finding a frameless aquarium

November 07, 2010  •  Leave a Comment

Pulling the frame off the 10 gallon aquarium didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped. The Top Fin Aquarium from PetSmart was only around $14.25 after tax, but the after ripping the frame off I found the layering of silicon a little too heavy on all the edges, the glass itself was only 1/8th inch thick with sharp rugged edges, and the bottom was glued on about a quarter of an inch away from where it should be. I was not happy. I won’t say it was a waste of money. I can always use it for other things. But I don’t think the experience it worth teaching others about. I considered getting a 20 gallon aquarium for the thicker glass, but that would be at least around $35 after tax and I’d probably end up with the same issue and no thick glass.

I looked into other options. I could build from scratch, but that would be expensive unless I cut corners. I could buy something nice online, but on any glass the shipping would be costly and probably get cracked. The Exo Terra and Zoo Med systems looked nice, but they still would need to be modified to fruit fly proof them. I even went over to Easy Bay Vivarium hoping they might have a solution for me. They had some great reptiles and great accessories, but nothing I wanted when it came to tanks.

On the way home I happened by Blue Lagoon Aquarium, in San Jose. Amazingly, they had 15 Gallon frameless aquariums for about $33 after tax. These were 21.5″ Long x 11.5″ Width x 14″ High. They were oddly kept together with black silicon, but the glass edges were smooth with a slight tint and 3/16ths of an inch. I was told my the owner the glass was not tempered as he has drilled into it before. Knowing that a frameless 17.4 gallon online would cost me around $85 with shipping, it seemed worth it.

So now I’m ready to go. Once I build the inside structures the way I like them, including the waterfall, I’ll need to build a way to enter the vivarium from the front. I’ll try and use glass for this. Ken’s Glass & Mirror Company turned out to be a little strange, but well worth knowing about. Ken doesn’t sell much glass. He pretty much just gives it away, or offers it at a super low price. That is unless you want the good stuff. That’s expensive. But if you don’t want the good stuff, you can get a 20″x20″x1/8th” piece of glass for free. Actually, you can get about 50 pieces for free. After 50, it’s gonna cost you $1. He’s got quite a collection of tempered glass in different sizes for free, but since you can’t cut it, I’m not sure what he does with it. Maybe in the future I’ll try making smaller vivariums with all of that.

Anyway for a couple bucks Ken will cut the glass and sand smooth the edges for you. So I figure I’ll have Ken cut me the glass I need next Saturday. I hope by then I have the inside of the vivarium ready to go. Wish me luck on cutting the hole for the waterfall pump. I’m going to need it.


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