how can i make my own tank that will be structuraley sound and safe to hold fishy forms of life DO NOT BE FOOLED BY MY AGE i can still put nearly anything together with some mildly detailed instruction

If you have any questions please feel free to pm me.

ok mike

and MC i wanted something small like.... a 30 gallon

Prob cheaper to just go buy one than build one at that size to be perfectly honest.

hmmm.... what about plexiglass? would that work? i have some of that laying around

Nope...it's not strong enough.

not even through layers?

I wouldn't trust it. It isn't rigid enough.

I think it would depend on the thickness of the plexi, the height you want to make the tank, and bracing and design.

You can fuse plexi to make it sturdier. I've built 10s and stuff from scraps from a place my friend used to work at. The chemicals used to fuse plexi are very very evil.

Check instructables.com too. I think I remember a write up on someone turning an old crt monitor into a fish tank with plexi. You may not be able to do a 30 but you could still have fun building something smaller.

Mostly, if he lives in or around Manhattan, prices for a lot of things are way more than other places. I remember my friend being impressed that 20s were only 30 bucks around me since they were something like 65 near him. (They weren't kits either)

That being said, if you live in/near Manhattan, check out I believe they're called Tap Plastics and Acrylics. I haven't been there in forever and can't remember the address but the guys up there are pretty cool and have given me as many scraps as I'd care to take. I was using them to make "stained glass" for my windows though so I'm not sure how well they'd work or what they would have for tank construction.

well im sorry to say this but im not makin my dad drive me for about 300 miles to get plexi scraps LoL but i do thank you for the idea.....ill make a test tank and see if it holds up. i have a ton of plexi scraps around here so, ill be fine with that