Making my own betta jar

[MrMup04]

Here is what im planing to do once my bettas come in

1. Get a large slate of pexi glass
2. Mesure the size of the jar i want my bettas to be in
3. Gluing them together by putting silicon on the edges so that the jar can be sticked together

what do you think?

 

[catfishmike]

i think your going to have a mess.silicon isn't intended to seal acrylic so after to set your "jar"up you would find a wet mess when the fragile bond breaks.just try glass it will work fine then

 

[PreciousGems]

I say buy a jar/bowl. Its much cheaper than buying glass and sealant.

 

[Iggy]

There is something called acrylic cement you can use instead of silicone. Silicone will not bond strongly to acrylic, but the cement will actually fuse the sheets together.

Its not cheap and not all that easy to find either, but I understand your reason for using acrylic (lite-weight, etc..)

Why not build a barracks out of a bigger tank (see my 17gal thread), using acrylic sheets as dividers?

http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14404

 

[MrMup04]

ahh i already have the plexi glass... i kinda rather make my own becuase i want to se what its like instead of buying them becuase im going to get like 8 or more bettas and jars for me cost around 2-3 bucks. for the silicon thing how come it wouldn't bond to plexi glass that well ?

 

[Igor The Cat]

Pickle Jars To The Rescue!!!

-Java

 

[colesea]

2-3 bucks for some jars? You can get some glass ones from a dollar store for like, well, a dollar. And if you start "antiqueing" (ie, yard sales and thrift shops) you could probably get a good collection of jars going for a whole lot cheaper.

Or go online and buy in bulk from a supply company. You'll probably find that you can get plastic bottles (who said jars have to be made of glass?) for way way cheaper.
~~Colesea

 

[Igor The Cat]

I meant Pickle Jars from yard sales.

-Java

 

[catfishmike]

silicone isn't meant to bond with acryilc,it has too smooth of a surface for the silicone to grab on a molecular level,whereas glass is rough and the silicone will adhear to glass

 

[Iggy]

Get acrylic cement then. It will seal the joints and look a heck of a lot better than silicone.

These links might be helpful:
http://www.duboisi.com/diy/BNdiytank/bndiytank.htm
http://nobispro.com/aquatank/

 

[MrMup04]

ahh thanks for the help!!!... i will see what goes on my mind from
buying jars or making my own

but for now gotta start working on my betta case

 

[bettabandit]

Anyone know somewhere online to get jars cheap? All I have at home are my moms old canning jars =p would like some plastic ones... I almost thought of those coke glasses that you see at retsurants the big 32 oz ones and using those.