I've been trying to figure out how to make DIY rimless glass aquariums more accessible for awhile. I don't think it gets much easier than this! I was able to build the additional tanks in about 15 minutes each, so I kid you not when I say these are very easy to make. Plus, they're a very cost effective way to get a beautiful rimless tank. As I said in the video, links for the products are in the description. Enjoy and have a great weekend SerpaSquad!

I have never found anyone on KZfaq who explains anything as clearly as you do. Thanks again.

Went to Ikea, bought the shelves for the largest 29G size, followed your instructions and my first ever DIY tank is now happily hosting the new hillstream aquascape. Fantastic video, foolproof, no prior experience in building tanks needed whatsoever. Awesome job with the video! Thank you sir!!!

if I may give you a good advice: I've been working as a plumber for 16 years now and it makes adding and working on silicone insanely cleaner and easier is to use a tapwater dishsoap mix and use a popsicle wood grip to scrape off the still wet silicon way cleaner than wi9th a pen or finger. By using these two things I made super clean and beautiful silicone sealings in new bathrooms for many years.

Hi, I have built tanks professionally in the past and have the following comments. Its quite important to have a spacer between the two bits of glass being siliconed. This has the function of producing a structural joint with the ability to move. Its too hit and miss to not use spacers. We used some plastic sticks about 1.5mm thick. These would be placed either end to space the glass, removed the next morning and the holes filled with fresh silicone. This joint becomes structural and ensures the glass does not touch, important if the tank is large and has to be moved. A smaller joint allows no movement and can tear causing failure. It might be good to make a video with different joint spacings to see how easy a small joint fails? I was often repairing tanks damaged during shipping where the glass had been bonded touching and a slight impact would break the glass. A note on tempered glass, its immensely strong but shatters into millions of pieces when broken. More reason to space the glass with a structural joint as tempered glass is susceptible to edge damage and failure. We always sat the side glass on the bottom pane and not in front. Im not sure if there is a defenite reason for this but i think a shear joint is stronger. Please dont take any of my comments as critisisim, you do a great job. I am also from the other side of the pond so things may be done differently here! Thanks Rod

IKEA is going to be wondering why these glass shelves are selling so well lol

As someone who's in Australia with this hobby being ridiculously expensive, I am so happy to see this!

I want this guy to explain how to do EVERYTHING. He includes the “how” AND the “why” for each step but is concise enough that you don’t jump to fast forward through details you may already know (and miss something you don’t). Excellent details like the tape end tab/ tape end release chain - there is nothing more satisfying than getting to the end of a project and having the time you invested in prep paying off.

I love tanners no nonsense approach, he's not aggressive but the way he lays down common sense in an easy to understand and soft spoken way is great!

You know what, Tanner. You are incredibly talented. You are so patient, clear, and concise. All of your videos are just a pleasure to watch, but things like this remind me why you are probably my favorite that I watch in the hobby. You explain exactly why you do what you do, consistently. You aren't afraid to talk about the complications with projects and you set things out pretty realistically for those who are just starting, whether it is the older moss and terrarium builds, or the newer, more complex paludariums and vivariums. You also have made this to show that you can make tanks without cutting glass! That's so neat! One of these days, I will be brave enough to make my own tank. And you will be the one to blame for that.

As a tip for self leveling foam . Yoga mats can be purchased from charity/thrift shops for cheap! A couple layers of that will do the job and will be enough to do multiple tanks for only a few dollars

One good resource for plate glass, is to go to your local glazier ask if they have any 6 millimetre salvage. These are old shop windows that have had their corners knocked off, or are sufficiently large pieces which they keep when replacing them. They're ideal for making aquariums or providing divisions in existing aquariums, and costs less than buying shelving from Ikea. The glazier will even round the edges for you, for free. It's not a difficult process, though. You just rub glass paper over the edge to remove any potential sharpness.

the smashing glass to illustrate tthe dangers of working with glass is the most 50s-educational-video cute thing i*ve seen all week

I’d love if you keep up with this Ikea series because it is available pretty much anywhere. How about trying to scape one with Ikea plants?

