aquarium help

[Arizona_928]

ok i'm offered a trade for a 944 T, for my aquarium and some $. but the problem is my aquarium is made for reptiles, not fish.......
has anyone converted one to holding water?

[87coupe]

Put water in it.

[bell]

as long as it has the top center brace it may be fine, i would slowly fill it and watch the sides for flex.
how thick is the glass? that looks like a 125-150 gallon, does it have a frame around the entire top edge? if not it may not work and could crack under the pressure (it'll flex when you fill it up), you can order a new plastic frame which they use on fish tanks if it's a standard dimension, i'll dig up a supplyer tonite when i get home if that's the case.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

You could always give it to the guy as-is and if he fills it with water and blows it up after the trade, that's his problem.

If you're more ethical/nice than that, I'd look into constructing a base with an edge recessed a couple of inches at the perimeter of the tank, which will provide some lateral support. I'd also consider reconstructing the wood trim piece at the top to be a continuous wood piece (not jointed at the middle) with a "slot" routed into it the thickness of the glass, extending down a couple of inches at the top. Effectively this would act as a tension ring and help support the panels laterally at the top. With this, and the base at the bottom, I doubt it would go anywhere (assuming the glass itself is strong enough to hold and all the joints are sealed/butt-glazed properly).

Water is extremely heavy and exerts a lot of lateral (hydrostatic) pressure outwards on tanks and containers.

[Tobra]

It may be a tank for water, just used for reptiles, check for ID on tank

will want to sterilize it somehow, fill with 10% bleach solution perhaps

[Hugh R]

I would not do it. The seams are glued. At least fill it outside and let sit for a few days.

[id10t]

The issue will be the glass thickness and how the seams are done. If the glass is thick enough (check garf.org and the make your own howto on what it should be based on water depth) then cutting the existing seams and rebuilding it would be an option...

[vash]

i sold those during my college years. if it is one of those tanks that has that sliding screen up top, it wont work. you will blow it out, filling it up. if it was a small tank you may get by, but that thing looks like a 40-55 gallon jobber.

in the grand scheme of things, the tank is usually the cheapest part of an aquarium system.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by Tobra

It may be a tank for water, just used for reptiles, check for ID on tank

yeah the ID says for use with small critters... and the seams are not glued..... anyways the owner of the 944T sent some pic's and it turns out to be a regular early N/A. with a turbo sticker slapped on the back.....

lol.....


i still take a look at it but it really doesn't have anything going for it.

[the]

Even if that were capable of holding water, what would that thing be worth? $50? $100? Certainly not much more than that.