# Build your own aquarium



## damianrosario2000 (Nov 3, 2009)

First of all let me tell that this is a threat I got from another spanish website and I "dared" (I say dare because I'm good enough but not professional at this) to translate it to english. So all the credit is for the one who posted the article (Hector Antolin). With that said, I'm posting the article. Any doubts or questions let me know and I will try to explain again or re-write the instructions. Damian
PD: I did my own and was cool!
PD2: To see pictures click here because this forum does not allow me to upload pictures from the pc.


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## damianrosario2000 (Nov 3, 2009)

Build your own Aquarium
By Héctor Antolín


First Steps:
First is to choose the shop where we'll order the customized cut glasses. Is very important to be a serious and competent business and that they understand what are the glasses going be to for. Is imperative that the measure is right (no more than a few millimeters), glasses must have the corners un-shattered and not broken, no stripes or bubbles on the crystal. 

When glass is cut, we must asked for "squared" cut. Meaning that the crystal is going to be cut longer that the size and then will get the exact measure by using a square instead of the regular ruler (usually it lacks precision).
Edges:
When crystals are ordered we must ask the edges slightly polished, that means is no longer sharp, it does not have to be angled. This way we don't loose adherent surface. The polishing improves the mechanical resistance of the glass and takes care of any of the possible tears that might have been produced during the cut, therefore increases safety and minimizes breaking risk.
When thickness is less than 9mm there will be no problems with rectifying the edges but if it is higher then we need to ask the "squareness" of the edge and need to request 90º sharp.

The glass from the picture is 12mm, so the thicker the glass, the bigger the angle. To correct this we must rectify the cut. In order not to be than expensive and using aluminum frames we might ask it for union edges only

Naturally we request the cutting edge to be polished (usually using a stone over them) but if we are not sure or the cut is being done by us then we might use a small table and some 320 sand paper. Will be more effective if we use water with it.
We must have the precaution of having the crystals completely transparent (no dyes on it or even slightly colored) 
Common glass types:
1.- Float:
The most common and cheap. Most used.
You can get this glass by the "floating process". This process allows to have a high quality glass, meaning, no defects or abnormalities as other glasses. Breaking type: big long pointy splinters, very dangerous and sharp.
2.- Tempered Glass:
It is float glass that after the cutting process gets tempered by heating it, compressing it and cooling it down. Due to the tempering process is common to get abnormalities on this kind of glass that might create optical illusions. Once tempered, it cannot be cut. Has a resistance of 4 times higher to compression and 2 times to penetration. Recommended for aquariums bigger than 200 L and 50 cm height.
Breaking Type: hundreds of small tiny pieces, the same as a car window.
4.- Laminated Glass:
Composed by two or more glasses bond together by a polyvinyl plastic layer. According to the number of layers, glass thickness and type the level of pressure this glass can achieves will vary. In our case will go for the most common and cheap, consisting in 2 glasses glued together by a 0.038 cm thick polyvinyl layer- Called Security glass. Recommended for aquariums bigger than 400 L and 50 cm height. Is commonly used to prevent accidents. Used on windshields.
Note: we must apply a thin layer or epoxy paint or varnish on the edges, before the assembling to prevent humidity gets inside the internal layers, causing bubbles or moss.
Breaking type: depending on the glass used, the difference is that the splints will stay glued to the polyvinyl layer. Also this layer will provide us some extra time to move the "inhabitants" to another tank.
Calculating the thickness and measure of crystals:
Let's say for example that we want to build a 100 cm long X 40 cm width X 50 cm height.
First we need to calculate the pressure the column of water will apply to the bottom, the taller the height more pressure will get the bottom.
Pressure: Specific weight X height (m2)
Specific weight of water at 28 ºC is 9671.7 Kg/m3
Therefore, 
Pressure: 9671.7 Kg/m3 X 0.50 m: 4835, 85 Pascal
Second: calculating the area of the big glasses (back and front)
Area: Length X Height
1 mt X 0, 5= 0, 5 m2
Now, thickness
Area (m2) X Pressure (Pa)/72 and then do a square root
0,5 m2 X 4835,85= 2417,92 / 72= 33,58 = 5,79 mm
The formula is for tempered glass with support on the four edges. Keep in mind that for aquariums bigger than 150L and 50cm Height you need to do a full support structure (lower, upper and sides) of aluminum of another material.
The formula already has a security factor included; besides as amazing it looks water also attacks glass, dissolving part of its components so you are preventing a long term stress for the material.
Final thickness is
Float glass apply a factor of 1, 3
5, 79 X 1, 3 = 7, 5
Meaning, we are looking for commercial glass of at least 7 mm thick (always go for the next available size if unavailable). DO NOT go to the previous size unless difference is less than 0, 5 mm.
For laminated glass the factor is 1, 4
5, 79 X 1, 4 = 8X1
Meaning that we are going to look for a 53X1 glass. The first two digits (or more depending on the number of layers) are for the thickness of the glasses used, the last number is the number of layers (each 0,38mm). In the example a 53X1 glass, has a 5 mm and a 3 mm glass bonded by 1 layer of polyvinyl.
If you are wondering why the factor is that high for security glasses like this one, keep in mind that are 2 glasses of 5 and 3. These are made to support impacts more than constant pressure, so it might break the internal layer or best case scenario starts forming anti-aesthetic bubbles.
Regularly layers are not the same thick so is convenient to choose those who have one that is at least twice the size of the other. That way we'll have a thicker glass. Is important that the thicker glass is inside.
You can find laminated glass of several layers, highly recommendable for tanks with more than 1000L. And on demand you might get laminated tempered glass, awesome for aquariums bigger than 1500L with wide front glasses. In this case security factor is 1,1.

