Glass Thickness Guide

I disagree with some of those recommendations. There is not enough of a safety factor built in for some of those thicknesses.

Can you give some examples?

rallysman;1749620; said:

Can you give some examples?

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Tilapia Buttikoferi;1749739; said:

Oh and your an expert now? explain please.

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I’m not an expert, but I’m fairly good with calculations and engineering principals.
I wrote a safety factor calculator for aquariums that can be found here–
http://www.geocities.com/chefkeithallen/index.html



Are these thicknesses listed for tempered glass? If so, then ignore all my comments and delete my post if you want. But if these thicknesses are for plate/float glass, then this thread should be deleted ASAP. There must be better glass in Australia if those thicknesses are correct. Those thicknesses are well below safety standards in the USA and MFK could be liable if someone gets hurt. The only reason I post is because I’d hate to see someone get hurt.

Please ignore me if you want, but I wouldn’t build potentially dangerous structures with minimal safety factors. The bigger you make structures like houses, bridges, or aquariums, the stronger you need to build them because their failure will be more catastrophic.

I can almost understand using only 6mm glass for a 36x18x20 (56 gallon tank), but a 72x18x20 (112 gallons) does 2x more damage if it breaks. We are talking about ¼” glass here. Think about the liability if the tank breaks. The tanks might hold up fine in a basement on a perfectly level and sturdy stand. With just 6mm, I’d be sure that the tank is next to a floor drain and there are no tank busting fish in them. I wouldn’t want any children around that tank either. Glass breaking can serious harm or kill a child.

One thing that needs to be considered is that the reinforcement strength from the corner edges decreases as you increase the span of the glass. The 55 gallon might not bow out much, but the 112 gallon certainly will. The more glass bows, the closer it gets to its maximum elasticity or point of failure.

There is also a 96x24x36 (360 gallons) with only 12mm or ½” glass? I think that tank would be dangerous with regular float/plate glass. With ½” tempered/toughened glass it would be fine though.

The original post has no details about the construction method used. Bracing is not a given. Some of those thickness listed wouldn't hold up without bracing or with low quality glass. Knowing how cheap some people can be, I wouldn't recommend some of those minimum thicknesses. Also those thickness are for glass tanks only, not for plywood tanks with glass viewing windows. Many here might confuse the difference.

Putting 2 braces on a 72x18x20 - 112 gallon tank with only 6mm glass won't make it much safer. It's still just 6 mm glass no matter how you brace it. That thin of glass combined with that much water might make a few lawyers rich though.