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how to take a glass tank apart ?


aotealotl

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I have to replace one side (the front) of my cracked glass tank which I will turn into a terrarium with sliding doors. the lower part has to stay water proof so nothing will leak. is it recommended to take the whole tank apart and start from scratch or just replace cracked side ? either way, what is a save way to take silicon joints apart ? razor blade maybe ? is alcohol recommended (as in cleaning alcohol not beer just to be clear) to clean the edges which will be siliconed together ?

I also plan to build the front 'ventilated' for a better air flow in the terrarium. any hints where I get some sort of a aluminium plate with holes similar to this one ?

airflow.jpg

And I am still looking to get some double U profiles for the sliding doors (can be plastic or aluminium) something similar to this ?

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i prefer to drink beer while doing this,

i replaced the bottom of one of my tanks the other day

used gloves to pull the broken glass off, scraped it clean with razor blades, gave a quick scuff with sandpaper then glued my new peice of glass on.

its now got fish in it again

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I have repaired plenty of tanks and found a one sided razor blade the best thing. If you have any doubts about the silicone I would take it all apart, clean with meths and start again. The sliding door tracks I have obtained from hardware stores--one for the top and another for the bottom. They were pretty long lengths I had to buy so not easily posted. Do you have a decent hardware store in Naseby? Might have to get the tracks couriered from civilization.

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thanks :thup:

Alan, Naseby with a population of only 120 during 11 months they unfortunately closed the local Mitre 10 MEGA last week for good. there's a hardware store in Ranfurly were I will get the glass from but everything else I will get in Dunedin once I know what I will get in which store.

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thanks :thup:

Alan, Naseby with a population of only 120 during 11 months they unfortunately closed the local Mitre 10 MEGA last week for good. there's a hardware store in Ranfurly were I will get the glass from but everything else I will get in Dunedin once I know what I will get in which store.

Ask for Cowdroy track. Any hardware store worth going to can order it in. Check the Cowdroy website for info, and if you're still unsure, give them a call. When I was at Oregon, I used a lot of different tracks. Cowdroy stood out by far, both in quality and price.

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Don't forget that there is a top and a bottom track and the deeper one goes at the top so you can push the glass up and slot it into the bottom one. I found a while ago that the cost of the glass doors was about the same as getting the edges polished and the ground grooves you see on some of the imported terrariums were super expensive but getting holes drilled and supplying plastic inserts (that look like chromed metal) were not too bad.I forget how long the tracks were but I had to buy enough to make about 3 terrariums. Just checked--none left over.

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Don't forget that there is a top and a bottom track and the deeper one goes at the top so you can push the glass up and slot it into the bottom one.

good point, yes. it's my first glass terrarium I am going to build. did build many out of wood, standalone or in bookshelves back in the days for my snakes and lizards. (I have to go thru all my pictures, hardware, not on a computer and see if I can find any).

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I got that double U window track for like $10 or $15 at Mitre10 MEGA, couldn't find it at bunnings though.

For metal plates with holes in, Mitre10 MEGA also had something similar but it was bendable steel. You could get plate sizes up to around 30cm x 30cm. Another option is looking for sets of metal vents on Trademe, they sometimes go cheap.

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