I love this!! I don't know why, my tanks are SOOOO expensive where I live!!! and I want to take care of my fish by supplying them with a large amount of room. But struggle to afford it!
Hi, I have a question. In your first video on making an aquarium, you said you lose 2ml (I or however thick the glass is) on each side when you put the side panels on. Do you still lose that space when you use this method? Thanks
Thank you for this video. Can I use your second way to build 48in width 18 hight 24 depth. Use silicon on the outside glass panels. Also what glass thickness you recommend
Hey cool video as always I was wondering if you had any videos or idears on how to divide your gravel and sand I did it in my 55 with a sandbank but I'm moving up to a 180 I know you can do it with bending a piece of plexiglass but I want to look cool too Thanks
Lol that wasn't what I meant I want to use both gravel and sand I just don't want them mixing so I was wondering if you had any cool ideas on how to do that that looks good
Floyd Morey OHHH... well you can add the gravel in and then put a piece of cardboard in to divide the gravel from the sand as you dump it in. I would look at aqua scaping sites or channels for tips like that though. I dont do any aquascaping. My personal fish are either too big, or are breeders.
That was a lot of Joey's at the end. Another good explaination on building tank. Got an old 55 gallon I want to turn into corner tank, once I get another 55 and the time to do it.
What are the odds of the water pressure blowing the tank up or the silicone not being strong enough? What’s the best brand of silicone that’s ‘pressure’ and ‘water tight’ thank!s 😊
I'm wanting to build a tank that measures 70wx20dx15h as a shallow reef tank. Any help on if I should go glass or acrylic? I would prefer glass though and how thick do you think the material should be in something like this?
Hey! I just built my first aquarium using your vids. It's a 25 gallon square. One mistake was not using tape to get an even seam.. 2h of scraping and it looks good. I just filled it up after it sat for 48h to dry and i'm a bit worried because if i push or pull on the walls, i can see the silicone actually move a little. Is that normal? It has no leaks so far and looks good.
Do you know a good video/website that explains how to test if plastic ornaments are safe? I found a very nice piece of ornament at a "garden shop" but I wanted to test it before using on my aquarium...
Hey Joey, any views about the 3rd way of building it? i.e. front and back glass on edges of bottom and side glasses over the bottom and between front and back glasses. Assuming 8mm thick glass with 24"x18"x15" Bottom: 24"x18" Front/Back: 24"x15" Sides: 18"x (15"-8mm)
"front and back glass on edges of bottom and side glasses over the bottom and between front and back glasses." thats the regular way how aquariums are made, so i would build it like this.
im rebuilding an aquarium my neighbor gave me, its a 55 gallon but the plastic bracing frame broke and when its filled with water it slightly bows. so rather than press my luck and flood my living room im going to repair the tank. the bottom bracing frame is still solid, could i simply leave the bottom frame sealed and use it as a guide to square my rebuild? this tank was built in 1996 and i have no idea if a previous owner resealed it since, but there's definitely some deteriorated silicone so this needs to happen. thanks for any input!
I realize this is an older video but hopefully you will reply. I want to build 4 5 g tanks that are 12"L x 10"W x 10"H the GARF calculator says 1/4" glass. Is that the size I should use or can I use something thinner? Thanks for the great tutorial. Liked and subbed.
it depends on the capacity of the tank. smaller than 50 gallons he said to silicone to the edge of the base and larger than 50 should be siliconed on top of the base. hope that helps.
+Bhashkar Raj Mishra it shouldn't be too heavy. think about this, 1 gallon of water is about 10 lbs. so a 50 gallon tank holds about 500 lbs of water. your glass is pretty thick, i think he used 6mm glass. it should be just fine to place glass on top of the base. watch his video on bracing aquariums, this is good for keeping the tank from bowing under too much water pressure.
Hi, I have an Aqueon long 55 gallon tank. I want to remove a side panel and flip the tank on its side and attach the panel where the top once was. The point would be to get more surface area for my alligator snapper. I was wondering if it would be okay since I would on top of the bottom and would have to attach on the sides?
This seems really easy to build, but if I build it, I would want it rimless and with no silicone showing like those fancy ADA aquariums. How do they do that? Is it possible to DIY it?
Sure it is. With the proper glass thickness you can go braceless like i did for the tank in this video. As for no silicone showing, you have to do a good job at the seams. The exposed silicone is simply an additional seal and not technically needed, but worth it. Removing it with a razor blade like you would for a reseal job is all that would be needed.