The why of the factors:
It’s very common to have a friend whose aquarium is gigantic and the glass is only a few mm! How can be possible?
Explanation is very simple. Glass is very resistant to compression and might support big loads of pressure but is highly sensible to traction, meaning that a single vibration might break it.
Apart from that, during the making process, glass might have some micro-cracks that could be the beginning of a big crack, by acting as spots were the mechanical tensions will accumulate.
If we have an aquarium with a low safety factor and you add the constant pressure of water and the material stress, a simple door slam or loud sound from the stereo might destroy all our efforts, without mentioning the natural risks if you live in an area with often earthquakes. Therefore is very important not to take unnecesary risks to save some money. 
Always check if there are no cracks on the glass, bubbles or teared edges. If when the filling of the tank we observe a pronounced curve on the big glasses (front or back) is necessary to disassemble the glasses and change it for a thicker one. Better now than sorry.
Design:
An aquarium can be designed in many ways. The one we are about to describe is the easiest design you can build at home.
In order to calculate the measures we must draw a sketch on a piece of paper. The short side crystals go inside and the long ones out. Everything is resting on the base crystal. That's why we need to take into account the measure of the thickness as well. Ex: 100X40X50, meaning 2 glasses of 100X50 (front and back), 1 of 100X40 (base) and 2 of 38.6 (if thickness is 7mm) X50. We need to add the thickness of the 2 glasses (front and back) + the length of the side glass (goes inside) = 40.
Assembling:
First is important to dispose a regular levelled surface where to put the glasses. Over it we will put a "carton" to avoid damaging them (DO NOT use compressible surfaces like carpets).
After that we are adding to the frontal glasses a piece of aluminium or other material that can help us get the right angle with a double layered tape to stick them during the assembling process (see picture):



We are going to dispose the glasses as shown:

Bottom glass in the middle, over it the side glasses (is a good tip to put something to help lifting them later) and around it the front and back glasses.
We will start lifting the front and one of the side glasses. Glue the angle (on the outside), then to the back glass and then glue the back glass to the last side glass. At this point the aquarium is able to stand by itself, but don't be too confident on that.

Note: This is not the definitive angle so don’t glue it too firmly.
We must have some element to bind the aquarium once is glued; in this case I used a plastic tube. We will give it a few wraps and make sure is tight.
How to glue the crystals:
To glue them we can use black or white silicon in cartridges, and request to be specific for crystal and with the best tension resistance you can get. Watch out of buying sealing silicone or something similar. Must be silicone for glass or crystals. Will be applied with the specific pistol.
Don't forget that it MUST NOT contain any fungicide (very common in regular silicone). If is black we'll avoid the growth of algae between them and the glass.

The technique to follow when applying glue is very simple. It has to be a continual line (that's why you have to use a pistol) and must not have any areas not bonded because it will create a breach where water can go out.

When it comes to gluing the glasses, there must be a small breach between them (1mm or less) so the whole thing has more elasticity, because if they touch, might produce leaks or breaches.
Before applying silicone, we have to make sure everything is "squared" and properly set over the base glass.


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## damianrosario2000 (Nov 3, 2009)

The line will be from 6 to 20mm depending the thickness of the glasses (a good tip is to have a cutter or knife to scratch the excess).
We will start for the frontal glass, and then move to the back glass and the bottom glass. We have to apply a generous amount and put extra silicone on the corners.
Once assembled you have to do an internal line for all the angles being extremely careful of not to stain it, and applying little silicone. After that you have to stretch this inner line with the tip of an ice cream stick or a pincer so it stays flat. The surplus can be cleaned with enough alcohol and a knife/cutter.
In order the silicone line has a more professional look, meaning, straight and uniform, you can put tape to the sides at of the edges as wide as we want the line to be.
Then we put the silicone line over it and use a stick to make it flat and make sure is straight on the edges as well. After that you can safely remove the tape we added before.
It's more work but it looks marvelously neat.

