Tamelesstgr's 12 x 12 Cube Project

[Tamelesstgr]

I found some cut pieces of glass I have been saving for years. The pieces had polished edges, and I only had to cut 1 piece of the 1/4" glass, so I ended up with a 11-1/2 x 12 x 14 (Sorta Cube). I must say, I really like the style of a cube rimless tank.

I read and re-read tank building journals so I decided why not give it a try. I positioned everything and had all the materials ready. I cleaned all the surfaces and started laying down beads of GE I. I was suprised how messy the process was, my main goal was just to seal the panes together. I let the tank cure for 1 week.

When I had some more time I then removed the inner bead and messy silicone from the outside of the glass. I wanted to avoid the large smearing seams in the corners, I wanted to try for the nice tight seam. Once I was done cleaning all the excess and had just a seam between panes and bottom, I filled it up. She held 7.5 gallons with the filter. It held water overnight so I was pretty happy.

The next step was to lay down a nice even small bead in the corners. This proved rather difficult, with not much space to work in I angled the caulk gun and laid a few small beads. 2 out of 4 were good, I had to redo 2. So after a few more days of curing I'm pretty happy with the result. So far I have $4 in this set up.

Here are a few pictures:

Set up and cut


Initial seams


Seam


Side Shot


Filter


Filter w/ Heater (Need to do a slight modification)


Possible Location

[pmd5700]

Nice work! What kind of filter is that? Is the heater built in, or do you just have it sitting in there?

Peter

[PinoyBoy]

Seams looks very clean. Hope it holds well.

The heater looks just like a hydor heater... Or something like that.

[funkyfish]

That looks awesome! Nice job! The seams look very clean. Can't wait to see it filled up and with some plants in it

Is that an Aqueon filter? And what's that thing sticking out from the top of it?

I just noticed you from Bolingbrook, not to far from were I am, wanna make me one

[benon]

Love that filter / heater combo! Also love the DIY tanks.

I wish to glue together a tank of my own... I wonder how much cut glass costs in San Francisco?

Just exactly how strong is silicone glue + glass? How careful do I need to be to achieve something precise like ADA?

[Tamelesstgr]

The filter is an Aqueon 20 which I got for free at my LFS, once a year they have a rep come in and you can trade in old filters for a new one. I think it's a little bit big for the tank, but free is always good. It moves the water pretty well, I like lots of flow. Once it's full of media and the heater I think it will calm down a bit.

The heater is a tetra submersible for up to 15 gallons, I have them in my other tanks also, it's about the smallest I can find. I need to notch part of the plastic in the filter and it should slide down in the filter nicely. A slim titanium like the Catalina version would fit with no problems. I hate clutter in my tanks, so this is a nice way to hid that. The inlet will be hidden by some driftwood.

It's not ADA or GLA tight seams, but I think it came out pretty good for my first try, I have quite a bit of experience with laying beads of caulk. I'm going to fill it up and see how it does over a week or so.

I'm thinking I might try an actual plant substrate this time around, I have just pool filter sand in my 20 and moon sand in my 6. I'd like to try Zosterifolia again, never got it to grow good in my old 55. Maybe a small carpet or some micro swords.

[fleshwound]

Ive heard of people making their own aquariums but how do you make sure the glass is attached to all the other pieces securely. Ive heard there is some kind of UV glue, and silicone used? Also how do you know the glass is thick enough? Maybe im just paranoid, otherwise I would have attempted it already lol

[RogueFj]

Nice job! Wish I could do that... Hoep it doesn't leak.

[Nate McFin]

updates??