Making an aquarium....how to go about it?

[Rawrgeous]

Okay, so now that I've started crabbing and all my family/ friends think I have caught the "crazy," does anyone have an estimate on how much building your own aquarium would cost approx? Also, what one would need, and or what one would do to accomplish building one? I know it's probably not an easy feat, but I figure with the high cost of large aquariums, it would make more sense spending my money one one, rather than having to buy aquariums I'll eventually replace. Anyways, I was thinking of at least 90 gallons, but I was considering going up to 125, not sure yet. I'm totally clueless, and have never done, or even considered doing a project like this, but it'll give me somethings to do, plus will be awesome to save a bit of money on a huge aquarium. Any input or ideas on sealant, the process, where to buy sheets of glass, hints, or anything like that would be welcome! Thanks!

[Crabinski]

I haven't done it but have seen posts indicating that it's an expensive and labor-intensive project. The link below is to a 2010 thread regarding home made terrariums and @wodesorel's comment about half-way down suggests Googling "build your own aquarium/vivarium" for ideas and possible step-by-step instructions. As she points out, the biggest cost is the proper glass.

phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=78326&p=725154&hilit=home+made+aquarium#p725154

[wodesorel]

For the new build I bought HUGE used storm windows from the Restore at $5 a pop. Now, whether they'll stand up to a falling crab is a totally different question that I will soon be finding out. I know how hard they clunk the display case and the glass on that is four times thicker. (I bought an extra two as replacements, just in case.)

You don't have to build an aquarium, it doesn't need to hold water. You need to build a waterproof terrarium capable of holding hundreds of pounds of moist substrate. Call around for glass prices, but you'd need either extremely thick or tempered glass to contain that weight, and here at least it costs more for the glass than buying a brand new large tank. (A replacement front for my display case would be well over $100 cut to size, and it's still not thick enough to hold substrate.) I suggest a wooden base for the substrate sealed in two part resin or epoxy. (MUST be two part, as it's a chemical reaction and then an inert coating. One-part dries by off gassing chemicals and can sometimes do so for years.)

Depending on how big you want to go, finding a used aquarium is usually the much much cheaper choice. The sealant alone would cost you $100 dollars, then add wood and glass and glue and screws. I saw a used 125 selling for $80 last week.

[Rawrgeous]

Yeah, the more I'm looking into it the more I'm thinking used will be easier and cheaper to find, the problem is the commute since I live in a rural area. Turns out glass is mega expensive here too though. Blah I think I'll hit grand islands dollar per gallon sale for a 55 then make the final upgrade to a 125.

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