IKEA? Not having to cut glass? Tanner, you're speaking my language. Using IKEA shelves is a perfect, accessible way for a lot of people to start making their own tanks! Thank you for the guide and I am _immediately_ saving it to my playlist of resources. If anyone reading is interested, here's a couple ideas that are even cheaper (or at least they were. Your inflation may vary 😉). Getting custom-cut sheets of glass from a glass cutter shop is actually way cheaper than I thought. It's a little cheaper than buying the IKEA shelves. Just make sure to ask to have the edges sanded and take into account the thickness of the panels of glass when giving the measurements. Absolutley feel free to ask them for help. Almost every shop I've been to has been super cool. Also, I recommend ¼" glass for anything 20 gallons and above, up to probably 50-ish. There are glass strength guides to show how thick the glass should be to hold the amount of water you want online you can look at. It's easy enough for basic tanks and always err on the side of caution. If you're making a tank with bigger panels, _then_ I would absolutely recommend taking the time to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations on what thickness and bracing you'll need. For standard aquarium shapes and sizes, it's not a concern but it doesn't hurt to take a lesson from Tanner and over-engineer 🤓 My second tip, for anyone living in the contiguous United States, is even cheaper. Petco runs a quarterly (that's every three months 🧐) sale on their aquariums. You can pull those apart and reassemble them as rimless. Or just pull the top rim off. Only do this for tanks that *don't* have a brace across the middle unless you plan to replace the brace with your own. Be careful when disassembling the tanks! I have cut myself more than a few times because I wanted to save the top plastic rim. Don't. It's not worth it. Acetone will also soften this plastic up and make it easy to pull apart. Just mind the acetone doesn't get on the lower rim if you plan to keep that. Best part here is you don't even need to reseal! You can also save the panes of glass for custom shapes. Slide a box cutter/utility knife/razor/sword into the gaps between glass panes and slide it down to cut the seals. Remember to go back and scrape every scrap of silicone off the edges to make a clean reseal. I'm currently sketching out a plan for a hexagonal tank made from 20 gal. panels 😀 Oh, and as a bonus tip, because a lot of people are intimidated by resealing tanks, it's easy to get cheap, leaking tanks from online listings, thrift stores, and even some local pet stores that don't want to bother. I once salvaged a leaking 35 gal. bow-front I bought for $20 😏

This channel deserves sponsorship from all the products that has been used here, especially from IKEA. One of the best DIY video I have seen in KZfaq.

I’ve been interested in making large aquascapes and paludariums but what holds me back is how expensive rimless tanks are especially once you get into the 20+ range so this is extremely helpful and encouraging for me as someone who works min wage but still yearns to get into the hobby.

For anyone trying to do this for the first time, I can't stress enough how important this 7:36 step is. The bigger the tank, the trickier it gets to apply your silicone fast enough to get a good looking finish before it starts being problematic. This is mainly an issue as an esthetic point of view though, as any mistakes could be fixed by removing excess or applying more silicone afterwards to ensure it's watertight. Doing this correctly though will save you time and trouble and give you a really clean finish look that you wouldn't be able to get otherwise. Planing ahead is the key for this step. Also I'd like to point out that removing the masking tapes before the silicon dries up will save you a lot of headaches. This will prevent you from having to remove tapes that get stuck under dried silicone or in worst case scenario peeling out perfectly good beads of silicone forcing you to patch it up. Hope this helps!

I'm forwarding this to our training department. It's an outstanding example of training step by step.

You literally add every small detail to make things as easy and seamless as possible. An absolute hero

Just an idea for the silicone bead. From some other DIY channels I follow, they use a clay modelling ball tool to create a clean, consistent bead. And since the metal ball contacts the glass, when the silicone cures you can just peel up the excess.

This comment section is a gold mine. Tons of budget ideas, from leveling mats to silicone trick. I love the community you build Tanner!

I’m probably weird, but every time I see someone do something awesome with IKEA products, I’m proud to be a Swede 😂

This is great! I grew up always hearing Ikea was awful but as an adult I find that it’s better to see their hardware as a blank slate perfect for customizing, or in this case, repurposing. Genius!

I really appreciate that you included ALL of the supplies. I see so many DIY videos that assume you own stuff that I sometimes don’t! This was a really complete and helpful video and I am super grateful!

DIY ecospheres and aquariums have become such a fun hobby for me and my son thanks to this channel. Anytime I see a thrift store I gotta go check the glass section out to see if there's something to work with. Instead of having a bunch of weird tacky art pieces I've got a house full of living breathing pieces of art. Thanks for all the inspiration!

This is one of, if not the best, thorough, and fool proof DIY instructional videos I've seen. Love how you went through each step concisely and even make mentions of steps or details that could go without saying but benefit those who would not have thought of some of the little things. Thanks for an amazing video!

