Advice please! DIY Upside Down Aquarium

[TheGuppyGirl]

I have plans to make a two-piece upside down aquarium that holds approximately 4 gallons.
Bottom tank measures about 10x10x6.5 (LxWxH) and the flipped tank will measure about 6x6x13 (neither tank will have braces/rims or whathaveyou, just silicone).
My only conundrum is deciding how thick the glass should be. I've already been to a couple of aquarium glass calculator sites and they say it should be a quarter of an inch thick, however my store bought 10 gal tank has a thickness of about an eighth of an inch (has a rim on top and bottom). Should I really use 0.25" thickness or would it be safe to go a little thinner?

Will be more than happy to post my progress when I finalize the plans.

 

[huma-huma]

if you are planning on going rimless, you are going to need to run thicker glass. id look into acrylic if possible because it bends a bit more and usually can flex under the weight of water. whereas glass will just crack

 

[Oohitsae]

I'd definitely go for the .25 thickness as suggested. Rimless needs more thickness behind it to account for the missing bracing.

Also, what is an upsidedown tank? I've never heard of one?

 

[huma-huma]

upside down tank....

 

[huma-huma]

no but really...heres an upside down aquarium

 

[Oohitsae]

Haha nice one! Should have worded that differently lol

Anyways, that looks really cool!! I'd go for the glass that was suggested by those sites though. They know their stuff...I wouldn't want to spend all that time making something so cool only to use a lower thickness and have it end up falling apart just because the smaller thickness would have looked more appealing. Just IMO though.

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

Thanks. :3
Now I can complete the dimensions and get started. I did consider acrylic, but can I bond it the same way?

 

[huma-huma]

acrylic can be bonded via a chemical bonding agent. it literally melts the acrylic together. oh and to whomever is interested, you have to slide an air hose up into the top tank and suck the air out, which in turn pulls the water up. only downside to these tanks are that if the water level in the lower tank drops below the rim of the top tank, itll break the vacuum seal and dump water everywhere.if you need a demo, fill your sink with water, stick a glass down in the water and invert it, slowly pull out of the water till the cup edge comes out, watch what happens

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

I came across the idea on YouTube. I thought it was an awesome way to keep a betta plus some bamboo or other semi-aquatic plants. I can only hope my betta doesn't feel like jumping out.

 

[huma-huma]

I came across the idea on YouTube. I thought it was an awesome way to keep a betta plus some bamboo or other semi-aquatic plants. I can only hope my betta doesn't feel like jumping out.

Should be good to go as long as the water level doesnt drop too much

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

Did some more calculating with the new measurements and the tank will hold approximately 3.6 gallons, though I'm sure actual water volume will differ when I add plants/gravel etc. Can't wait to get started!

 

[Oohitsae]

what are you planning to stock it with once done?

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

Just one betta fish. Three and a half gallons may seem a little excessive to some for a betta but I think he'd be happier than lazily swimming around in a half gallon plastic tank.

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

As for plants I was planning on a few stalks of bamboo though I may include a semi-aquatic flowering plant if I can find one. Natural river pebbles for the substrate.

 

[Rcguerra]

I have a betta on a7 gallon cube, so yes they do thrive under more spacious conditions. I have one concern though:

Bettas do need air to breath, so are you planning on keeping a bubble at the top, or are you expecting the betta to find his way down and up to avoid drowning?

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

Betta are able to take in oxygen through their gills, but in the wild they adapted to breath directly from the surface since the tiny ponds they live in are either stagnant or just too small during the dry season. I plan on incorporating a tiny filter to help circulate the water, but I have no fear of my betta drowning.

 

[huma-huma]

Betta are able to take in oxygen through their gills, but in the wild they adapted to breath directly from the surface since the tiny ponds they live in are either stagnant or just too small during the dry season. I plan on incorporating a tiny filter to help circulate the water, but I have no fear of my betta drowning.

+1 on the betta info. also its a widely accepted idea that bettas prefer tiny .5 or 1 gallon bowls, but in actuality, its been found they do better in 5-10g tanks. they also do not fight everything like most would have you believe. ive seen male bettas incorporated into community tanks on several occasions. anxious to see this tank once its done

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

I do have a 10gal platy tank (with a couple of cory cats and kuhli loaches) and I did consider letting my betta explore it and see how he does, but my male platy seems to be aggressive towards one particular female and I'm afraid he might nip at my betta's fins.

 

[Rcguerra]

Thank you for sharing. The main reason I was bringing that was because not to long ago I was in the market for a 5G+ tank to put a Betta and I was considering those aquacubes from Fluval that have glass on top, and several people (predominantly on Facebook fan pages about bettas) told me to stay away from those since they ended up losing some bettas to the design.

 

[TheGuppyGirl]

Here's the lucky little guy that's going to occupy the tank. He's not very exotic but still quite handsome.