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Another "how to" question about designing a terrarium. I would like to build a glass enclosure relatively similar to an aquarium but I'd like to have access to the sides of the terrarium. I was thinking of making sliding glass doors on both sides of the terrarium. Would the space between the two glass panel be of any concern (1 or 2 mm)? Is there a better way to make doors?
Thanks for your input...

N.

How about flip down doors instead? They are easy to make and all you need is glass and an acrylic piano hinge. I do this with half of my tanks. I use 10 gallon verticals with flip down front doors.

It is certainly worth considering. I did not know they were making acrylic hinges...
Now, if you don't mind me asking, did you use this system because there is someting wrong with the sliding doors or just because it better fit your situation?
N.

I like this system better. You can put the hinge down to around 4-6 inches from the bottom, which keeps the view open so you can see inside the tank. I have heard of people using a small piece of glass to fill in the gap you were talking about in the sliding door system, but that makes the view even less in my opinion.

Ken
www.PeaceOfTheTropics.com

Peaceoftropics, what is the background in your tank? And if its moss what kinda moss? It looks like Java moss?

Rather than using two sliding glass doors, I opted for one large sliding door placed in a single channel of aluminum track (just a piece of aluminum "U" channel I bought at a local home center. That way, you don't have to worry about any gaps made due to overlapping glass (and beleive me, fruit flies will find their way through that!). If you're building a large terrarium you might want to consider that the glass front will be much larger than those used for 10 gallons, which will place more stress on a hinge type system. My sliding front is 24" x 18" x 3/8" and works quite well.

Good luck,

Homer
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of All Trivialities