I have been watching your programs for several weeks (since I got re-interested in terrariums) and have enjoyed them and learned a lot. I feel like I watched you grow up from your first to your last, LOL. Good job! Keep teaching us how to do it, I now have two and want to build more. As a child I was always playing in the woods and streams and bringing home critters in jars and bowls to watch. My parents did not care for it much but they let me. I grew up in Louisiana so there was plenty of plants and animals to choose from. Thanks so much for the education.

Now we just need a matching Ikea aquarium stand 😁

I really like how detailed he is in his instructions,good job broski!!!

Just FYI to those who go to Ikea, the dimensions listed for the shelves are for the SYSTEM, not the shelves themselves. To get the actual dimensions you have to click on the measurements.

Thank you for this foolproof indepth explanation!! Your videos make the process look so easy but there are a lot more steps involved that a newbie simply wouldn't think about and would have to figure out by themselves first. Been binging your videos the past weeks and very inspired to start some projects!

This video would have been an epiphany when I was constructing my first paludarium tank! While my tank came out satisfactorily, I could have saved hours of research, planning, and razor blade scraping if I had this guide. So many amatuer DIYers will benefit from this video in big ways, including myself! Your calm, clear, and concise teaching method is just what this artform needs. I have a feeling that these next few months will be a very exciting time for this channel. 😄

I’ve always loved how this channel has something for every body who’s interesting in making a naturalistic terrarium, vivarium, or aquarium. There’s so many resources and information for new people in the hobby, but also a lot of advanced ideas and tips for more experienced members of the community. I only started making naturalistic enclosures for all my animals because your channel made it seem easy to approach. This video is no exception.

Have never found anyone on KZfaq who explains anything as clearly as you do. Thank you

Just want to say a quick thank to You! With your previous videos I now have the "know how" to cut glass for terrariums, and I've saved quite a good money, plus got to use old terrariums that would otherwise go to waste. Keep up the good work teaching us, and usin materials you already have - we don't need any more waste in this world. Your work is awesome!

Hey Tanner, thanks for the extended explanation. I used a previous video to repurpose an old aquarium by cutting glass and turning it into a shallow tank. I would not have been able to do so without your excellent guidance. Cheers!

Hey tanner, you probably already know but if you dip your finger in some soapy water as well as lightly spraying the silicone before you wipe it, you'll get a better finish. It's what we use when we install bathroom furniture. You can also buy a caulking tool that you can use instead of your finger which will get you precise beads of different sizes!

I've been building and repairing aquariums since the early 70's. This was the best and easiest how-to video I have seen. Absolutely awesome video Tanner! Thank you for sharing. 👍

Tanner is the KING of this CRAFT. ~Y’all gotta give your credit where it’s due. There’s a lot of you that don’t mention where y’all even learned how to cut glass, let alone build a scape! TRULY Thank You Man! ~ One of the Most Deliberate & Intentional Scape Creators & Teachers out here.

About a year ago I was very inspired by your channel to create a terrarium for the plants that need higher humidity. I was able to find a used fish tank that had a small crack on it, but for my purposes it didn't matter. But it had a metal rim on it keeping it together. I spent 5 HOURS trying to separate the glass from the rim, I managed to remove two of the pains, but I had to give up on it, because to be able to remove the rest of them I would have had to brake the glass. Its been sitting partially dissembled for a YEAR! But this idea of using Ikea shelves is genius! I'm gonna toss the old project and TRY THIS instead!!

I can't thank you enough for how thorough you are with your demonstrations & explanations.

Bless you for this😅 I work at a pet store and the prices on the rimless tanks hurt my heart, but they’re soooo beautiful! I’ve been hunting for a way to create my own but I have no way to cut glass with confidence and it’s so expensive! This is incredible!!!

That’s really cool. I’m sure I’d get pretty stressed trying to get it all together, but it’s an amazing way to build your own tank without the worry of having to buy and cut glass to size

Excellent video! Finding the glass and providing detailed instructions makes it possible for anyone to buid a tank. Thank you Tanner!!

I have followed your channel for a long time and my family and I love watching your videos. Very detailed oriented in your explanations and also providing suggestions. Congrats to you and your family for your new place. I can see that this will definitely make your channel expand along with new projects that I'm sure you've been wanting to tackle since space and time was against you. I'm happy to see your progress and keep doing what you are doing because this is very educational and enjoyable. Can't wait to see your future projects you've been desiring to work on in your new place.

