing without the electrical circuits.










I didn't want to make things complicated so the whole electrical circuit is made of 2 compact lights and 2 L shaped lamp-holders. I used a 2mm cable and a regular switch.4 pieces of pine wood were used as holders, they hold the hood over the glass.










Aquarium, hood and base finished



















Switch was placed on top for 2 reasons, 1) it was easier to manage, 2) safety. The aquarium was destined to my nephew, about 7 years old and I didn't want him to spill water on top or mess with the electrical cords. 0,6" L-shaped Aluminum profiles were used to avoid glass tensioning to much, possible future leaks (were glued with silicone on both internal sides) and because they looked awesome.

Note: as the aquarium is relatively small, no crossed glass or reinforcements were needed. This only works for small tanks. That's why I used a thicker glass than necessary and the aluminum profiles.

Anyhow, the tank is all set up and has its first inhabitants, some guppies. I also has an Atman F301 internal filter with a flute that is completely mature. Hoping to convince my cousin to make this aquarium a planted tank soon. No pictures of it setted up, sorry.

It was my first experience building a tank and had lots of fun. I really recommend you to go for it if you dare.

Tip1: have the glass cut by a professional and have them polish and straighten the edges so it goes 90 degrees and does not cut.

Tip2: if glass is stained by silicone, you'll spend a few hours scrubbing it unless you use a silicone removing chemical (which I would not recommend since it's toxic), try not to put your fingers on the glass. I wish someone would have told me that before


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