Depends on the thickness. I used window glass to build tanks before. (not the vacuumed sealed type. Just regular plate glass windows(they were old)... in fact, the first tank in this video was made from glass. The second tank in this video was made from a 33gall i took apart and cut u for this video.
Mineral oil doesn't react with many things. It will make plastic brittle, and the stickers on your parts will start to unstick along with the paper they are made out of degrading.
in this case, its float glass (float glass do have a hint of green, like you can see in the video). you can use float glass, white glass (which do have a less hint of green), or acryl glass. acryl glass is the most expensive one, but do have the best optic. there are too versions of acryl, xt and gs. if you use them for aquariums, you need the gs acrylic,
Hello Joey thanks for this great tips i will build a new tank 150X40X50 cm with panels around bottom, i saw the injection method and your easy method, And I've read many discussions about the two methods and become confused to the different opinions on the methods, and because I trust in you, what is the best method for my new build thank you
***** Thanks to respond Another question if allowed, I will use 10 millimeter glass, How do I keep the thickness of the silicon between the panels, I know it must be between 2 and 3 millimeter, in injection way it's easy to put separator between the glass, but in this way How I can do it, Correct my concepts if am wrong Thank you
I am rebuilding a 125 gallon tank, originally 6'L X 2'H X 18" deep. It has some broken corners and edges. I have a local glass shop that can cut it for $6 per cut. My plan is to have the two 6' X 2' front and back 1/2" panels cut down to 5'5" and also the bottom panel which is 5/8" thick. The original tank had the bottom inside of the sides, not the sides on top of the bottom. Should I have the sides cut also so that I can have the sides on top of the perfect 5/8" bottom piece or just have the bottom piece inside all the side pieces 1/2" above the bottom edge of the sides like the un-braced, all-glass aquarium originally was?
Rath Man That's true. I myself am going to build a 50 gallon aquarium with 10 mm thick glass. You never know when this 6mm glass would crack due to this much water pressure.
Question here I have looked at almost 300 + hrs of video and info but cant seem to find the correct answer... Whats the best way to brace my DIM GLASS TANK? 40 Gallon... Measurements will be 38" L X 13" W, the H is 21" So that said do I need to Brace my tank or will it hold I will barely do the silicone part of the aquarium and sure I will d a video for you to see my AQUARIUM and cheap $$$
How does a rimless aquarium even hold itself together? You'd think the water pressure would break the silocone seals and push the glass out spilling all the water. I don't get that.
Silicone is incredibly strong. But every tank doesnt need to be braced. This all depends on the thickness of glass and the dimensions of the tank(especially the height). Depending on the hydrostatic pressure exerted on the glass VS the tensile strength the thickness of that glass has, depicts if it gets a brace. To make it more simple.... if the tank bows a lot without a brace (by more than the thickness of the glass being used) then it needs to be braced. The only reason we brace when this happens is so the glass doesn't snap in half. Silicone holds the tank together, the brace stops it from bowing.
Sump videos are great... i think i have at least 8 videos showing how they work/how to build them/etc.. I'll do some more in the future for sure though.
robinater11 he said he was using 6mm which is equivalent to 1/4”. I think what Charlie is asking is thickness of the glass depending on gallons. Would the thickness be the same from a 60 gallon to a 240 gallon tank?
of course you can. as long as everything squares out in the end, watch his video on bracing aquariums, it will keep the structural integrity of the tank held under 750+ lbs of water pressure.
i know its 3 years old but, hit the subtitles option man, deaf people like fish too. Some of your videos are missing them and I really like your content, but i need the subs.
It would fall apart and spill everywhere. You have to use silicone glue for glass, or acrylic glue for acrylic. Maybe it would work for a very small aquarium that will only hold water for a few days.
The extended version of this video:
ua-cam.com/video/BFUWVOaMlB4/v-deo.html
*****
can i build a acrylic tank with silicone or is it better to use cement or just go with glass?
I love this!! I don't know why, my tanks are SOOOO expensive where I live!!! and I want to take care of my fish by supplying them with a large amount of room. But struggle to afford it!
At least it's available in ur place unlike my place 😂
I wish I could do this, I might be able to in the future, I really want to have a HUGE hermit crab habitat without paying so much for it.
Glad im not the only one thinking about my hermits 😂
did you ever do it
Another great video Joey!
Thanks Brian. Appreciate it.
Still the best guide in 2017. Amazing guides for everything actually. Your book has saved me so much money already.
You make it look so easy! Ugh!