I've been wanting a new bigger tank and this is going to help me save so much money. Thank you for the clear and incredibly helpful instructions and all the supply details! Definitely earned my subscription!

fantastic tutorial! and finding those glass shelves for THAT price is SO much cheaper than getting cut glass. ill be using this for ALL of my future custom sized tanks for sure!

I've had Ikea glass shelves that I kept from a bookshelf I owned years ago. I've been wanting to make an aquarium out of them for the longest time but didn't know how to go about it. When I saw your video pop up I was super excited! You explained it so well and gave me the confidence to try it. And today, I did! I always enjoy and appreciate your content.

While I doubt I’ll be making a Tank anytime soon this is a great video for those comfortable with DIY. Your videos are so efficient with no padding , well paced , and easy to follow .

Genuinely, you're an amazing teacher. Consistent, patient, informative, and incredibly interesting. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise and passion with us, it's a wonderful inspiration as well as a calming respite from some of the harsher moments in life we've all had to face. It's hard to put into words how deeply I appreciate all your hard and beautiful work.

Little tip aside: dipp your finger in some dishwashing detergent before you flatten the silicone. It makes it easier, with a cleaner result.

Wow! I was just saying that I'd like to upgrade my 20 gallon to rimless and trying to justify the cost- thank you so much for showing us how to do it - Now I just have to be brave!!

One of the best aquarium diy videos I’ve ever seen. I appreciate this so much! Perfect timing and explanations for each step of the process. I’m going to attempt a bookshelf aquarium thanks to this video.

Such a neat and easy way to make a rimless tank! The end result hits a ton of checkmarks with not just the process, but also with what it's made with (and the availability of said items). With the range of sizes, these tanks could very easily be used + adapted for all sorts of critters esp in the exotic pet community. Incredible work!

Excellent, excellent, excellent teaching video. You are a great teacher anyway, Tanner! Thank you and congratulations to you and your wife on the new house!!! ☺️

love this, love you, love that you keep us up to date on your move and im stoked to see what comes next

This video has come out at a great time for me, I've been thinking of wanting a shallow tank to play around with for a while and have a leaking 10gal I have to replace the seal on. I don't think I'll need to completely tear it apart but it's still good to see these step by step instructions for working with the silicone before I muster up the energy to try working with it. Thank you

The instructions were so clear and it was so insightful! I’ve wanted to attempt my own tank build for a while now, thank you! I feel much more confident that I can now 😊

Great ideas as always!!

I have a number of aquariums, I'm a teacher and before I started teaching I worked at a factory and used a caulk gun for hours every day. I am nothing short of amazed after having watched this video. You make this project easy to understand and explain every detail in the most simple way possible. At no point did you talk down to the viewer even in the slightest. This is by far the most approachable DiY-project on YT. Just out of curiosity; have you tried using a caulk gun powered by an air compressor? I find them to be the best option for consistensy.

This is so helpful. I’ve only ever fixed some leaks in old tanks, never actually assembled one completely. Thanks for the informative vid!

This was an incredibly detailed, chill, and instructive video. You seem to excel at all your crafts.

Very good video! Didn't know those tanks weren't standard. You can't get anything else here in germany. Only thing i do sometimes is retrace the corners with silicone when the seals look flimsy. One had clear silicone and i went over with black. Looked quite good.

How you managed to keep the height of the front and side panels the same? Correct me if I’m wrong. Both panels are 14 inches wide, the side panels are 15 inches high and lie on the top of the bottom panel and the front panel on the side of this panel. Sorry for my English, I was trying make it clear but you know guys 😂

Someone truly for the people. Thank you Father Serpa♥️

Just finished watching this video for the second time. I learned a lot, thank you for all the effort and detail you put into this video!

Hi Tanner, there are sites on KZfaq that warn against using tempered glass for an aquarium because, allegedly, a simple tap on a top edge will cause that panel to shatter. I expect other subscribers will also have noticed these warnings. Will you please comment? Thank you. Michael.

I’ve all ways wanted to make a aquarium because of your video’s keep up the hard work!!!!

100% I’m going to do this for my Betta fish. I followed your channel for at least 8 years and you never cease to amaze! Thank you SerpaDesign!

Love this tutorial so much! Iv been using this to DIY build terrariums for housing my isopods etc.

Great video, very informative, as always. Unfortunately, the Utrusta shelve dimensions are different in Germany. We don't have the 15"x14 3/4" one, so it doesn't work here. Learned a lot from this video nonetheless.

