Building an aquarium is not an easy task. Neither it’s an impossible task. You just have to have the same patience that you should have to have in building an aquarium.
Cost must also be considered. In many cases it is cheaper to buy the armed aquarium than to manufacture it yourself. In particular because we avoid complications and if an aquarium is purchased from a responsible store, it must have a guarantee for failures or losses.
Once you have budgets in hand, you can make your decisions, working without haste you will be able to enjoy your work and you will not suffer the consequences of a badly armed aquarium.
Remember that Guppy’s Aquarium Products is the top online shop where you can buy anything you need for your aquarium from the comfort of your house and have the most remarkable and eye-catching fish tanks.
Building you own aquarium
We give you here the instructions to make one 70 x 40 x 35 cm, but the general instructions are valid for any size.
To build larger aquariums, you must take into account that every 10 cm. height you must increase the thickness of the glass by 1 mm (one millimeter). You should also consider this increase in thickness when aquariums are longer than 90 cm. The pressure of the water produces a curvature of the glass and an additional tension on the center of the glass. If it is not of the proper thickness, it can fracture only by a sudden change in temperature, a slight blow, a vibration or any other reason.
Use the following guide to select the glasses to use:
Height, Thickness, Length:
- 35 cm, 4.2 mm, up to 80 cm
- 40 cm, 5 mm, up to 90 cm
- 45 cm, 6 mm, up to 100 cm
- 50 cm, 6 mm, up to 90 cm
- 55 cm, 8 mm, up to 100 cm
- 60 cm, 8 mm, up to 90 cm
- 65 cm, 10 mm, up to 120 cm
- 70 cm, 10 mm, up to 120 cm
- 80 to 100 cm, 12 mm, up to 180 cm
- 130 cm, 12 mm, up to 120 cm
- 150 cm, 19 mm, 120 to 300 cm
The RTV silicone glue to be used must be the best quality that can be obtained. The pressure that the water exerts on the bottom causes the glue to be in permanent tension. A good silicone glue will last for many years.
First step: Arrange the glasses.
Second step: Have a layer of the appropriate size and that supports the weight of the glass. Place the layer firmly against a wall (which will serve as a guide for the squad and support for the first stage of assembly). Place the layer against the well-established wall. Cut the glue applicator nozzle. Apply the glue with the cut down and in the direction indicated by the arrow.
Third step: apply the silicone adhesive. It is convenient to apply the glue to all the glasses simultaneously in manageable aquariums. When building aquariums with a very high height or very long glasses, which must be managed by more than one person, it is preferable to apply silicone glass by glass, starting with the bottom or floor of the aquarium.
Fourth step: assembly. The location of the glasses in their final position is not a science but requires thoroughness and patience. Silicone is a material that is difficult to clean, therefore you should always have clean hands (you should always have rags for cleaning hands and glass). On the layer and attached to the wall with adhesive tape, you can put a plastic film (polyethylene) to prevent the excess glue from ending up causing divorce by dirtying the walls with a material that cannot be covered with paint of any kind. Place the back glass gently but firmly. Leave it leaning against the wall. With the rear glass supported, place the second glass and adjust the rear one on it. Place the other side taking care that when adjusting it, the rear glass does not slip. The next step will be to place the front glass and adjust gently but firmly.
Last step: sealing
For the final sealing, you can allow a few hours for the material to “make skin” (that is, the setting has started). Using the applicator with the cut down and running in the opposite direction to that of gluing, apply a layer of glue from the center to the angles, as shown in the following illustration.
Once the sealing process is done you can go on and fill the aquarium, first with a 5 cm layer to check if there are any cracks. Pour that amount of water and wait half an hour, if there is nothing unusual, you can already fill it up to 1/3 of its capacity. Allow another half hour to pass, and if there is no leak you can already fill it completely, which is 3 cm below the top edge. Fill the tank, also fill the filter reserve and plug it in to check that it works.
Water heater: install a heater so that the fish can always be at a comfortable temperature, ideally the water is between 21-25 degrees. Attach a thermometer to frequently check the temperature and regulate the heater when necessary.
Anti-chlorine: it is recommended to also add some anti-chlorine agent to keep the fish safe, since the tap water that you usually use to fill the aquarium has chlorine.
Fish: It is finally time to put the fish in their new home. Consult well the particularities and conditions that each species requires to be able to choose the most suitable ones, that can live the best possible according to what you offer them. Take into account the size that each one can reach and do not buy species that you will not be able to deal with when they grow up. Do not buy more than 4 fish at a time, if you want more, wait two weeks and buy at most in groups of 4 so that they adapt little by little.
You can find all these products you need for an aquarium here at Guppy’s Aquarium Products, you can also tell us if you need more information about this process. Contact us!