It has to be left for drying for over a week and then fill it with water very slowly, checking if crystal can hold the pressure.
Calculating glass weight:
We'll use as example the 100 X 40 X 50 and 7mm thick tank as before.
To know the weight of glass we must multiply the specific density of the glass by the volume (area X thickness)
Specific density of glass is 2,5 gr/cm3.
Area: Length X Height
1X0.5= 0.5m2
Now 
0.5m2 X 2,5 X 7= 8,75 Kg
As they are 2, then is 17,5 Kg
Let's do the side glasses now
0,4 X 0,5 = 0,2 m2
2,5 X 0,2 X 7 = 3,5 Kg
Again they are 2 glasses so 7 Kg
Last the bottom glass
1X0, 4 = 0, 4 m2
2, 5X0, 4X7 = 7 Kg
So the total amount is 17, 5 + 7 + 7 = 31, 5 Kg
This is important to decide the kind of table or support you are going to pick for the aquarium.
Aluminium frames:
The frame is very important and besides it will give the tank a professional look. The aluminum I used is 1, 5 mm thick and is appropriate for aquariums up to 500L. Its advantage is that you might get it in different colors (gold, white, black, coffee and natural). I will use an L shaped aluminum for the base:

And if we wish we can use a T shaped for the top.

The measure will be calculated multiplying the thickness of the glasses by 3. That means we will get a 27mm for a 9 mm glass. Commercially will be a 25mm.
We'll start making the bottom structure, for this the frame junction must be on the back half and never on a corner. Best thing is to take the measure over the tank:

We’ll cut at 45º making a V shape and bend:




Note: It’s important to cut by the exterior of our mark (red)

In order to place it on its spot we'll add a generous amount of silicone and hold tight. We'll let the weight of the tank do the rest:

For aquariums of bigger sizes, is recommendable to put a lever on the bottom frame, so once is glued we can lift it and let it settle for drying.

For the upper part we are using a similar procedure, but is recommendable to clinch the edges. For this we are cutting a little bit more and leave the edge exceeding the other. We glue it and then we clinch it. 


The corners are cut on the exact measure. Placed with a generous amount of silicone and then holding them.

Crossing frames:
Are important to prevent curving of the front glasses. Needed in aquariums bigger than 1m.
1.5mts, 1 crossed frame.
2mts, 2 crossed frames.
2.5mts, 3 crossed frames.
3mts, 4 crossed frames.
If we want to avoid the crossing frames on the surface of the aquarium, they can be placed on the sides perimetrally. The crossing frames are also made of glass and they are glued like the others, following the drawing:

Reinforced aquariums:
For aquariums wider than 50cm and more than 500L, it is recommendable to reinforce the corners as well.

Can be made of aluminum and all we need to do is clinch them, or glass and we'll put enough silicone there. It's recommendable to polish the edges (to avoid accidental cuts). We can even use acrylic that can be clinched but we must be careful, because is easily scratched and with enough calcium deposits it will become opaque.
For aquariums larger than 500L is appropriate to reinforce the aluminum frame with welding, although not a MUST it DOES increase the security level.
For larger aquariums we are using a 1/8" (3,1mm) thick welded to ensure more resistance and life span for the tank.
In order to have this done we have to start for the L shaped frame. Basically is the same thing as before but this time in order to close the edge we must take into account the thickness of it, so we are marking it this way:

The blue mark is the aluminum thickness (3,1mm). The angle is marked in black and the cut in red. Due to the thick of the cut we must use a double knife (2 knifes in the same arc).
To get a good bent with the smallest ratio possible, we'll do a mark on the back of 1mm deep.

We're placing an aluminum angle at exactly the mark of the bent, to avoid deformation. Is important that the aluminum does not break so heat is applied to it and is bent slowly.

Note: Make sure area is free of any kind of oil or fat. You might use an LP gas blowtorch. Do not wait until is red (or it might melt).
We we are closing it we check the "square" and cool it down using a wet cloth.

Same thing on upper frame.
Last if we are sending this to a welding shop, is important to use a dremmel stone or a file to cut a small V of 1mm deep (green) so the welding has more support.

Other designs and materials:
Making an aquarium is variable in materials and designs.
Can be made in plastics, prebuilt in cement, iron, crystals, wood, metallic cans, polyester bathtubs or fiber glass. Designs and materials are infinite. In this chapter we have focused on the most aesthetic and regular, which is the glued crystal.


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