Do I need to get the glass cut on this tank ??

Hi,

I've been given a 48" x 15" x 12" glass tank, and I'm wondering about
its construction. It has been in constant use for over ten years I
believe. However, I have read on various websites that tanks should
be constructed with all four walls sitting ON TOP of the base and the
end walls fitting inside the front and back. On my tank, the front
and back are butting up to the edges of the base, not sitting on top.
e.g. (looking at the tank side-on) :-

B F
| A | | R |
| C | | O |
| K |___________________________| N |
| | BASE | T |
|___|___________________________|___|


The sides are fitted correctly, on top of the base and inside the
front & back. The glass is 6mm front, back & base, 4mm sides.

What I would like to know is whether this is a problem ? Is it a
*dangerous* way to build a tank, or is it just OK, but not the
'preferred' way to build it ?

Because, if it is inherently unsafe, then I will have to get the end
panels trimmed in width and move the front & back onto the base.

I am not happy about the integrity of the sealing, so I will be
dismantling the whole tank anyway and rebuilding it. At one point,
there is a 2mm gap between one end panel and the base, and only the
silicone bead on the inside of the tank was stopping a major leak -
there is nothing at all between the glass surfaces, bar 2mm of air !

Whilst I'm here - what can I use to completely remove the old siicone,
once I've cut off the bulk of it ??


....or am I just wasing time & money and would be better off buying a
new, professionally built tank ?

Many thanks in advance,

Cheers,

Kev.

I think the reason that most people advise to have the sides siting on the
base is so that the weight of the sides tends to work to keep the join
rather than working to rip it apart.

However, if the bottom of the side pannels are flush with the base and it is
sitting on something firm, like a piece of ply-wood, then it shouldn't make
too much difference.

There is also an arguement that the horizontal component of the force
created by the presure will tend to push the side panel away from the base
panel if the side is glued to the edge of the base. If the side sits on top
of the base, then the horizontal force is working to "shear" the side pannel
off from the base.

However, the front and side pannels are always joined together in this
fashion, so obviously this arguement doesn't hold water (forgive the bad
pun).

In other words, if the aquarium has held together this long, don't fix wahat
is not broken.

The 2mm gap is okay. The gap between two pannels can be up to 50% of the
width of the materials being joint. So with 4mm glass, you can safely have
a 2mm gap.

Just run some silicon sealant around the inside joins and smooth it into
place with a wet finger. Clean the area with some Metholated Spirits or
Acetone before you do this.

Jim



<anengineer.RemoveThis@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:458vsvkbhlqtormqkbdmqtku7mduh1qdkg@4ax.com...
> Hi,
>
> I've been given a 48" x 15" x 12" glass tank, and I'm wondering about
> its construction. It has been in constant use for over ten years I
> believe. However, I have read on various websites that tanks should
> be constructed with all four walls sitting ON TOP of the base and the
> end walls fitting inside the front and back. On my tank, the front
> and back are butting up to the edges of the base, not sitting on top.
> e.g. (looking at the tank side-on) :-
>
> B F
> | A | | R |
> | C | | O |
> | K |___________________________| N |
> | | BASE | T |
> |___|___________________________|___|
>
>
> The sides are fitted correctly, on top of the base and inside the
> front & back. The glass is 6mm front, back & base, 4mm sides.
>
> What I would like to know is whether this is a problem ? Is it a
> *dangerous* way to build a tank, or is it just OK, but not the
> 'preferred' way to build it ?
>
> Because, if it is inherently unsafe, then I will have to get the end
> panels trimmed in width and move the front & back onto the base.
>
> I am not happy about the integrity of the sealing, so I will be
> dismantling the whole tank anyway and rebuilding it. At one point,
> there is a 2mm gap between one end panel and the base, and only the
> silicone bead on the inside of the tank was stopping a major leak -
> there is nothing at all between the glass surfaces, bar 2mm of air !
>
> Whilst I'm here - what can I use to completely remove the old siicone,
> once I've cut off the bulk of it ??
>
>
> ...or am I just wasing time & money and would be better off buying a
> new, professionally built tank ?
>
> Many thanks in advance,
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kev.