A giant fish tank in Berlin. It is part of an aquarium and extends into the hotel lobby seen below. The divers come in the morning to clean the glass. This view is from a hotel elevator. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Building a fish tank is a pretty specialised area and I personally haven’t tried my hand at it, yet, however, there are some basic pointers to follow if you are considering giving it a go.

Get the right silicone: Number one on my list is, please make sure you use an aquarium safe silicone, this is not only for structure but some silicone will poison your fish and that’s definitely not what you want.

Choose the right glass: Number two is, choose the right glass, I’m not going to tell you what thicknesses to use because it varies depending on how big you want to make it, however, there are some great websites that will help you make this decision, for example check out these two really helpful sites:

• Glass Fish Tanks – how to build a glass fish tank
  
• Federation of New Zealand Aquatic Societies – calculating glass thickness for aquariums
  

My main advice is do your research, make sure you definitely have the right glass thickness and if you can afford it always use toughened glass.

And finally, always test the thing outside, even the professionals get leaks in their tanks, and the water is better for your garden than your lounge room floor!

If you have any questions – feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll help where I can.

Good luck!

Shannon

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Choosing the right glass

Using the right glass for the right job is the most important part. Check out the post on choosing the right glass to make sure you’re using the right type and thickness.

Using safety gear

When handling glass safety should be your first priority and the first thing you need to check is the edges, when glass is first cut the edge is very sharp, if the glass you’re handling has clean cut (sharp edges) then gloves are essential – one slip with this stuff and you will slice your hands.

Gloves should be thick enough to prevent the glass cutting through to your hand, yet flexible enough that you can feel the glass to know if its slipping. If you’re going to be doing a number of glass jobs it could be worth getting your hands on a pair of gauntlets (no, not that thing a knight throws down to initiate a duel) these are glazier’s gauntlets – each one is a foot long piece of fabric or leather that wraps around your forearm and usually has tough reinforcement on the palm side. They are designed to protect your arteries from broken glass, if you can’t get hold of some then welding gloves are OK and at the very least you should wear a thick long sleeved shirt, and maybe stuff a piece of cardboard under it.

If the glass you’re working with has blunt edges (this can be done by the glazier when you order the glass) then gloves are not as important, although you should wear whatever feels comfortable.

Carrying glass

Small pieces of glass, no matter what the edge is like, should be held with two hands and kept away from your body. If the glass is bigger than a large book then it should be held at your side with one hand underneath and one hand holding and balancing the top. The reason for this is that you should be able to remove your hands quickly and safely if the glass breaks, throwing the glass away from you. Never hold glass above your head or tuck it under your arm, if it breaks you’ll be in the way! Always be aware of the glass you’re holding, making sure you don’t hit the edges on anything. One knock in the right spot and it can sometimes break easily.

Also be careful of wind, it can be the glaziers worst enemy, if you’re not comfortable picking up a piece on your own, find someone to help you or consider calling in a professional.

A lot of the glass you’re likely to be handling these days is safety glass, the two main types being laminated and toughened, if you follow my advice above it is almost impossible to seriously harm yourself using this stuff, compared to standard glass, which can break into sharp pieces.

I hope this has taken away some of the fear of working with glass, after all last time you broke a drinking glass did you phone a professional to pick it up for you? Of course not, so why is it the first thing everyone does when a window breaks? If you use your common sense, choose the right glass and take things slowly, you’ll be fine. Just don’t touch the sharp bits!

If you have any questions drop me a line below.

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Follow steps 1 to 5 for how to cut a circle.

OK so you have scored your circle, opened the cut on both sides and you may have noticed that your circle has not fallen out (hopefully you’re reading this at home and not inside the museum). The next step is to get the glass out of the hole, there are lots of ways to do this, outlined below is the way I prefer.

Step 6: Grab your normal glass cutter and score two half circles inside the circle making sure to start and finish your score inside the circle, it should look a bit like a basket ball.

Score two lines like a basketball

Step 7: Next you want to open these cuts on both sides, after you open these cuts make two more score marks, making a kind of curved square in the middle of the glass, then you need to open these cuts as well.

Score a square in the centre

Step 8: The next thing you need to do is, with your glass cutter, score a cross hatch pattern in the middle of the square (diagonal lines that cross each other) then you need to flip the glass over and with a small hammer or a screw driver start opening the crosshatched area, do this by tapping, once most of the cuts are open start tapping continuously in the same spot, it’s a good idea to wear safety glasses while doing this.

Score cross hatch inside the square

Step 9: Keep tapping until you start to see a hole and then further until the whole square is broken out.

Keep tapping until you see a hole

Keep tapping until the square falls out

Step 10: If it hasn’t already happened you should just need a little tap and all the glass in the circle should fall out and voila grab the diamond and run, or maybe install your cat door – whatever floats your boat!

Voila – congrats you did it!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you. As with all things in life it can take a bit of practice to learn how to cut a hole in glass, so either practice on a spare piece or simply order it pre-cut to your requirements.

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