The endler guy Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 I’ve been thinking about this for a while and why are aquariums bottoms made out of glass? Why not make them out of plastic or pvc board? I assume it would cost less (because glass is expensive), not be as easy to break, and lighter (maybe idk) Aquariums could be start being made with bottom, back and even sides out of plastic/ pvc @Coryyou probably know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Cory Posted December 20, 2022 Administrators Share Posted December 20, 2022 Glass is cheap, and it bonds well with silicone. If you change the bottom, you now need a new fish safe bonding material essentially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The endler guy Posted December 20, 2022 Author Share Posted December 20, 2022 On 12/20/2022 at 12:31 PM, Cory said: Glass is cheap, and it bonds well with silicone. If you change the bottom, you now need a new fish safe bonding material essentially. Makes sense! (I’ve never tried bonding pvc/ plastic with silicone so that’s good to know if I’ve ever tried making an aquarium) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfisher Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 (edited) Some old tanks per 1920’s had slate bottoms. I think they broke pretty easy. There are still some around. There are some members that have them and keep them like tanks of that era as much as the can. I use plastic totes and muck buckets. The thing is they are all one piece with no joints. Edited December 23, 2022 by rockfisher 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanisag Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 These are good ideas. I have 4 pieces of glass from work that are 36" x 10" x 7/16" and my plan is to make a low boy style aquarium with them. I'm planning to weld up a metal frame then screw 1-1/18" plywood to the top and sika flex stainless steel to the top of that. I would essentially have a coffee table type stand at that point about 1" bigger (38" x 38") in each direction then the aquarium would be. I will then silicone the glass to the stainless steel top of the table and to each other to make the aquarium. I'm hoping that silicone adheres well to stainless steel which I think it does. The glass is very thick so that will help as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube_Goldfish Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 On 1/5/2023 at 4:10 PM, bryanisag said: These are good ideas. I have 4 pieces of glass from work that are 36" x 10" x 7/16" and my plan is to make a low boy style aquarium with them. I'm planning to weld up a metal frame then screw 1-1/18" plywood to the top and sika flex stainless steel to the top of that. I would essentially have a coffee table type stand at that point about 1" bigger (38" x 38") in each direction then the aquarium would be. I will then silicone the glass to the stainless steel top of the table and to each other to make the aquarium. I'm hoping that silicone adheres well to stainless steel which I think it does. The glass is very thick so that will help as well. That sounds very cool. Please take and post pictures of the whole process. Maybe even make a journal thread out of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwcarlson Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 I'm not commenting because I have the answer, but I would suspect that the thermal expansion of glass is quite different than the expansion of stainless steel and that may (or may not) cause a possible issue either at the joint or with the glass itself. Just something to consider. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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