Do I need to get the glass cut on this tank ??

[[email protected]]

Hi,

I've been given a 48" x 15" x 12" glass tank, and I'm wondering about
its construction. It has been in constant use for over ten years I
believe. However, I have read on various websites that tanks should
be constructed with all four walls sitting ON TOP of the base and the
end walls fitting inside the front and back. On my tank, the front
and back are butting up to the edges of the base, not sitting on top.
e.g. (looking at the tank side-on) :-

B F
| A | | R |
| C | | O |
| K |___________________________| N |
| | BASE | T |
|___|___________________________|___|


The sides are fitted correctly, on top of the base and inside the
front & back. The glass is 6mm front, back & base, 4mm sides.

What I would like to know is whether this is a problem ? Is it a
*dangerous* way to build a tank, or is it just OK, but not the
'preferred' way to build it ?

Because, if it is inherently unsafe, then I will have to get the end
panels trimmed in width and move the front & back onto the base.

I am not happy about the integrity of the sealing, so I will be
dismantling the whole tank anyway and rebuilding it. At one point,
there is a 2mm gap between one end panel and the base, and only the
silicone bead on the inside of the tank was stopping a major leak -
there is nothing at all between the glass surfaces, bar 2mm of air !

Whilst I'm here - what can I use to completely remove the old siicone,
once I've cut off the bulk of it ??


....or am I just wasing time & money and would be better off buying a
new, professionally built tank ?

Many thanks in advance,

Cheers,

Kev.

[Roger Sleet]

In article >,
() wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I've been given a 48" x 15" x 12" glass tank, and I'm wondering about
> its construction. It has been in constant use for over ten years I
> believe. However, I have read on various websites that tanks should
> be constructed with all four walls sitting ON TOP of the base and the
> end walls fitting inside the front and back. On my tank, the front
> and back are butting up to the edges of the base, not sitting on top.
> e.g. (looking at the tank side-on) :-
>
> B F
> | A | | R |
> | C | | O |
> | K |___________________________| N |
> | | BASE | T |
> |___|___________________________|___|
>
>
> The sides are fitted correctly, on top of the base and inside the
> front & back. The glass is 6mm front, back & base, 4mm sides.
>
> What I would like to know is whether this is a problem ? Is it a
> *dangerous* way to build a tank, or is it just OK, but not the
> 'preferred' way to build it ?
>
> Because, if it is inherently unsafe, then I will have to get the end
> panels trimmed in width and move the front & back onto the base.


Shouldn't make any difference, so long as the tank is sited on a flat
surface. The side walls on base (and a stronger base) is necessary when
the tank is only supported at the sides, as was common with steel stands
in the past. Trimming a thin sliver off an end panel is a difficult job.
Cutting old glass is a difficult job. It would be easier to simply put
new end panels in. 15" x 12" 6mm glass should do the job cheaply.

> I am not happy about the integrity of the sealing, so I will be
> dismantling the whole tank anyway and rebuilding it. At one point,
> there is a 2mm gap between one end panel and the base, and only the
> silicone bead on the inside of the tank was stopping a major leak -
> there is nothing at all between the glass surfaces, bar 2mm of air !

Are you suggesting the tank has been assembled dry then just had a bead of
silicon run in? Not the best way of doing it, although that was the norm
in the early days of silicon. On the other hand, if it isn't leaking now
it is OK, but I bet the person that made it had fun getting it leak free
to start with.

> Whilst I'm here - what can I use to completely remove the old siicone,
> once I've cut off the bulk of it ??

You must remove all the old silicon. You can get silicon remover for the
job, from Screwfix.com in the UK.

> ...or am I just wasing time & money and would be better off buying a
> new, professionally built tank ?

Probably. If it is just a glass box then they are often cheaper that the
glass.

Roger Sleet
Roger's Aquatic Pages http://www.sleet.plus.com

[[email protected]]

Thanks Roger,

You answered everything I wanted :-)

I've decided not to completely dismantle it but to just cut away the
bead inside with a razor blade and put fresh silicone on. The joints
*are* bonded on the edges (not assembled dry and merely beaded on the
inside), but in one or two places, the edges could do with some more
silicone pressing in as there is a small air bubble here and there.

The 2mm gap I referred to looks like it was created by the end panel
being moved *up* before the silicone cured. I'm guessing the tank was
placed upside-down during curing and the panel 'dropped' a bit.

Thanks again.

Cheers,

Kev.

