[nothing else matter]

good day

i am to set up a tank 72x18x18inches. the tank maker said that he will use 1/4" thick glass. im wondering if its enough to support such size or i might be pushing it. i have not yet made my order coz im still thinking if its safe. any advice would be a big help. tenx

 

[Flippercon]

I don't build tanks but my 125 has 3/8 glass all the way around. Not sure if 1/4 would work. If anything go up to 3/8 at least. Good luck and let us know what you decide and the out come.

 

[Number6]

Glass can be tempered which changes things... Find out what glass is being used.
The next thing to find out is what bracing is the builder planning? 1/4 inch sounds thin, but might be fine depending on other factors.

 

[nothing else matter]

according to the tank maker, he has made lots of that dimensions using 1/4 inch glass with no problem. i told him of my concern and he suggested to make the base glass 3/8 inch and all around 1/4 inch glass. 3/8 inch glass all the way is out of my budget.

number6, what do you mean by bracing. can you please elaborate so i can tell the maker. thanks

 

[Flippercon]

Glass can be tempered which changes things... Find out what glass is being used.
The next thing to find out is what bracing is the builder planning? 1/4 inch sounds thin, but might be fine depending on other factors.

Tempered glass is best if going thinner. Try going tempered all the way around in 1/4. If I were you I would save the extra dough and wait to get the 3/8. You might be out a lot of money if something goes wrong. If you can't wait and go with 1/4 let us know the outcome. Very interested to see what happens.

 

[Number6]

google pics of eurobracing

 

[nothing else matter]

maybe ill just wait for a while to add some more in the budget. it seems like 1/4 all the way is bordering to disaster. tempered glass might also be higher priced.

googled eurobracing. i think its the same idea that the tank maker is thinking. but i dont feel good anymore with the 1/4 glass.

what do you guys think if instead of 72" length i just make it 60x18x18 inches using 1/4 glass with eurobracing. would that be safer? i know im losing a foot of swimming space but i think its safer

thanks

 

[Flippercon]

Those dimensions come out to about 85g/319 liters . You bring the water weight down almost 120lbs. It may be safe but you would have to look up glass and its breaking points . Not sure if there is a formula for bracing glass. I would wait till one of the engineer member chimes in .

 

[zimmy]

Here are some useful links to look at if you want help in determining the appropriate glass thickness for a given tank size:

http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium

http://www.livingreefs.com/glass-thickn ... 21048.html

 

[nothing else matter]

those are good links zimmy. but only for tank with no brace. here in my country, i now know that all commercially made tanks have eurobracing. i tried to look for links of same calculations for with bracing, but to no avail. but thank again it was very informative

 

[Number6]

nothing else matter
1/4 properly eurobraced would be fine, just not much room for error. In other words, no banging into it with broomsticks while mopping up spills from the tank!

I would likely stick to 5ft long, but that's likely my paranoia more than anything else.

 

[nothing else matter]

@number6, i hear you sir. ya maybe ill just stick to 5ft to be safe and the wife already complained on the space taken by my other tanks .
thank again guys for your inputs :thumb:

 

[stefan88]

Height is what matters here.. You can go as wide and long as you want.. The pressure of the tank comes from the height.. 1/4 inch is fine for a tank of 18 inches in height.. Anything above 18 inches you would want to use 3/8 glass..

Here is a chart and a calculator..

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/planas ... ulator.htm

http://www.theaquatools.com/building-yo ... mment-2410

When using the calculator use a saftey factor of 3.8.. That is the safest number to go with but is not an absolute must..

 

[nothing else matter]

@stefan88, thank for the info. i quoted this from that articles.

How to Maintain an Acceptable Safety Factor With Thinner Glass

If you want to use a thinner glass to keep your costs down and still maintain an acceptable Safety Factor, you can simply design your tank as if it were 2 tanks by installing a front-to-back brace across the top/center of the tank. This effectively turns a 4' long tank into 2 2' long tanks.

To demonstrate this idea, look at the 21" high, 4' wide tank line in the Calculator. It indicates that using 9mm glass will give you a Safety Factor of 2.92. However, if you use a front to back brace, structurally turning the tank into 2 2' wide tanks, it increases the Safety Factor to 4.1, which is a very satisfactory Safety Factor. If the side panels are no more than 2', they will also have a Safety Factor of 4.1.