Building your own tank?

[bettamonkey]

Hi! So uhm, I'm quite new here...so please forgive me if I've managed to place this post in the wrong area...anyway! I was wondering if anyone here has actually built their own tank? I've gotten into the habit of acquiring used (and in a few cases broken) tanks via craigslist and fixing them up myself, so I began to think that if I can repair cracks in aquarium joins, I can certainly manage to create the original joins! I've done a bit of research, but I've not heard anyone talking about building their own...

So, have you built your own aquarium? What sort of supplies did you use? Was the ability to customize the tank to your own specifications worth it, or would it have been easier and more cost-effective to have just bought a commercially-made aquarium? How big is the tank? (I was thinking of going maybe three to four feet long and about 10 to 12 inches high) Have there been leaks, and if so, how did you take care of them?

Or, failing that, would it be at all possible to join together two already existing tanks?

Sorry about all the questions, ^^; thanks for your help!

[Lyvea]

Hey no worries, we like questions!

I've not built my own tank before. I'm still kind of a newb myself. Have you read anything on WWM regarding? If not, I'd be happy to provide some links to that and whatever else I've found

[Wetplants]

Heya! I've built acrylic and glass tanks before. Cost-wise, it's cheaper until about 100 gallons or 20" high I believe. As long as you use the proper squares/ clamps and thickness of glass it's a piece of cake. The problem is the trim/ brace. No one that I know of sells them, and unless you eurobrace, you'll need some kind of trim.

[bettamonkey]

Thanks you guys! ^^ I haven't actually read anything on WWM on this particular subject before, though I did browse some other forums that were talking about how to join two pre-existing tanks.

So Wetplants, what kind of place would you get your glass from? That's the part that always baffles me...where can I get my hands on that sort of thing, internet only? Also, what size tanks have you built? :3
Trim is usually some sort of plastic, if I'm thinking of the right sort of thing? Couldn't something similar be found at a hardware store of some kind?

[Clownfish518]

Glass you would get locally, at a local glass maker. Much cheaper that way.

The going rate for used tanks is about $1 per gallon, so even on the smaller tanks I would check around and visit garage sales to find a used one cheap. Then you would have the frame and all you would have to do is re-seal, or get new panels and seal.

My boss at the LFS just bought a 50 year old tank at a garage sale for $5. We will be changing out the glass panels and resealing and will have a 75 when done. the glass is perfectly good, but back then they used this tar like substance to seal and we want that completely out. My first tank back in the 60s had a slate bottom. Things have changed so much

So for $5 we basically got a frame for a 75. This is probably a better route.

HTH

[Wetplants]

Yep, glass shops are fairly common. Standard windowglass is much too thin and brittle.

Oh, and I've built numerous acrylic nanos, a 48 loach tank, a 59, and a 135 very long discus tank.