I’ve recommended your videos to all my friends who DYI, not only are you thorough but also precise in all your instructions!!!

Wonderful video, as always Tanner, thank you! I was wondering about the evenness of the top edge. Seems to me like the glass panels for the ends are sitting on the base, but the front and back panels are sitting beside the base. Wouldn't this make the end panels sit the thickness of the glass higher? 🤔

Thanks, Tanner. Another wonderful and descriptive how to video. Thank you for taking the time to put this together and share with us all!

Love the tanks❣ You make so easy to do and explain things slowly enough for us to listen and comprehend!!!

In Ikea UK, glass shelves does not contain combination of sizes which can give you a box.

Great work. I’m a bit confused, all your panels measure 14.5. So how do the side sit on top of the base and still come to the same height as the front and back.

Thanks so much for the DIY video on building a Aquarium. I build various DIY projects such as the aquarium stands, bur always wanted to build the actual aquarium. Finding your DIY aquarium video with very great detail step by step instructions encourage me to finally start working on this project and not having to worry about cutting the glass. Thanks again buddy 👍🏽😎🤓

Eureka ! Congratulations my friend. Thank you very much to share those skills with all us!

Ge recently changed their 100% silicone to be mold resistant. Apparently they put a low enough amount of the chemical into the silicone they can call it 100% still. Just wanted to toss that out there though. The new tube is not the same as the older ones. I have had a full tank loss after adding some rocks I had siliconed together. They had a 5 day cure before going in.

Great idea ! But unfortunately for me (in france) ikea dont sell the same sizes as for you in the US.. Here you can only find 30 or 40 or 60 or 80 x 37cm, which means you'll have to cut a bit off whatever tank size you choose. Your 15x14 3/4" save you from that issue. I suppose it's the same problem everywhere in europe.

This is by far the best instructional video I've ever seen! The process is so thoroughly explained, even a complete novice will be able to make a quality tank at an affordable price. Really good work!!!

Awesome! We've done a DIY aquarium ourselves, and a pond too. Not from IKEA though, we ordered the glass ourselves and built it into a cabinet. Great to see how other people did it, great tips!

The sides are 15x14 3/4 ", wont the sides be slightly taller at the top, doesn't seem to be in the video, how was the slight difference adjusted?

How considerate of Ikea to offer conveniently matching panels of glass!

Love the idea of making diy aquarium and love even more how good you demonstrate and explain the whole process. Thank you much

Absolutely wonderful explanation! Thanks for sharing your experience, expertise and thoughts!

Correction: Panel size for the larger size is (36x14.75") for those that don't double check in the description 😊

I must be visually or mathematically challenged. I love this idea, but the math doesn't add up to me. You put the side pieces on top of the bottom piece. Since the side pieces are 14.75 inches by 15 inches, the only way the side pieces could fit on top of the bottom piece and inside the front and back pieces is for the width of the side pieces to be 14.75 inches and the height of the side piece to be 15 inches. That would make the sides 15.25 inches tall, while the front and back are only 14.75 inches tall.

Awesome!!! This opens a lot of possibilities up! Thanks so much for sharing this, working with glass was an issue for me. But I love the look of the rimless tanks....❤️❤️❤️👍

Love your channel brotha! I have been a fan for years. And this video above all makes me feel like I could do what you do. You explain things so well, step by step, and clearly and concisely, keep doin what you do brotha!

Just keep in mind that the Ikea glass is tempered glass. You can't cut this or drill it and if it breaks it will break in spectacular fashion.

great video... but i think you can find a glass aquarium for less than the cost of the glass from Ikea...

I myself am a big fan of DIY so I watch your channels quite often because I'm in the aquatics Hobby and thank you very much for the great details and all the information you put in this & other video I know it takes a lot of time so I appreciate that... and once again you came up with another great idea I never even thought of looking for Ikea materials for an aquarium thanks friend kicking butt again!

This is one of the best, most considered ‘how to’ videos I’ve ever seen. Not just to do with tanks… all videos ever!

Thank you. Excellent explanation, ❤ perfect. Step by step no blah blah blah just right to the the point just pure perfection of a video explaining everything. Love it thanks 🙏. I saw like 20 😅before finding yours and at last 🎉 score

Thanks so much for such a clear and well articulated method for creating a tank. I appreciate all the tips. Thank you!!!!

Absolutely brilliant. You explain this so clearly.

Best DIY educator ever!! Thank you. You literally are a role model ❤