A litle question about building a tank...

[sid101]

I want to put together a 96cm x 50cm x 60cm tank (roughly 75 gals), in a youtube video i saw a guy was using crazy glue gel based and silicone to build a sumo because it "worked better in that aplication" i thought it had sense and if it is good enough for a sump (at least chemically) it should too for a tank liek the one i want, what do you think?

(Yes i plan to put all reinforcements in my tank)

[Northernguy]

Did he show the same tank still full after a year or more?
I would just stick to silicone if its a glass tank.
It has proven itself for years.75 gallons of water is a big mess! lol

[sid101]

Okay i would agree with you as silicone being time tested, would you advice to just silicone the interior or also between the glass sheets at the junctions (i have read is only done for bigger tanks).

[Northernguy]

You must silicone between the glass first.Thats where all the strength is.
The interior seam is extra protection against leaks.
Do both and make sure you have no air bubbles in between.Squeeze it tight.

[sid101]

Nice man thank you so much! my main resource of info for building the tank has been this one ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.]).

[esvabum]

first- definitely stick with 100% silicone. not only has it proved itself to last, but its proved not to poison the fish.

what thickness of glass did you decide on? i read your main resource for building your tank and it said the thickness didnt matter because you can use braces which is correct but keep in mind the look of a tank with a lot of braces throughout. for a 75 gallon tank i would go with a minimum of 3/8 inch glass but it would be best to go with 1/2 inch. a full tank will put a ton of pressure on the glass and its better to be safe than sorry. i learned the hard way with my first tank and ended with 50 gallons of water in my living room floor.

also, yes you need to silicone glass to glass along with tooling it into the corners. try to do this all at once. if you wait for the buttjoints to cure before sealing the corners you may have problems down the road due to silicone not adhering well to already cured silicone

[Jaster]

first- definitely stick with 100% silicone. not only has it proved itself to last, but its proved not to poison the fish.

Exactly... anything else will most likely hurt your fish. Most super glue products have many harding chemicals in them so they set fast. This also makes them brittle over time (ever look at something superglued and the glued areas have turned yellowish in color? it's from the hardeners)

Good luck with your tank though!! thumbs2:

[Northernguy]

also, yes you need to silicone glass to glass along with tooling it into the corners. try to do this all at once. if you wait for the buttjoints to cure before sealing the corners you may have problems down the road due to silicone not adhering well to already cured silicone

If you do it all at once its too easy to shift the glass out of position.Is best to let the main seal set before appling pressure while applying the inner seal.
There is not enough silicone showing between the glass to make a difference.
You do not rip a tank apart to reseal it.You just clean out the inside of the tank.Tape for a clean edge.

[sid101]

Wow so much info! thank you guys!

I am going to use 10mm glass for the aquarium giving me a safety of 3.4 with a bottom of 12 mm, im using regular braces on top going from one side to the other across the front and read glass and one cross brace 5 cm wide.

10mm glass = 0.39 inches
12mm glass= 0.47 inches
5cm= 50mm = 1.97 inches

i was thinking on the method described in the article, tape the whole tank together using small spacers and make my assistant pull them as i run through so the seals are well done, seems like a good way to build.

I found some GE general use silicone in my hardware store i think should be good enough since it has NONE anti algae or anti fungi on it it should be safe.

[esvabum]

ive been a glazier for over 10 years working with many types of glass and silicone joints and have found that silicone after cured does not stick to fully cured silicone... they will stick to each other for a while, but to get the longest life, do all at once. it can be more difficult, but to help hold everything in place, use tape. its not difficult at all. i now have 5 tanks set up in my place from 10 gallon to 110 gallon all built by me because i get free glass from my place of work so i believe im more than qualified to assist... any help you may need just let me know.

[sid101]

I was thinking in something like that, i wanted to tape all the tank together and put 1mm spacers every 2 inches, run the silicone from one corner up down to the 3 glass joint and to the next 3 glass joint (let's say clockwise looking from the top, then in the upper joint start again, should be 4 fast straight lines of silicone, i have about 2 minutes to do the whole thing right?

[Northernguy]

You have more than two minutes.
Exactly what kind of silicone did you get?

[sid101]

I bought two tubes of GE general use silicone, it doesnt say anything about "alti algae" or "anti mold" so it should be right. =) im going to send the order for the glass next week since my LCS (local cristal shop... JA! new acronym!) doesnt have 12mm now and the are ordering it for me so once that panels gets there they will cut everything and make all the holes i require, so far 2 in the main tank and 2 in the sump.

[Northernguy]

As far as I know the only GE SilconeII 100% rubber silicone or aquarium silicone are the only safe two you can use!

[bushwhacker]

ng thats ge silicone 1

[Northernguy]

bw i searched it out for days and found that ge II works great!
I did find some using silicone I as well.I found more using the the II so thats what I went with.It is in my 135 now and its full.lol