Introduction: Pac Man Fish Tank

About: I like to make things more simple with easily available resources. My favorite quote: A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a…

A Pac-man themed fish tank constructed with glass. The design is based on Pac-man for android devices. you can see the screenshot of the same here.

Step 1: Materials and Tools Required

Materials Required

Glass 5 mm

  • 2 pieces of 10" x 12"  (for the front and back walls of tank)
  • 2 pieces of 10" x 4" (for top and bottom of tank)
  • 2 pieces of 12" x 4" ( for sides of tank)

5 mm glass for the maze

  • 12 pieces of 1" x 4"
  • 12 pieces 3/4" x 4"
  • 5 pieces of 2" x 4"
  • 2 pieces of 21/2" x 4"
  • 6 pieces of 11/4" x 4"

2 mm glass for the maze

  • 14 pieces of 1" x 4"
  • 1 piece of 2" x 4"
It is advisable to have the height of all pieces required for the maze a thread's width less than 4" for proper setting of the front glass without any gap

Other materials

  • A square foot of press board for assembling
  • Araldite Epoxy resin adhesive or Gorilla glue
  • Anabond Instant adhesive
  • Marker pen
  • Steel ruler
  • An old container for mixing glue
  • A small stick for applying adhesive
  • Fish tank air pump
  • Air pipe

Step 2: Construct Base

You need to construct the sides of the tank other than the front and top portions

  • Place the backside glass piece on a press board
  • Place the side boards in position
  • Insert spacers inside the tank to keep the shape and tie the pieces with a thread
  • You can also use Anabond instant clue to keep the pieces from falling apart
  • Apply any epoxy based water-resistant adhesive on all the joints
  • Allow the joints to set for about 24 hours
There are few "T" and "U" shaped pieces required for the tank. These pieces can be glued together and can be kept separately for the adhesive to set in. 

Step 3: Guide Lines

Drawing guide lines on press board will help in building the maze. Here I have drawn guide lines for the spacing and for the 5 mm thickness of glass. You need not to draw the entire maze on the board. The tank being built can be moved over the guide lines while fixing the individual pieces.

Step 4: Build the Maze

We can start building the maze from the bottom. Here I have used the guide lines as reference and glued down the glass pieces to form the maze.

Epoxy resin adhesives take longer to cure. you can not hold down each piece till the adhesive sets. So, place each piece at the required spot and apply little amount of Anabond instant glue. the instant glue will take only few seconds to dry up. Now you can apply epoxy resin adhesive to each joint and make them water resistant.

Step 5: Glue Sharp Edges

Apply epoxy resin adhesive to all exposed sharp edges of the glass pieces, which may harm the fishes. This will make the edges smooth and will help in easy movement of the fishes.

Step 6: Add Front Cover

Now we can add the front cover. Apply epoxy resin adhesive on front side of all the pieces and the place the glass. You can keep some weight on top till the adhesive dries up.

Thoroughly inspect all the joints before proceeding further and make sure all joints are completely water proofed.

Step 7: Wash and Test for Leakage

When all the glued pieces are well dried we can check for leakage and also wash the tank to remove any traces of chemicals from the adhesives used.

Step 8: Add Fish

You can add water and fishes to the tank. I got very tiny fishes which can move through the maze without any difficulty. These fishes also do not grow large and are suitable for this type of tank.

You can also add an air pump and filtration unit to the tank. 

Full Spectrum Laser Contest

Participated in the
Full Spectrum Laser Contest

Game.Life 4 Contest

Participated in the
Game.Life 4 Contest