ZachS Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Anyone have any experience with diy glass cubes or have any advice on what silicone to use. Thinking about trying a 24x24x18 kust not sure if its worth the risk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 haven't built one myself, but I know reef165 has done a few. Assuming rimless, I'd do 3/8" glass, even 7/16" if you want to feel even better about life. other than that, just go to HD (or anywhere) and get some 100% silicone (I used clear silicone I from HD for my c2c overflow box). The main thing to remember: the key to the strength is the invisibly-thin layer of silicone between the two edges. it's not really about the silicone bead on the inside corner, though that can help for water-tightness. the strength is all about what's actually between the two-how consistent it is and how well it's clamped while it cures. says to allow 24h for a full cure, 2 hours is enough to leak test, but not if you're filling it up (cause that's a lot of weight). also, it will continue to off-gas a bit for up to about 48 hours, so if you do put any water in before that, I'd throw it out and start with new water for the real-deal totally do-able, though. I was thinking about building my 90g as a rimless DIY, but got too good of a deal on the one I bought used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Momentive RTV103 is black, RTV108 is clear. Those are the only 2 i would suggest. Do not use any type you guy buy off the shelves at HD, they do not provide the sheer or tensile strength needed. This table should help you with the glass thickness. This is for a eurobraced tank. Top row is length of the tank, left side is the height. The number in parenthesis is the safety factor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OwenReefin Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Not all silicone is created equal. But once you get a good silicone and glass I bet it would be an awesome and prideful diy projecto! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachS Posted May 9, 2012 Author Share Posted May 9, 2012 Thanks for all the quick feed back everyone! I guess I'll price out glass and try and figure out if I can get something like this done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 I cut up an old 55g and made a 18x20x18 rimless. The glass is 5/16. I just bought a tube of black silicone from the LFS. Another reefer down here used 1/2" glass to make a 36x36x24 rimless without any issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted May 9, 2012 Share Posted May 9, 2012 so the chart says 6-9 mm for your tank (If it was eurobraced), so I'd say 9-10.5 for rimless (which is 3/8 to 7/16). it should work pretty well, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachS Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 My only fear is messing something up and throwing away 200+ dineros on a failed project. I'm still on the fence about it because I like the look of glass over acrylic just not sure if I have the proper knowledge to complete such a task That being said anyone want to volunteer to help??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachS Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Also anythoughts on having the bottom tempered after I have holes drilled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 If you decide to do this, plan out everything and order the glass with all the edge finnishes (flat pollish, beveled, etc.), holes cut, and tempering in one package. It will be cheaper, and if they mess up anything it's not your $'s. I priced out the glass to build a starphire 150 last year and I believe it was only $35 bucks to get the bottom panel tempered. Its not as hard as you think, and the size you are thinking about sounds pretty safe. There are plenty of good threads out there on putting together a glass tank. The small cube I built I filled it to the rim and put like 2000 gph of powerheads in it for over a month just to make me feel better about it. Gabe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 you'll be fine. you could have the bottom tempered, prob wouldn't cost much extra, but isn't gonna be needed probably. 3/8" glass under 18" of water should be fine. I can help make sure all your measurements are right for all the cuts, feel free to send a pm...just a second pair of eyes on the numbers can help a lot. being down in corn-valley, I don't think I can actually help with the assembly. make sure the beads between the edges have plenty of silicone before clamping, you can clean up the extra once it sets. and clamp them tight for at least a couple hours, preferably 24. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 double post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I share your fear. I have $800 worth of glass sitting in my house for 2 years now because I am afraid to put it together (laugh) I'm building a 30x30x24 with 3 starphire panes. The sides are 1/2" and the bottom is 3/4" with a 1/4" eurobrace on the bottom. The tank will be rimless with a coast to coast external overflow. My first attempt to put it together will be in a few weeks I hope. I plan to use the stand I built for the tank as a jig to keep the panels upright, as well as cut a couple pieces of wood that are the exact length of the bottom of the tank plus the thickness of the seams. Then I will wedge that wood inside the tank as I put up the walls and clamp them so that i don't push too much silicon out of the seams or leave too much. One of the positives about glass if you screw up is that you can just take it all apart, clean off the silicon and try again. With acrylic you'd be making a smaller tank on attempt #2. Some of the items you will need: painters tape Momentive RTV series silicon bar clamps corner clamps glass suction cups (optional) lots and lots of paper towels larger perfectly level work area several right angle squares Hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 looks like good advice from impur, and the external overflow is something I've dreamed of on a rimless glass tank. I wanted to do it on my 90, but ended up buying an AGA used tank for about 1/2 or even less of what the DIY's glass would have cost me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachS Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 double post HAHAHAHA I guess I am not the only paranoid one. I have pretty much chickened out at the moment. Plus I found a sweet cube for less that a DIY at the moment. I think one day when I have money to waste I will attempt but right now I'm just too worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I'm not so much worried about the money, rather 90 gallons of water on my floor (laugh) Glad to hear you found something, cubes are great tanks I will probably always have a cube tank. Really though, after researching and watching build threads over the last 2 years I think I have the knowledge, tools, and ability to build it right the first time. I've seen pictures of tank manufacturers building tanks with 2 ppl, the tank sitting on a wood pallet, one guy applies the silicon, the other guy puts the glass panel up and secures it with masking tape, and around the tank they go. Done in about 15 minutes all secured with masking tape. And these guys were building hundreds of tanks. Now I surely don't plan to use that method, and I would not buy their tanks, but the process itself is pretty easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I'm not so much worried about the money, rather 90 gallons of water on my floor (laugh) Glad to hear you found something, cubes are great tanks I will probably always have a cube tank. Really though, after researching and watching build threads over the last 2 years I think I have the knowledge, tools, and ability to build it right the first time. I've seen pictures of tank manufacturers building tanks with 2 ppl, the tank sitting on a wood pallet, one guy applies the silicon, the other guy puts the glass panel up and secures it with masking tape, and around the tank they go. Done in about 15 minutes all secured with masking tape. And these guys were building hundreds of tanks. Now I surely don't plan to use that method, and I would not buy their tanks, but the process itself is pretty easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 (laugh) LOL, that just happened to me with an acrylic tank that I cut the top off of. I started with a 50 and now I am down to about a 40. No problem for me though since the big goal for me is to put in a big external overflow with my upgrade. 10 extra gallons is good enough for my purposes. One of the positives about glass if you screw up is that you can just take it all apart, clean off the silicon and try again. With acrylic you'd be making a smaller tank on attempt #2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 haha thats funny Omar. You say 10 gallons is a good upgrade now, but wait 6-8months and you'll be saying it again!! (laugh) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electrokate Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 some kinds of silicone have antimicrobial additives that are supposedly toxic to fish and inverts, I'd go with actual aquarium cement if I was going to that much trouble. Hate to find out the hard way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Momentive RTV series silicone is FDA, USDA, NSF, MIL-A-46106B and UL compliance approved Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burningbaal Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 definitely avoid it if it says 'microban' anywhere on the packaging...the stuff's a load of crap as it doesn't usually do anything to pathogenic things but tends to be harmful to the microbes that would otherwise would be there to out-compete the pathogens. I try to avoid any product with microban in it, drives me nuts(nutty) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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