Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Has anybody put a window in a fiberglass tank?

I saw that Chainsaw had a fiberglass tank with a window, but it looks like he's not around.

I just picked up two fiberglass tanks. I was considering putting a window in one.

It seems that one would cut their hole, probably reinforce the edge of the cut area with more fiberglass and epoxy, then install the window as in a poly tank.

Or maybe drill the holes for the bolts and epoxy them while epoxying the other cut edges? I haven't really messed with fiberglass before.

I have a piece of plexiglass/ polycarbonate laying around, but I'm not sure it's thick enough anyways. It's likely 1/8 inch thick. I would probably need a 1/4 inch thick piece. Their would be a considerable amount of pressure on it.

Any ideas or input is appreciated.

Hello, I put a window in a metal tank but it is not all that good .You have to clean it fairly oftenas it gets a lot of algae on it even when you have some carp in there. I put it in there so the kids could watch the fish but the first time I looked the fish were looking at me. I would put one in the same as my metal tank ,I think it would work okay.

Hi Don,
What is the thickness of the window? And how big is it?
It looks somewhat smallish, or the tank is really huge...But it gives me an idea of what might work.

Yeah, I think it would be cool for the kids to be able to easily see the fish too. I like observing them from the top for now, and I'd like to have a fish tank kind of view as well. Thanks for sharing your algae issue, it's something to consider. Maybe I could put in a curtain...

I might be able to get away with a smaller window with the material I have. I'm guessing a smaller window might not have as much risk with the pressure from the water on it assuming my plastic is on the thin side.

I like how it's working with minimal bolts on the bottom!

Hi Will, The actual hole in the metal is six inches by nine inches and I have a inch overlap all round. For those that only use metric the hole is fifteen x twenty three centre metres. I remember that I did a job for some one once and they had a huge barramundi in the tank and it used to look out the window all the time to see who was coming and going.The plastic that I used was not very thick, some where between two and three mil thick .Sometimes when you drill it it will split . You can heat a wire on the gas stove and burn the holes. If you do it inside it makes a smell though.

Ok, what I have might work then, it's close to 3 mil thick, or 1/8 inch.

I love your greenhouses, by the way. Someday......someday...

I am also considering bananas in one of the systems. How did they hold up in the barrels?

Thanks for the input.

Hi Will, the bananas are looking good at the moment. I don't use any medium in the barrel now .I use a ceramic pot upside down to sit the plant on so it is near the top of the barrel and use DWC for a while until the plant has lot of of roots to keep it stable and now I let the water go into the centre of the plant and drain out the bottom. They look much better now and I am hoping to get a lot more bananas soon. When I was using DWC they did a lot better if there was air going into the water.

I've seen a lot of times when people did it with metal tanks, but never with fiberglass tank...

I ended up going a different direction with the tanks. Decided against a window after all, for now at least...

Unless you really, really, reeeeaaaaaaly need a window, then having one less thing to leak, break, allow algae grow etc is a good thing.