|  |  | 
December 13th, 2008
|
| | Fish Mentor
| Ideas to increase tank canopies height...
DIY glass height extension for keeping medium sized floating plants in closed aquariums. Anyone tried this before? I figure someone has worked with this problem so your feedback is very much welcomed, as well as good ideas from the dedicated fishlorian engineers (I know you can help me out).
I am considering adding height to one of my tanks so I can keep mid-sized floating plants in there without sacrificing the water volume the tank is designed to hold.
I believe adding 6 to 8 inches in height would allow me to solve this problem. Cutting glass is not something I am too familiar with, so far I have had minor cuts and bruises in my limited trials with non-tempered 7/32" or 5/16" thick glass (for DIY canopies and replacing a broken glass in the lamp section of a hood).
I have some spare pieces of glass so I will be trying this tomorrow. I have a pair of cloth gloves, glass cutter, oil but no good working surface other than the floor tiles. Cleaning silicon remains from my hands is so far the most difficult/annoying thing involved in this. Second to this is managing to put the minimum needed silicon to hold the pieces of glass together, and so far I wish I could do this with no frames.
Two 36Lx18Wx6 or 8H sections to work with (not exact measures), the rear sections are a challenge due to the HOBs and other equipment.
Pepe
Santo Domingo | 
| | |
December 14th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| The design is going to be hindered by the HOB and equipment.(as you stated) It will be easier to just move these up with it. The HOB intake can be lengthened with a hose with the same diameter as the intake.Remove the screen from the inlet (if it has 1) and put the screen on the bottom of the hose.
Cutting the glass on the floor tiles,is tricky and makes it difficult to snap the glass after it's been cut.A broom handle under the cut will make it easier to snap.A quick downward pull will snap the glass across the handle.(make sure it is straight with the cut) sanding the edges of the glass with fine grit sand paper will smooth the edges and corners of the glass and make it nearly impossible to cut yourself.3 or 4 swipes with the sand paper along each edge is enough.
Wipe off the silicone from your fingers with a dry cloth before it begins curing.Wash residue off fingers with dish soap or GOOP or other hand cleaner,comes off easy.
The most difficult part is going to be sealing the new glass with the existing glass to hold water.Fairly difficult without some type of frame for bottom seam.The easiest way would be to use a plastic I-Channel (same type they use for shower doors) Silicone both sides of I-Channel and insert on top of existing glass,press firmly into place.Then put new glass on top of I-Channel,press in firmly.Same I-Channel for top of new glass to hold it together.With top and bottom support,there would be no need for sides to be secured.
Completely without some type of frame,I don't know.That would be tricky. | |
| | |
December 14th, 2008
|
| | Moderator
| I have hanging lights over my two 55g for just that reason  The lights over the 75g are raised because the anubias gigantae grow out of the water. there will soon be a hanging light over it also.
Carol | |
| | |
December 14th, 2008
|
| | Fish Mentor
| The idea I have does not involve getting water into the "glass height extension"; I draw this on Windows Paint hoping you get a better understanding of it.
Maybe keeping the height in the lower end, say 4 or 5" would make the frameless idea easier to do or work in terms of structural stability?
Thanks for your help
Pepe
Santo Domingo | |
| | |
December 14th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| The idea I have does not involve getting water into the "glass height extension";
That makes a lot of difference,and much easier. I was under the impression there would be water in the extension,as well.My mistake.Since there's no water,or pressure from water, a frame wouldn't be necessary.
What is the 'support' the glass will be sitting on? In the diagram,it looks like there's an extension of some sort?Or is it the top edge of the aquarium itself? Either will work.
If it's the top edge of the aquarium,I would silicone around the entire top (for support) and silicone the corners of the extension. A 1/4 inch bead would be sufficient to hold it together. I would recommend getting the measurements as snug to the sides of the aquarium as possible,for stability.
What equipment is on top of the aquarium? A HOB filter obviousely,anything else? I would still recommend placing the HOB filter on top of the extension,and extending the tube. | |
| | |
December 14th, 2008
|
| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by soldieroffortune1974  What equipment is on top of the aquarium? A HOB filter obviousely,anything else? I would still recommend placing the HOB filter on top of the extension,and extending the tube. | Actually the top is "closed" with two DIY glass canopies build on "bronze colored" 5/16" thick glass (to dim the brightness of the lights, it's my Oscars-Severums-Convicts tank), two 36" light assemblies and one 24" light assembly in the middle zone (where I have more light requirements for potted plants). I am considering adapting two standard 36x12 Perfecto or All-Aquarium standard canopies.
I mean to use the tank's frame to support the structure.
Pepe
Santo Domingo | |
| | |
December 22nd, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| Any luck with the "extension" build ?
I have been trying to come up with a way to deal with the HOB filter,the only thing I could come up with is simply cut the glass around the dimensions of the filter,leaving that section open,since there's no water to worry about. | |
| | |
December 24th, 2008
|
| | Fish Mentor
| Update:
After some though, I went with a light-weight design.
