DIY Front Opening Aquariums

I'm moving this thread to the DIY forum. Hope no one minds.

This is an older post, but it is really an awesome idea and I have a question... probably a stupid question, but oh well! What are rivets, and why don't you just use screws?

Originally Posted by nivek5225

This is an older post, but it is really an awesome idea and I have a question... probably a stupid question, but oh well! What are rivets, and why don't you just use screws?

Rivets are kinda like a permanent bolt. In the photos they look like what are called pop rivets. I'd imagine the problem with using screws is making sure there is nothing sharp for the snake to injure itself on.

This really looks like a great idea. I may look into this.

That's a really sweet idea. It actually gave me an idea. Looking at your pics, the lip of the aquarium allows you to put a certain amount of substrate in there without it spilling over. I was wondering what could be done to allow it to hold even more substrate, and came up with this idea. I appreciate the insight...I probably would have never thought to turn an aquarium on its side, and install something like this.



Have you thought about adding something to the door to keep it from swinging inward? I assume the hinges prevent this from happening right? In the event of some form of impact or excessive force applied to the door, would the hinge crack the plastic where it attaches? I added two black rectangles to the door. These are some sort of tabs that would prevent the door from swinging inward. I am not sure how to make them, or what to make them from, but I figured they would add some stability to the door when closed. Let me know what you think.

Originally Posted by Nroc

Have you thought about adding something to the door to keep it from swinging inward? I assume the hinges prevent this from happening right? In the event of some form of impact or excessive force applied to the door, would the hinge crack the plastic where it attaches? I added two black rectangles to the door. These are some sort of tabs that would prevent the door from swinging inward. I am not sure how to make them, or what to make them from, but I figured they would add some stability to the door when closed. Let me know what you think.

I thought about this some more, and realized that the aquarium ledge would actually serve the purpose of those two tabs I spoke about. Does the door rest on this part of the ledge?

Rivite instead of screws, basically what bkelm18 said....no sharp edges exposed. And being aluminum they don't rust or corrode if high humidity is needed.

The litter dam, I've actually made several now with a wider litter damn pretty close to what is shown in that diagram, running another small piece of plexi along the bottom edge of the litter dam alievates the swinging door issue you observed. Without the litter dam the lid will rest in the lip of the tank when closed.

~B~

This is really amazing. I think I'll be converting a couple of my tanks this way. Thank you so much for posting!

You're quite welcome, glad it helped!

~B~

Originally Posted by The Snake Guru

You're quite welcome, glad it helped!

~B~

lol I am still hoping to get that set from you.

OK, so I have the rivet gun, rivets, plexiglass and hinges.

And questions...

I'm not 100% in love with the industrial look of that vent. Can't I use something more like this: http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?...1&cmRelshp=sim secured with silicone or something? (more rivets?)

Also, the dood at the Home Despot said you can't cut plexiglass with a saw b/c it will split, etc. and recommended this scoring/popping method. But I bought the thick plexi so that's going to take forever. Or is this guy full of crap and I can use a saw? b/c I would rather have my buddy cut it for me.

no one seems to have the cam locks w/o keys (though I do have a couple more stores to try). I'm afraid of locking my babies and losing the keys!