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DIY glass rimless build

iani

iani

Supporting Member
BARcard
Just for fun my friend and I (Geoff) decided to try to build some glass tanks. I am unsure what I am going to do with mine, but my friend will be setting up his tank as a display. Since Eric was headed into the city that day he gave us a hand with the build. Eric is the one behind the camera, he took all the pictures and helped build the tank. Thanks also to Craig for getting the glass.

Specs
my tank
24x24x20" 10mm glass 3 sided starfire
10x2" slot cut out on back glass for external overflow
12x6x5 external box
double pane bottom

his tank
31x31x18" 12mm glass 3 sided starfire
10x2" slot cut out on back glass for external overflow
12x6x5 external box

Supplies
Acetone
RTV 103
Angle squares from rockler
Lots of towels
Painters tape
gloves
double stick tape

So far we have just worked on my tank first. Since his was bigger we figured we should do my tank first and learn from our mistakes.

Angle squares from rockler
customtank4of16March132010copycopy.jpg


Taping off glass
customtank5of16March132010copycopy.jpg


Setting glass on angle squares with double stick tape
customtank6of16March132010copycopy.jpg


Glass all set up
customtank11of16March132010copycopy.jpg


Deciding on how to start
customtank12of16March132010copycopy.jpg

customtank13of16March132010copycopy.jpg


Back side before cleaning
customtank14of16March132010copycopy.jpg


Front side
customtank15of16March142010copycopy.jpg


Side view
customtank16of16March142010copycopy.jpg




Mistakes
Pull tape off faster
We did not pull the tape fast enough which messed up the insides of the seams. We ended up having to strip the inside seams add more silicone and form the inside bead with out the tape. I used the pro-caulk tool which actually worked really well.

Use MORE silicone than you think you need


We still have to put the external overflow box up. I will post more pictures as it comes together. I'll also post some progress we have working on the bigger tank.
 
What is the black silicone on the bottom plate about? Are you doing a floating pane, Elos-esque?

Subscribed! This looks really cool.
 
Haha, Mark. No orders.

Thanks Roberto. Hopefully the next one will come out even better. This one wasn't a bad first try.
 
Challenging and quite a mess. There aren't any pics of the in between since the three of us had our hands full of silicone the entire time. It was fun and definitely a great learning experience with a steep learning curve.
 
Cookiejar, that was my friends place. You should see how lopsided his garage is. haha
Yup Jeremy those are the suction cups I just got.
Eric it was a huge mess, thankfully tile isn't hard to clean up on.
Bryan, yep you do.
Mario, I mentioned above its from Rockler.
Thanks Rommel. I'll post more pictures when The tank is finished.
 
iani said:
Cookiejar, that was my friends place. You should see how lopsided his garage is. haha
Yup Jeremy those are the suction cups I just got.
Eric it was a huge mess, thankfully tile isn't hard to clean up on.
Bryan, yep you do.
Mario, I mentioned above its from Rockler.
Thanks Rommel. I'll post more pictures when The tank is finished.
Click to expand...

I thought Rockler was a friend :bigsmile:
 
Ian you are on a dangerous path....by next year you will quit your job and start your own company. Be warned.
 
Brian, glass for this tank ran about 300.
Zepplock, you should look into the cadlights rimless tank. Its the exact same dimensions with an internal overflow.
Joel, as Eric mentioned the hard parts were not pictured. We all had our hands full.
Arnold, no way. Its not turning into anything more but a hobby.
Phong, thanks. I thought you wanted to try it too.
 
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