I have learned so much from you especially on a budget. If that is who you are targeting job well done sir! Subbed!
Once again great vid joey defiantly going to use this to build a stingray wall tank in the near future
Stingrays!!! love 'em
Thanks Joey for a great video! I have never built a tank but am sure I could after watching your video! Thumbs up!!
Building tanks this way is really easy. I know i sped it up in this video, but that tank took under 5 minutes to build. Its easier than most think.
I find it hard to believe that the only thing holding the glass is silicon.
I mean what else would there be
@@travisbrown1520 ~magic~
another good video bro. i love getting tanks for free and re doing them
Cant beat a free tank that you know how to fix!
Awesome tanks and projects mate
Hi, I have a question. In your first video on making an aquarium, you said you lose 2ml (I or however thick the glass is) on each side when you put the side panels on. Do you still lose that space when you use this method? Thanks
Thank you for this video. Can I use your second way to build 48in width 18 hight 24 depth. Use silicon on the outside glass panels. Also what glass thickness you recommend
Hey cool video as always I was wondering if you had any videos or idears on how to divide your gravel and sand I did it in my 55 with a sandbank but I'm moving up to a 180 I know you can do it with bending a piece of plexiglass but I want to look cool too Thanks
Dump it in a pasta strainer. A fine one. The gravel will be sifted out.
Lol that wasn't what I meant I want to use both gravel and sand I just don't want them mixing so I was wondering if you had any cool ideas on how to do that that looks good
Floyd Morey OHHH... well you can add the gravel in and then put a piece of cardboard in to divide the gravel from the sand as you dump it in. I would look at aqua scaping sites or channels for tips like that though. I dont do any aquascaping. My personal fish are either too big, or are breeders.
I've only Tryed cutting glass. (Failed) You make it look easy!
It really comes down to how thick the glass is. anything over 1/4" and i dont like to cut it. (but have)
That was a lot of Joey's at the end. Another good explaination on building tank. Got an old 55 gallon I want to turn into corner tank, once I get another 55 and the time to do it.
Sweet! That would be a cool build
Nice i always wondered if my tank was not built correctly . Now i know it doesnt matter . Thanks
Your welcome!
Realy nice video man keep it up.
hey where do I buy glass?
Glass shops, usually they are private makers just look online
You can get some from Home Depot or Lowe's
What are the odds of the water pressure blowing the tank up or the silicone not being strong enough? What’s the best brand of silicone that’s ‘pressure’ and ‘water tight’ thank!s 😊
hi joey can you tell me if tensol 70 is suitable for making a acrylic tank? cheers
I'm wanting to build a tank that measures 70wx20dx15h as a shallow reef tank. Any help on if I should go glass or acrylic? I would prefer glass though and how thick do you think the material should be in something like this?
Hey! I just built my first aquarium using your vids. It's a 25 gallon square. One mistake was not using tape to get an even seam.. 2h of scraping and it looks good. I just filled it up after it sat for 48h to dry and i'm a bit worried because if i push or pull on the walls, i can see the silicone actually move a little. Is that normal? It has no leaks so far and looks good.
Silicone will hold glass together even under all the weight of the water? It just seems like the glass would rip away from the silicone....
Yo joe CONGRATS ON THE 100k SUBS!!!
Thanks my friend
What kind of glass should you use
Michelle Thomas acrylic
Do you know a good video/website that explains how to test if plastic ornaments are safe? I found a very nice piece of ornament at a "garden shop" but I wanted to test it before using on my aquarium...
Hey Joey, any views about the 3rd way of building it? i.e. front and back glass on edges of bottom and side glasses over the bottom and between front and back glasses.
Assuming 8mm thick glass with 24"x18"x15"
Bottom: 24"x18"
Front/Back: 24"x15"
Sides: 18"x (15"-8mm)
"front and back glass on edges of bottom and side glasses over the bottom and between front and back glasses." thats the regular way how aquariums are made, so i would build it like this.
im rebuilding an aquarium my neighbor gave me, its a 55 gallon but the plastic bracing frame broke and when its filled with water it slightly bows. so rather than press my luck and flood my living room im going to repair the tank.
the bottom bracing frame is still solid, could i simply leave the bottom frame sealed and use it as a guide to square my rebuild?
this tank was built in 1996 and i have no idea if a previous owner resealed it since, but there's definitely some deteriorated silicone so this needs to happen.
thanks for any input!
