375 gallon glass tank build

[Pharaoh]

Question for you,

By the time you paid for materials, and the suction cups, hole saw's etc...... Are you still saving money building it yourself? Just curios because there is going to be a large tank in my future.

But you have to figure in your labor. How much time do you have in it so far? When I do side work I work for about $25-35 an hour so If I got 20 hours into building a tank that roughly $600 in labor I'm gonna be up to the 2100 in no time.
Anyway I give you credit it looks great and I'm sure its gonna be pretty fulfilling when you are done and its up and running Good luck with it

Don't even worry about the money..... it's all about the DIY!!!! I'd pay more just to do it myself.

 

[loach43]

Don't even worry about the money..... it's all about the DIY!!!! I'd pay more just to do it myself.

Beat me to the punch so DITTO ON THAT! There is only one way to do it and that's my way lol.

 

[redchaser]

Thanks everyone.

redchaser- That is a good question, one that I have been thinking about recently. If I was to buy a 375 gallon tank from glasscages with a starphire glass front and overflows, the total would be about $2100. Right now, I have spent about $1150-$1200 on glass, silicone, and overflow setup/sump. The glass alone was about $850 (but that does include the starphire upgrade). So there is some significant savings there. I also get to customize the tank exactly how I want it (my overflow will take up much less space in the tank than the glasscages overflows).

If I had just wanted a barebones tank, with regular glass, and no overflows, I probably could have built that for around $750. If you can find used plate glass for cheap, that will help reduce costs. You can use the used glass for the bottom, the back, or have it cut up for use as bracing. I picked up a piece of 1/2" glass 5'x3' for something like $10 and took it to a glass shop, and they cut it into strips for my eurobracing. They charged me $50 to cut it, but it still probably saved me about $100.

Unfortunately, that isn't going to be the total for my project, as materials for my stand and bracing my floor (which I have yet to do) aren't included in that figure. I'm not factoring in the price of the suction cups, as I would have bought those anyway to help move the tank had I bought one preassembled.

Thanks for the info. Unlike the other poster, I wouldn't count my own labor just because building the tank is something I would enjoy and would consider recreation which is something I often pay for (unless I'm doing it on an insurance claim, then claim labor for them to pay for).

 

[let_fish]

nice my husband will soon be done with his fish room. i cant wait. i will post pix when it done.,..

 

[loach43]

Like the idea of using acetone to clean up the glass before sealant. Never thought of that! Normally I use rubbing alchohol.

btw, pls ignore my first post. I should never attempt a response after speed-reading at 4:30 am. Now that I've gone through this entire thread with some clarity, I'm glad to see that you got that pesty chipped hole drilled proper. Looks perfect!

 

[Ramesh]

Great build mdstark, I wanted to know how you used the spacers that stopped the glass pannels from squeezing out the silicon?
Once you place them between the pannels how do you silicon the seam with them in place?

 

[siebertn]

looking sweet bro

 

[justintime36]

It is always a plus when you can build it yourself.And,I always said go big or go home.I just started my salt water ventures.My tank is 125gal.It makes me think but i know i dont havew the room.And that is a big part of the planning.Sometimes i think well maybe i can build a fish shed.LolYeah kind of off the wall.but who knows.when i had my reptiles i had turned a lengthy closet in to an igaunarium.My girlf wasnt to happy but my Iguana was.Thats are choices.LolGood luck

 

[mdstark]

Ramesh- The spacers I used were about the size of a dime, but slightly thicker. They had adhesive backs. I cut them in half and placed the spacer on the panel I was about to silicone. I then put the silicone directly over the spacer. So they ended up being embedded in the silicone seam. Maybe I can try to get a picture of one to show what I mean. I'm pretty confident that they aren't going to cause any problems, though.

 

[Egon]

And here is a picture of one of the good seams that I plan to keep. Notice that this side doesn't have the bottom bracing in place. I think my seams will be thick enough that I should be ok though. I built the tank with the bottom piece sitting inside the four side panels.

[/QUOTE]


So, your bottom piece of glass is on the inside of the side pieces? I'm looking at my 125 right now and the side glass is sitting right on top of the bottom piece. My tank is not euro braced or anything and it's much smaller than yours. I was wondering why your building yours this way, with the bottom piece of glass on the inside? I have two old 125's that I want to take apart and buy a large 6'X6' sheet of glass to build a very large square tank in the middle of my fish room. Should I make the bottom to fit on the inside? or just have the side pieces of glass sit right on top of the bottom piece of glass? Just wondering what your thoughts were on this? Thanks!