DIY Tank help

[Jedbreitsch]

So i want to make a custom tank with the dimensions of a tank being 30x24x12 so the height is 12inches.. my questions are,
1. What thickness should it be?
2. How to silicone the sides?
3. Use clamps or tape? or both?
4. Glass or acrlyic? pros cons... and why
Also any suggestions would be great! And if anyone knows what would the cost of this end up being? Any threads you can show me to look at would be great, and how long has it taken people to build there tanks?

Thanks for the help.
Jed

 

[SkiFletch]

Can't offer suggestions on the first two, but use both clamps and tape if you're going with glass, you don't want to mess this up. If acrylic, just clamps.

As for which do you want, as much as acrylic is nice for color, it's a *itch to keep clean and NOT scratch it. And it's also a little trickier to work with to achieve a good seal in my experience. You can always re-silicone glass if you screw up, but you can't re-do acrylic as it's a solvent bond.

 

[reefman5511]

Minimum thickness should probably be 1/4" with that length.

 

[IronMan72]

Not to discourage you from doing DIY but have you considered a standard 30G breeder tank? It's 36x18x12. If you decide to go DIY then you should visit melevsreef.com. He has some good information on working with acrylic. Great Lakes plastics on Broadway in Cheektowaga is a good place to get the acrylic in this area.

 

[aquadonkey]

Sounds like a fun project
There's plenty of info online for this project - make sure to check YouTube as well. There are some videos.
If you want, you can look at my 7g thread (lizzie's crabby little tank - don't know how to post a link....) to see my diy tank.
I used 1/4" glass - the glass ended up costing around $50. I would recommend buying your silicone from the lfs - just to be safe! And I only used tape. I would also advise having another person there when you put it together.
Make a list of steps and materials - and maybe do a dry run first. It's quite simple, but a stupid mistake could be frustrating

 

[Jedbreitsch]

Yeah i think im just going to go with a 30 gallon breeder, and make my own type of AIO tank with a corner over flow with just a piece of black acrylic in the corner and cut teeth into it..
btw thanks for all the info!