I realize this is an older video but hopefully you will reply. I want to build 4 5 g tanks that are 12"L x 10"W x 10"H the GARF calculator says 1/4" glass. Is that the size I should use or can I use something thinner? Thanks for the great tutorial. Liked and subbed.
Great info as always.
Thanks J. Glad you think so.
hey joey how i wonder are all your tanks connected to that central large "2-container" filter of yours
Considered whether silicone fish if it is a little bit inside the aquarium ?
How would you go about cutting a hole in the glass to add an overflow for a sump? I'm assuming a diamond hold saw
Do you use normal silicone?
100% silicone yes.
did u place all 4glass above the base glass or sealed at the lower edge of base glass?
it depends on the capacity of the tank. smaller than 50 gallons he said to silicone to the edge of the base and larger than 50 should be siliconed on top of the base.
hope that helps.
+little tin goddess thank you. i m making 6*2*2. 12 mm glass .so won't glass be heavy to be placed on top ?
+Bhashkar Raj Mishra it shouldn't be too heavy. think about this, 1 gallon of water is about 10 lbs. so a 50 gallon tank holds about 500 lbs of water. your glass is pretty thick, i think he used 6mm glass. it should be just fine to place glass on top of the base. watch his video on bracing aquariums, this is good for keeping the tank from bowing under too much water pressure.
+little tin goddess thankyou u made my project easier ☺
Many commercial aquariums are sold with the bottom elevated. Is there any advantage or reason for a raised bottom?
Typically to put all stress on the panes instead of the bottom.
*****
Thanks Joey, makes sense!
Hi, I have an Aqueon long 55 gallon tank. I want to remove a side panel and flip the tank on its side and attach the panel where the top once was. The point would be to get more surface area for my alligator snapper. I was wondering if it would be okay since I would on top of the bottom and would have to attach on the sides?
This seems really easy to build, but if I build it, I would want it rimless and with no silicone showing like those fancy ADA aquariums. How do they do that? Is it possible to DIY it?
Sure it is. With the proper glass thickness you can go braceless like i did for the tank in this video. As for no silicone showing, you have to do a good job at the seams. The exposed silicone is simply an additional seal and not technically needed, but worth it. Removing it with a razor blade like you would for a reseal job is all that would be needed.
Joey that's great information. I will try to do that once I am able to. I will go for a small tank at first and see how it goes.
Anwar Marwan Once you build one... you'll never buy again. haha
good video!
Thank you
will the water not simply push the glass apart at the seams ?
Good tips for building smaller tanks. Makes a lot of sense
Ya, so much easier. Larger glass tanks are such a headache. When i built the 540gal, i swore to myself i would never go that big with glass again.
Could i use window glass or is it too thin i could probably use it for a reptile cage
Depends on the thickness. I used window glass to build tanks before. (not the vacuumed sealed type. Just regular plate glass windows(they were old)... in fact, the first tank in this video was made from glass. The second tank in this video was made from a 33gall i took apart and cut u for this video.
Would either of the building methods you've done not work with mineral oil? Meaning would the mineral oil dissolve the silicone adhesive?
Mineral oil doesn't react with many things. It will make plastic brittle, and the stickers on your parts will start to unstick along with the paper they are made out of degrading.
Are you using special glass or glass for like windows
in this case, its float glass (float glass do have a hint of green, like you can see in the video). you can use float glass, white glass (which do have a less hint of green), or acryl glass. acryl glass is the most expensive one, but do have the best optic. there are too versions of acryl, xt and gs. if you use them for aquariums, you need the gs acrylic,
Where do you get the glass and what thickness is it?
You are the best!
Hello Joey
thanks for this great tips
i will build a new tank 150X40X50 cm with panels around bottom, i saw the injection method and your easy method, And I've read many discussions about the two methods and become confused to the different opinions on the methods, and because I trust in you, what is the best method for my new build
thank you
I would go with the method seen in this video for that tank..
***** Thanks to respond
Another question if allowed, I will use 10 millimeter glass, How do I keep the thickness of the silicon between the panels, I know it must be between 2 and 3 millimeter, in injection way it's easy to put separator between the glass, but in this way How I can do it, Correct my concepts if am wrong
Thank you
Hi there, What is the difference of the side panels in the top of the bottom glass and in the side of the bottom glass? Thank you,
Does anyone know a good site to buy glass from?
