Help! New to building tanks

[Robert_Popa_918]

I have been in the reefing hobby for a little over a year now with my all in one aquarium and I’m ready to step it up. I’d love to create my own lagoon style aquarium, anywhere between 30-50 gallons. There’s one problem with that, I have never built my own tank before. I have watched videos on the basics of building rimless glass aquariums and have figured out the basics. One thing I’m nervous about is drilling into the tank for plumbing. I was wondering if it is possible to have the back wall of my aquarium to be fully made of acrylic? I had looked into it on my own and I hadn’t found a single way to bond acrylic to glass safely. The last thing I want is for the seal to break and have leakage. I’m not really a fan of having overflow boxes inside the tank and I’m not sure if I can cut teeth in the glass and put an overflow box on the outside of the aquarium. Anyways I’d appreciate any tips and tricks to help me build a proper tank without it busting open when filled with water. Thanks! -Rob​

 

[Peace River]

Drilling glass is not as bad as it seems at first. Being nervous is a good thing - it keeps you focused. You could always get an extra piece of glass to practice on. I have found it to be helpful to think of it more as grinding than drilling. Keep a small flow of water where you are drilling and go really slow and even slower when you are almost through. Also throw a towel down below the hole so when the disc falls it doesn't damage the rest of the tank. IMO I would not make a glass to acrylic hybrid tank.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

I built thousands of tanks over a 30 year period as this was my main business. The acrylic glass idea is a non starter due to the lack of ability for silicone to bond with acrylic. It is a better idea to make an all glass aquarium and drill the back. I would drill the back before assembly. That way if you have a glass drilling failure you can just get another piece of glass. Using tempered glass will tend to be more prone to failure during drilling. But if you take it slow and allow the hole saw to scratch its way through the glass you should be fine. I use a jig to hold the hole saw and contain water for drilling the hole. Use light pressure as you advance through the cut and you should be fine.

Make sure to allow enough time for complete cure of the silicone before filling the tank and make sure you use only 100% silicone and not something with chemicals to prevent algea and mold growth as it can kill fish and inverts.