On Fri, 5 Dec 2003 10:40 +0000 (GMT Standard Time),
(Roger Sleet) wrote:

>In article >,
() wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I've been given a 48" x 15" x 12" glass tank, and I'm wondering about
>> its construction. It has been in constant use for over ten years I
>> believe. However, I have read on various websites that tanks should
>> be constructed with all four walls sitting ON TOP of the base and the
>> end walls fitting inside the front and back. On my tank, the front
>> and back are butting up to the edges of the base, not sitting on top.
>> e.g. (looking at the tank side-on) :-
>>
>> B F
>> | A | | R |
>> | C | | O |
>> | K |___________________________| N |
>> | | BASE | T |
>> |___|___________________________|___|
>>
>>
>> The sides are fitted correctly, on top of the base and inside the
>> front & back. The glass is 6mm front, back & base, 4mm sides.
>>
>> What I would like to know is whether this is a problem ? Is it a
>> *dangerous* way to build a tank, or is it just OK, but not the
>> 'preferred' way to build it ?
>>
>> Because, if it is inherently unsafe, then I will have to get the end
>> panels trimmed in width and move the front & back onto the base.
>
>
>Shouldn't make any difference, so long as the tank is sited on a flat
>surface. The side walls on base (and a stronger base) is necessary when
>the tank is only supported at the sides, as was common with steel stands
>in the past. Trimming a thin sliver off an end panel is a difficult job.
>Cutting old glass is a difficult job. It would be easier to simply put
>new end panels in. 15" x 12" 6mm glass should do the job cheaply.
>
>> I am not happy about the integrity of the sealing, so I will be
>> dismantling the whole tank anyway and rebuilding it. At one point,
>> there is a 2mm gap between one end panel and the base, and only the
>> silicone bead on the inside of the tank was stopping a major leak -
>> there is nothing at all between the glass surfaces, bar 2mm of air !
>
>Are you suggesting the tank has been assembled dry then just had a bead of
>silicon run in? Not the best way of doing it, although that was the norm
>in the early days of silicon. On the other hand, if it isn't leaking now
>it is OK, but I bet the person that made it had fun getting it leak free
>to start with.
>
>> Whilst I'm here - what can I use to completely remove the old siicone,
>> once I've cut off the bulk of it ??
>
>You must remove all the old silicon. You can get silicon remover for the
>job, from Screwfix.com in the UK.
>
>> ...or am I just wasing time & money and would be better off buying a
>> new, professionally built tank ?
>
>Probably. If it is just a glass box then they are often cheaper that the
>glass.
>
>Roger Sleet
>Roger's Aquatic Pages http://www.sleet.plus.com

[Jim Morcombe]

I think the reason that most people advise to have the sides siting on the
base is so that the weight of the sides tends to work to keep the join
rather than working to rip it apart.

However, if the bottom of the side pannels are flush with the base and it is
sitting on something firm, like a piece of ply-wood, then it shouldn't make
too much difference.

There is also an arguement that the horizontal component of the force
created by the presure will tend to push the side panel away from the base
panel if the side is glued to the edge of the base. If the side sits on top
of the base, then the horizontal force is working to "shear" the side pannel
off from the base.

However, the front and side pannels are always joined together in this
fashion, so obviously this arguement doesn't hold water (forgive the bad
pun).

In other words, if the aquarium has held together this long, don't fix wahat
is not broken.

The 2mm gap is okay. The gap between two pannels can be up to 50% of the
width of the materials being joint. So with 4mm glass, you can safely have
a 2mm gap.

Just run some silicon sealant around the inside joins and smooth it into
place with a wet finger. Clean the area with some Metholated Spirits or
Acetone before you do this.

Jim



> wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I've been given a 48" x 15" x 12" glass tank, and I'm wondering about
> its construction. It has been in constant use for over ten years I
> believe. However, I have read on various websites that tanks should
> be constructed with all four walls sitting ON TOP of the base and the
> end walls fitting inside the front and back. On my tank, the front
> and back are butting up to the edges of the base, not sitting on top.
> e.g. (looking at the tank side-on) :-
>
> B F
> | A | | R |
> | C | | O |
> | K |___________________________| N |
> | | BASE | T |
> |___|___________________________|___|
>
>
> The sides are fitted correctly, on top of the base and inside the
> front & back. The glass is 6mm front, back & base, 4mm sides.
>
> What I would like to know is whether this is a problem ? Is it a
> *dangerous* way to build a tank, or is it just OK, but not the
> 'preferred' way to build it ?
>
> Because, if it is inherently unsafe, then I will have to get the end
> panels trimmed in width and move the front & back onto the base.
>
> I am not happy about the integrity of the sealing, so I will be
> dismantling the whole tank anyway and rebuilding it. At one point,
> there is a 2mm gap between one end panel and the base, and only the
> silicone bead on the inside of the tank was stopping a major leak -
> there is nothing at all between the glass surfaces, bar 2mm of air !
>
> Whilst I'm here - what can I use to completely remove the old siicone,
> once I've cut off the bulk of it ??
>
>
> ...or am I just wasing time & money and would be better off buying a
> new, professionally built tank ?
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kev.