I am rebuilding a 125 gallon tank, originally 6'L X 2'H X 18" deep. It has some broken corners and edges. I have a local glass shop that can cut it for $6 per cut. My plan is to have the two 6' X 2' front and back 1/2" panels cut down to 5'5" and also the bottom panel which is 5/8" thick. The original tank had the bottom inside of the sides, not the sides on top of the bottom. Should I have the sides cut also so that I can have the sides on top of the perfect 5/8" bottom piece or just have the bottom piece inside all the side pieces 1/2" above the bottom edge of the sides like the un-braced, all-glass aquarium originally was?
Subscribed. You're awesome.
Thank you!
Where do you get the glass?
Joey I would like very much to see you build a glass aquarium with direct injection method.
I have 2 60 gallon tanks. I’d like to build using (4) 48L X 25H , 1/4” thick glass forming the walls. Is 1/4” glass too thin for that?
Rath Man If you haven't build your tank yet, It's way too thin for that length and height. Go for at least 10 mm
Bineet Singh no I haven’t built it. I just don’t trust the glass being that thin to make a tank that big even though the King here has done it.
Rath Man That's true. I myself am going to build a 50 gallon aquarium with 10 mm thick glass. You never know when this 6mm glass would crack due to this much water pressure.
Does a tank under 50g need bracing??
How thick does glass have to be for a aquarium that is 80cm x 100cm?
would this method work with aqurlic?
Yes, but its actually easier to do it the opposite way. Watch my series on how to build and acrylic aquarium and you will see why.
Will do! thanks for the comment back :)
does this work for bigger tanks
Conner Reynolds not over 50 gallon
How thick the glass have to be for a 25 gallon tank?
I like the old baby joey acrylic video better ❤️
Where to get glass? Large peices?
what was the background song at the last?
Question here I have looked at almost 300 + hrs of video and info but cant seem to find the correct answer...
Whats the best way to brace my DIM GLASS TANK? 40 Gallon...
Measurements will be 38" L X 13" W, the H is 21"
So that said do I need to Brace my tank or will it hold I will barely do the silicone part of the aquarium and sure I will d a video for you to see my AQUARIUM and cheap $$$
How does a rimless aquarium even hold itself together? You'd think the water pressure would break the silocone seals and push the glass out spilling all the water. I don't get that.
Silicone is incredibly strong. But every tank doesnt need to be braced. This all depends on the thickness of glass and the dimensions of the tank(especially the height). Depending on the hydrostatic pressure exerted on the glass VS the tensile strength the thickness of that glass has, depicts if it gets a brace. To make it more simple.... if the tank bows a lot without a brace (by more than the thickness of the glass being used) then it needs to be braced. The only reason we brace when this happens is so the glass doesn't snap in half. Silicone holds the tank together, the brace stops it from bowing.
*****
Thanks for the response. Quite interesting actually. Learn something new every day.
joey your great always are
What are the dimensions for the second smaller tank?
18x12x18
how many fish can I place in 14 gallon aquarium?
hey joey another great vid dude but i want to see you do more diffrent sump designs and builds as i feel this would help more peps
Sump videos are great... i think i have at least 8 videos showing how they work/how to build them/etc..
I'll do some more in the future for sure though.
How much would it cost
can you show us how to build a 125 gallon acrylic tank?
I have videos on building acrylic tanks already. the ones i have done, are done the same way 125 would be done.
Thank you
hey I'm trying to build a 75 gallon reef tank with a overflow what are all the materials and tools I will need for the build
woowww ıt's amazing I'm trynow
Have fun!
Voice low :/ with volume up
I'm determined to make cheaper tanks for animal lovers like me!
BUT ABOUT THICKNESS OF THE GLASS
1/4 of an inch. He said it in his other video.
robinater11 he said he was using 6mm which is equivalent to 1/4”. I think what Charlie is asking is thickness of the glass depending on gallons. Would the thickness be the same from a 60 gallon to a 240 gallon tank?
Can I make a 75+ Gallon Aquarium with this?
of course you can. as long as everything squares out in the end, watch his video on bracing aquariums, it will keep the structural integrity of the tank held under 750+ lbs of water pressure.
little tin goddess okay, thanks!
i know its 3 years old but, hit the subtitles option man, deaf people like fish too. Some of your videos are missing them and I really like your content, but i need the subs.
how can i get a 90 angle?
he uses a tool called a square. its an L shaped device that is 90°
Please help me can i make an aqurium using hot glue gun
It would fall apart and spill everywhere. You have to use silicone glue for glass, or acrylic glue for acrylic. Maybe it would work for a very small aquarium that will only hold water for a few days.
:)
This is bad idea 💡 I have more good ideas
Y DID U LOOK AT THIS COMMENT