andre@nrc-ut.UUCP (Andre' Hut) (12/23/87)
In article <194@bacchus.DEC.COM> reid@decwrl.UUCP (Brian Reid) writes: >More pesky questions. I've been reading a lot about the wonders of all-glass >tanks. Does "all glass" mean that the tank is made of 5 pieces of glass glued >together with silicone, or does "All glass" mean that the tank is really and >truly all glass, and that even the seams/bends are glass? If it means the >latter (even the seams being glass) then where on earth could a person buy >such a tank? I've never even *seen* one, and I've been to a lot of aquarium >stores. I've only seen 3 types, and those are glass with or without a frame (usually metal), and one-piece plexiglas. Frameless glass tanks are held together with silicon, and one piece of plastic around the top and bottom. They have the advantage over the ones with a frame in that you can see everything in the tank (no critters hiding in the corners), and the metal ones are unsuited for marine set-ups. Plexiglas is much more expensive and easier to scratch, but you don't have to worry about leaks. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- sdcsvax-\ ihnp4-\ \ \ Andre' Hut sdcrdcf!psivax!nrcvax!nrc-ut!andre / / / hplabs--/ ucbvax!calma-/ / utah-gr!uplherc/ Network Research Corporation 923 Executive Park Dr. Suite C Salt Lake City, Utah 84117 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
tom@pur-ee.UUCP (Tom McCain) (12/24/87)
In article <194@bacchus.DEC.COM> reid@decwrl.UUCP (Brian Reid) writes: > >More pesky questions. I've been reading a lot about the wonders of all-glass >tanks. Does "all glass" mean that the tank is made of 5 pieces of glass glued >together with silicone, or does "All glass" mean that the tank is really and >truly all glass, and that even the seams/bends are glass? If it means the >latter (even the seams being glass) then where on earth could a person buy >such a tank? I've never even *seen* one, and I've been to a lot of aquarium >stores. Well I don't know exactly what you've been reading about them, but around here All Glass is just another brand of aquariums. Usually priced a little cheaper than Perfecto tanks... --- Tom McCain
richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) (12/30/87)
>In article <194@bacchus.DEC.COM> reid@decwrl.UUCP (Brian Reid) writes: > >>More pesky questions. I've been reading a lot about the wonders of all-glass >tanks. Does "all glass" mean that the tank is made of 5 pieces of glass glued >together with silicone, or does "All glass" mean that the tank is really and >truly all glass, and that even the seams/bends are glass? If it means the >latter (even the seams being glass) then where on earth could a person buy >such a tank? I've never even *seen* one, and I've been to a lot of aquarium >stores. (Disaster struck. Computers and boats and xmas parties don't mix. All is lost, Possible lawsuits. The Universe is corrupt. I don't know if this got answered) There are three types of aquariums: 1) The Metal framed type which used iror or stainless steel frame, and set glass in black mastic cement. The bottom was sometimes slate, while the four side panels were glass. This type of tank was fine for freshwater for a while, although since the black mastic cement was not real swift stuff, either moving the tank caused the glass to seat funny and leak, or after a long period of time the cement actually hardened and occasionally eroded and leaked. When this happened you had to heat up the mastic, remove the glass, remove the old mastic, apply new mastic, reseat the glass. Lighting black candles and sacrificing a goat sometimes helped to prevent leaks. Nothing else seemed to work. These tanks, mercifully, seem to be extinct. They died in the seventies, 2) The all glass tank. This is, as you have guessed, five pieces of glass held together with silicone cement. Robert P.L. Straugn (deceased) is credited with inventing this. Try to find his book "The salt water aquarium in the home". He is to marine aquari* what Dennis Ritchie is to programming :-) I *think* he did this in the early sixties. In the early seventies it was about 1/2 and 1/2 metal framed and all glass tanks. 3) Plexiglass tanks. Tanks made from acrylic seemed to appear about half way through the seventies, and are now very popular. GLASS ACRYLIC Pros: Cheaper Good thermal insulator Scratch resistant Better optical properties Easy to fix one panel Lighter Easier to find glass than acrylic Doesnt 'bow'. Good bargins in used tanks Cons: Shatters. Expensive. All-glass is also a (tm) of some company. -- Its too dark to put my keys in Santa Fe, or something like that. richard@gryphon.CTS.COM