[crazyjoe]

> Hi,
> I've been given a 48" x 15" x 12" glass tank, and I'm wondering about
> its construction. It has been in constant use for over ten years I
> believe. However, I have read on various websites that tanks should
> be constructed with all four walls sitting ON TOP of the base and the
> end walls fitting inside the front and back. On my tank, the front
> and back are butting up to the edges of the base, not sitting on top.
> e.g. (looking at the tank side-on) :-
>
> B F
> | A | | R |
> | C | | O |
> | K |___________________________| N |
> | | BASE | T |
> |___|___________________________|___|
>
>
> The sides are fitted correctly, on top of the base and inside the
> front & back. The glass is 6mm front, back & base, 4mm sides.
>
> What I would like to know is whether this is a problem ? Is it a
> *dangerous* way to build a tank, or is it just OK, but not the
> 'preferred' way to build it ?
>
> Because, if it is inherently unsafe, then I will have to get the end
> panels trimmed in width and move the front & back onto the base.
>
> I am not happy about the integrity of the sealing, so I will be
> dismantling the whole tank anyway and rebuilding it. At one point,
> there is a 2mm gap between one end panel and the base, and only the
> silicone bead on the inside of the tank was stopping a major leak -
> there is nothing at all between the glass surfaces, bar 2mm of air !
>
> Whilst I'm here - what can I use to completely remove the old siicone,
> once I've cut off the bulk of it ??
>
>
> ...or am I just wasing time & money and would be better off buying a
> new, professionally built tank ?
>
> Many thanks in advance,

I have built a 60 gallon tank with the bottom inside the verticle's.
It is about 1/4 inch up the sides, with silicone bead on the inside as
normal and same under.
I made a wood frame that the edge glass sits on with a lip that supports the
bottom glass. I then attached molding on this frame that hides the whole
bottom. It has held without a leak for 6 month's . So my advice is, if you
must re-do the inside silicone then do - but it it is working, dont. Do add
a bead under the bottom to add support. Jim.

[Boris]

I'm thinking of getting a new tank and I priced out the materials I
would need with me doing the labor vs. just buying a stock tank. I would
save $100 if I did it 100% correct the first time. IMHO, it's not worth
building your own, unless you want to for the fun of it.

"crazyjoe" > wrote in message
...
>
> > Hi,
> > I've been given a 48" x 15" x 12" glass tank, and I'm wondering
about
> > its construction. It has been in constant use for over ten years I
> > believe. However, I have read on various websites that tanks
should
> > be constructed with all four walls sitting ON TOP of the base and
the
> > end walls fitting inside the front and back. On my tank, the front
> > and back are butting up to the edges of the base, not sitting on
top.
> > e.g. (looking at the tank side-on) :-
> >
> > B F
> > | A | | R |
> > | C | | O |
> > | K |___________________________| N |
> > | | BASE | T |
> > |___|___________________________|___|
> >
> >
> > The sides are fitted correctly, on top of the base and inside the
> > front & back. The glass is 6mm front, back & base, 4mm sides.
> >
> > What I would like to know is whether this is a problem ? Is it a
> > *dangerous* way to build a tank, or is it just OK, but not the
> > 'preferred' way to build it ?
> >
> > Because, if it is inherently unsafe, then I will have to get the end
> > panels trimmed in width and move the front & back onto the base.
> >
> > I am not happy about the integrity of the sealing, so I will be
> > dismantling the whole tank anyway and rebuilding it. At one point,
> > there is a 2mm gap between one end panel and the base, and only the
> > silicone bead on the inside of the tank was stopping a major leak -
> > there is nothing at all between the glass surfaces, bar 2mm of air !
> >
> > Whilst I'm here - what can I use to completely remove the old
siicone,
> > once I've cut off the bulk of it ??
> >
> >
> > ...or am I just wasing time & money and would be better off buying a
> > new, professionally built tank ?
> >
> > Many thanks in advance,
>
> I have built a 60 gallon tank with the bottom inside the verticle's.
> It is about 1/4 inch up the sides, with silicone bead on the inside as
> normal and same under.
> I made a wood frame that the edge glass sits on with a lip that
supports the
> bottom glass. I then attached molding on this frame that hides the
whole
> bottom. It has held without a leak for 6 month's . So my advice is,
if you
> must re-do the inside silicone then do - but it it is working, dont.
Do add
> a bead under the bottom to add support. Jim.
>
>
>