800g plywood, window attachment

[MyGiants]

Well, I was thinking about mounting the acrylic window from the outside (sorta) the tank will have a frame for it & then I would silly-cone the frame,, place the window in place & then bold on a retaining frame from the outside.

This idea seems doable. Seems on paper to be a pretty good idea. So your going to basically sandwich the glass between 2 frames bolted together. I plan to build a 1200g plywood tank this summer. I am also going to use acrylic. I did a lot of research on what is the best mechanical bond to acrylic and hadn't really found one yet I am comfortable with long term. This sandwiching the glass between two frames seems like a possibility I might look more into myself. My current plan is I've read that silicone actually mechanically bond excellent to polycarbonate. And polycarbonate can be chemically bonded to acrylic. So I was going to glue a 2" wide piece of polycarbonate around the edge of my acrylic. Then use silicone on the polycarbonate. But I also was toying with the idea of putting bolts through the glass for added security for a better seal. The idea of 2 frames seems like a sound idea.

I think with the double frame Idea you want the silicone to cure before you tighten the frame together. This way they'll be some pressure on the cured silicone pressing it against the glass if you know what I mean.

So I see this thread is kinda old. Haven't seen any recent updates on your project. Did this ever happen? or did you scrap your whole project...

 

[Mike King]

The glass frame seems doable to me but my concern would more be with the corners. Pre-sealing them and just using silicone on the seams might not be enough. I would be concerned over time that it would start leaking. It may very well be okay but i have never seen it done this way. I would reinforce the corners some how if possible.

Mike