I used 1/8" thick non-tempered transparent glass. Of course I paid a glass technician to do the cutting for me. In all I spend USD29.00; 22.00 in glass (including tip), plus the cost of clear Epoxy 7.00.
This is a work in progress, I used the following pieces of 1/8" thick glass:
Front: 34-3/4" x 7"
Sides: (two) 16 -1/8" x 7"
Top: 34-3/4" x 9-1/2" OR 34-3/4" x 5-1/2" (I'm checking two options here)
Rear: (several, as needed) 2" and 2-1/4" x 7" (haven't glued them in yet)
Note I intend to "close" the rear gaps with flexible plastic grids (those use for knitting). The glass cutting technician told me that cutting around was not a good idea with such thin glass, he suggested I did that in plexiglass/acrylic. I had several pieces to fill in the gaps.
I am placing a 36"x13" hood with standard fluorescent at 18W on each side, and behind the hoods, a 36"x4-1/4" lamp assembly rated at 18W as well.
I just finished one of them, working on the other one. Glass is still a bit dirty. I found the Clear Epoxy much better and easier to handle than silicon.
Pepe
Santo Domingo
Last edited by pepetj; December 24th, 2008 at 04:35 PM.
| |
| | |
December 24th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| Very nicely done. I would give the same advise the glasier did. To get glass of any thickness to cut out specific places,you need a grinding wheel,oil and/or water to reduce friction.It can be a large job just to cut out a corner piece.The plastic canvas is a good idea for sealing the gaps.
It looks awesome.
1 question: Are you going to have some type of underwater lighting,to light the rest of the aquarium,or leave it in shadow? | |
| | |
December 24th, 2008
|
| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by soldieroffortune1974 Very nicely done. I would give the same advise the glasier did. To get glass of any thickness to cut out specific places,you need a grinding wheel,oil and/or water to reduce friction.It can be a large job just to cut out a corner piece.The plastic canvas is a good idea for sealing the gaps.
It looks awesome.
1 question: Are you going to have some type of underwater lighting,to light the rest of the aquarium,or leave it in shadow? | Indeed the glass technician told me he would need a day or two to produce the glass piece I designed, and I might have to cover the expense of failure (broken glass) attempts, so he advice against it as non cost-effective solution; I agreed with him.
As for underwater lighting... any ideas SoF'74? I have none yet. Although I was thinking of letting this as it is, with underwater without extra light due to Oscars' preference for dimmed tanks.
Pepe
Santo Domingo | |
| | |
December 24th, 2008
|
| | Fish Keeper
| It looks good as it is.It's a little dark for my taste,but seeing how it's yours..... It really does look good.
If you wanted some light,you could get a low level flourescent light,mounted behind the aquarium (on the wall) where it would shine down,not into the aquarium;but enough would filter into the water to give some lighting,without harsh full light.Basically lighting up the wall behind the aquarium.
There's also various water sealed submersible light set-ups for ponds that would work too.Some can be expensive.
Just a few options,but it looks good as it is.Congrats.  | |
| | |
December 25th, 2008
|
| | Fish Mentor
| Thank you SoF'74. I'm gonna give your idea some thought... but I guess you figured that out already.
Pepe
Santo Domingo | |
| | |
January 6th, 2009
|
| | Fish Mentor
| Update: The idea works well but needs to be improved.
I live and I learn. Lesson learned: 1/8" thick non-tempered glass is just too thin. I broke and repaired the frameless assembly three times (twice during last water change). So back to the drawing board.
This is what I'm going to do: I will use as vertical frames 7" long pieces from the plastic joint that I was using to hold (horizontally) the two 5/16" sheets in the previous DIY canopies I had in that tank. I have no idea what the proper name in English is for this piece so I'm uploading two pics of it.
I spent a few hours of today measuring, drawing, measuring again and this is what I intend to do.
I was considering lowering its height, but I'm keeping it as before since it allows me to see the whole surface of the tank easily.
The drawing shows the top view of the projected design in one half of the tank (had to see four patients today so the glass cut is due tomorrow -by the glass technician of course). Each "square dot" represents 1/16" of an inch in this scaled drawing.
The top cover will be attached with Clear Epoxy and measures 34-13/16" L x 5-3/4", covering only a portion from the rear to the front so the modified canopies stay leveled and secured.
I am inclined in using 1/4" thick glass instead of 5/16" so it weights a bit less. Also the interior base of the tank rim is a bit less than 5/16" in three of it sides so... I have little room for error.
Note the upper part of the drawing is the front of the tank.
Pepe
Santo Domingo
Last edited by pepetj; January 6th, 2009 at 11:25 PM.
| |
| | |
January 11th, 2009
|
| | Fish Mentor
| Update: Final version
Here are some details of the final version of my DIY Glass Tank Height Extension (for keeping surface floating plants, ease of DIY lighting upgrade and not intended to hold water!)
Pepe
Santo Domingo
Last edited by pepetj; January 11th, 2009 at 11:11 AM.
| |
| | | |
Similar Aquarium Fish Forum Threads 
