Where to find this part?
I've been (very slowly) constructing a 125 gallon aquarium into a vivarium. Between work, training, and classes, it's taken me forever to get to each part. I'm now in the water-testing stage!
I've overcome a couple challenges as I've worked on this beaten old tank, the first of which happened to be finding *something* thin and sharp enough remove the silicone between the glass panels. The back panel was split and needed to come off. I want sliding doors installed for easy access, thus the reason for just removing the whole panel instead of patching it and covering it with a foam based background. After a couple weeks of trial and research, I found that strips of measuring tape was the only way to accomplish what I needed. Razor blades were just too thick to fit between the glass pieces. Measuring tape did the trick, so I had to (sadly) butcher an older unit and cut it into strips so that I could very carefully saw my way between the glass. It worked. Pictures will be posted below.
Then came replacing the glass piece. I was just going to recycle the piece I had. After removing the bad part, I was left with about 9 inches of glass still intact for a water-tight 9-inch depth...but the glass was so badly scratched, I ended up sawing off the whole panel and replacing it with a fresh 9-inch strip from my local glass shop. All the remaining old silicone was removed with a standard razor blade. That also included removing the rotted old frame from top and bottom.
I replaced the frames with new halves purchased online from Over the Edge. They were very helpful and the frames were a perfect fit. The bottom frame was installed while resealing the tank and adding the new 9-inch glass panel. It then sat for 3 weeks before I had time to get out there and fill it with water. It will sit for a week before I can get to draining it so we'll see how well my first sealing job was...
Now...the problem that I've been unable to solve...those blasted doors. I've exhausted the internet for a Do It Yourself piece, or ideas, or replicated replacement parts to no avail. I need a piece similar to Tetrafauna's 'deluxe vivarium' vented sliding door tracks that cap onto the rim of the bottom-half glass panel. It's 5/8 inch thick glass on my panel, and I want the doors to be as thin as possible (1/8 inch preferable). I fear the idea of just siliconing a strip of track on top of the rim because there would be nothing really holding that piece securely in place other than silicone - and lets face it...silicone does wear out and that's still weight and motion bearing down on it when I have to open those doors.
So...any creative ideas here???
Here are some updated pics:
Before any work was done
Silicone removal
New panel and bottom frame added. Water test we started today!
Thoughts and ideas appreciated. I've been slowly collecting material for this build. I have a rough idea of how I want it set up, even though its a slow process with such limited free time. I have also been brainstorming filtration and waterfall aspects, but my main concern and frustration is figuring out the sliding door track problem.
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