gumball machine betta fish tank build

Unless you used a special kind of glue that glues acrylic to glass that seal will not hold.

 

I siliconed my acrylic dividers into my glass sump and they have been holding for 2 plus years.

 

Do they have equal pressure on both sides holding them up? The piece he siliconed in has to hold the weight of the water and anything else he p[uts in the tank. I don't think it will hold.

 

good idea, we think alike
I already got some marbles. I didn't get enough though, I underestimated how many I would really need, so I'll have to order some more.

 

I've had the thing siliconed for a couple weeks now, and at that time I hadn't read about this type of problem....but just last weekend I read something similar.

I don't have a sump, so I'm completely inexperienced regarding dividers or baffles in sumps, but if there was a leak in one of the seals would you notice? I mean, if there's a lot of flow over/under the baffles, would it be noticable if there were small leaks in other areas?

thanks for the concerns. I have a couple ideas:
1. I don't think the acrylic will have to support the entire weight of the water above it.

There is a gray plastic piece on the bottom of the bowl. This piece rests on the metal base, which will in turn support the weight of the tank. On top of the plastic piece is a thin ring and on top of it is the glass bowl.

The gray plastic piece has a ledge on the front side and around the rest it is tapered inward. When I put the acrylic pieces inside, they are resting on the plastic piece. I hope this makes sense, it's easier to look at it than to try to describe it.

2. From my understanding, the silicone will adhere well to the glass but not to the acrylic. Silicone will adhere very well to silicone. also, silicone has a lot of tensile strength.

If a leak occurs, I think it would be from a bad seal of silicone to acrylic rather than silicone to glass. The surface area of acrylic on the bottom is only about 3.5 or 4 inches in diameter. If I don't worry about the weight and only about a bad seal to the acrylic, what I if I coat the acrylic with silicone? I would have silicone on the entire bottom, from glass edge to glass edge. The only adhesive seals to worry about would be silicone to glass and silicone to silicone. Does this make any sense?

 

Well, I've been doing more of a long-term water test. I didn't change anything wrt sealing the bottom of the tank.

I filled it up with water and have let it set full for just over two weeks. No leaks yet. I think I'm going to risk it and just leave it the way it is, after all even if a small leak occurs, it's just shy of 1 gallon of water, so it won't flood the room!

moving on.....I'm going to begin modifying the lid for the lights. I've already got some parts. clear LEDs, on/off switch, 9V battery holder.

I thought it was questionable using the battery because there may be some corrosion, but I really don't want extra wires and I want to keep everything hidden well. Since I'm only using some LEDs, the battery should suffice.

 

super cool build, i love it!!!

 

Sounds good, can't wait to see the finished product

 

Thanks, it's been a fun little project so far.

It shouldn't be too long now. I'm staying really busy around the house and haven't been able to work on the aquarium as much as I'd like. I have a deadline - March 20 - that's when my wife's having a baby shower and she wants it done by then! ;D It'll be a good finishing touch to the baby's room IMO.

 

Before modifying anything, I took a few pics of the lid assembly.

This is what the lid would normally look like assembled as it would sit on top of the gumball machine.




This picture shows all the parts of the lid assembly.


The screw in the top isn't needed anymore since I'm not securing the lid to the gumball machine with the threaded rod that would normally be used, but I want to keep it so it looks good.



I need as much room as possible inside the lid to fit the battery and LEDs. You can see the metal protrudes down where the screw on the top normally fits. Looks like it will need to be cut out!