Building a tank

[nubreefer1228]

Can I use a old mirror for the bottom of a tank

 

[Airgoose2222]

It depends on the size and weight of the tank. There are glass thickness calculators online that you could use to check. Mirrors aren't very thick, so that could be an issue

 

[Serafin]

I guess you could use a normal glass bottom and then attach the mirror to the glass, so it seems that the bottom is a mirror.

 

[BillD]

Depends on the size of the tank and the thickness of the mirror.

 

[nubreefer1228]

I going to order glass and not take a chance thanx for the help

 

[90galWavefront]

Any decent size tank I ever had always had a tempered glass for the bottom. I personally would not trust regular plate glass for a tank bottom.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Any decent size tank I ever had always had a tempered glass for the bottom. I personally would not trust regular plate glass for a tank bottom.

I wouldn't advise toughened glass. It has a tendency to shatter especially when struck on the corner (that's how we used to break sheets down) and also along or close to the edges.
There is also an occurrence of glass sheets just giving out for no apparent reason, I have witnessed this on several occasions. The glass is in part designed to break into small pieces to meet health and safety requirements in public areas and areas of high traffic. My personal preference for base panels is a laminated sheet. 6.4mm or 12.8mm will be suitable for most domestic aquariums.

A suitable thickness float or polished plate glass will be more than sufficient in almost every application. Where plate glass is not suitable you will be getting on for pond sized to public aquarium sized installations.

Suitable protection should be used for the base panel.
The alternative is acrylic, it's lighter and tougher. I have no experience with acrylic aquariums.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

I going to order glass and not take a chance thanx for the help

A mirror can be on any sheet thickness of glass. It is normally chemically applied to one side of the sheet. Search silvering. (Not sure if the fish would like a mirror?)

 

[PB_Smith]

Yes you can provided the glass is thick enough.
Trust me though, it doesn't look as good as it sounds.