I have worked in the glass buisness for over 10 years and have been building tanks for the past 5 years. The amount that glass can bow is amazing. The 40 breeder is one of my most popular builds, and i use 1/4 inch glas on anything 75 gallons and smaller. A slight amount of bowing shouldnt be a concern. I fyou would feel more comfortable with a center brace, send me a PM and i will send you a glass brace if you pay shipping. The amount of glass that we trash at the glass wholesale company that i work for is more than enough to build most tanks. Let me know if i can help.
40 Gallon Breeder-Bowing?
- Thread starter BlueKiller82
- Start date
EdCal;3651833; said:
Glass tank do BOW. ANY solid material will bow given the pressure exceed the limits.
Steel, titanium, glass, wood, concrete, acrylic.
Clay is pliable
Perfectly normal if the bow is slight. I have 2x 40B's made by Perfecto w/ no center brace and they bow a bit. They've been set up for almost a year and no problems whatsoever.
I'm setting up a new 30 gallon braceless aquarium, 36x16x12" and it's bowing 8 mm (5/16") at the top center (I could swear I measured 1/2" bowing when I first filled it with (extremely cold) water, but now I only see 5/16"; maybe I was wrong the first time). A liner placed in contact on the front frame's left cornet has about 1.3" gap at the right corner. Is this huge?
I read this forum and most people agree that glass bows a bit, but can anybody post a number? How much is a bit? Is there a magic formula or a table to figure the maximum accepted bowing for different aquarium size / glass thickness?
I understand that 1/16-1/8" is not to worry about, but how is 5/6"?
Big Al's customer Support recommended I should return it (better and easier than having me on their neck if my tank blows) which I hate doing, after all the work, just to find out that the replacement aquarium will do the same or worse.
Any word of wisdom?
I read this forum and most people agree that glass bows a bit, but can anybody post a number? How much is a bit? Is there a magic formula or a table to figure the maximum accepted bowing for different aquarium size / glass thickness?
I understand that 1/16-1/8" is not to worry about, but how is 5/6"?
Big Al's customer Support recommended I should return it (better and easier than having me on their neck if my tank blows) which I hate doing, after all the work, just to find out that the replacement aquarium will do the same or worse.
Any word of wisdom?
