Glass Thickness Guide

[Pilze]

I'm thinking about building a plywood tank 84"x24"x24" or 96"x24"x24". Should I go with 10mm or 12mm? Should I go with tempered glass?

 

[acousticrawk]

how about a 48x48x24?

 

[scfc1]

i am building a 4000 litre brick tank, i want a viewing screen of 7ft by 3ft but the screen will be 1ft higher than the base of the fish tank, so the presssure on the glass will be from 3000 litres (i think ?) because the tank will be 4ft high.

can anyone tell me the thickness of glass or acrylic i need ?

thanks john

 

[coltsr2]

Tank builders here say 72x36x24 15mm or 2cm for supersafe. double sheet on the bottom, especially if it's got a hole for drainage.

Hi guys my first post here so hello...just thought i would say my tank is 84in long by 24 in wide and 38in high..(actual water level is 36in)..it is made using 14mm Glass for sides back and front and uses a double 10mm base..

It was setup for over 6yrs with no probs...presently just re-setting up for a Malawi Cichlid community tank...

I think over here in the UK all standard 6'x2'x2' ie 24in high tanks under 8ft in length use just plain 10mm glass......

The guy who built mine was a real pro in the trade over twenty yrs and said 7 ft length and 3ft high was the limit for 14mm glass!....anything over 7ft would need extra bracing at the bottom and 16mm glass(hard to get!!)..and any extra height would also need thicker glass and extra support at the base were the silicone bonds to....mine had 10mm internal strips which run the full length along the base where the front and back panels attach....

The main problem is the pressure build up along the seam at the base he said the glass rarely breaks ..it is usually the seam just gives...so running internal buttress joints re-enforces the surface area for the join...


my tank the volume of water weighs approx 42cubic feet of water times the weight of water which is approx 62.42 pounds per cubic foot...so 42x62.42= 2600pounds approx..Thats a lot of weight....and most of the pressure exerted is on the bottom third of the tank.......


There are complicated methods for measuring exerted pressures with water...here's an interesting article..i don't know how valid it is...

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89278

 

[monstter77]

There seems to be alot of people on here that keep asking the same old question how thick should my glass be. well i am going to write it up so you all can know and can just look it up here. i build glass aquariums from 24x12x15 to 96x36x24". Now remember folks when calculating that you need to consider the end panel and not the front. Ok so here goes in LxWxH terms

24x12x15 4mm

36x15x18 6mm
36x18x18 6mm
36x18x20 6mm
36x24x24 10mm
36x24x28 10mm
36x36x24 12mm
36x24x36 12mm
36x30x30 12mm

48x15x18 6mm
48x18x18 6mm
48x18x20 6mm
48x24x24 10mm
48x24x28 10mm
48x36x24 12mm
48x24x36 12mm
48x30x30 12mm

60x15x18 6mm
60x18x18 6mm
60x18x20 6mm
60x24x24 10mm
60x24x28 10mm
60x36x24 12mm
60x24x36 12mm
60x30x30 12mm

72x15x18 6mm
72x18x18 6mm
72x18x20 6mm
72x24x24 10mm
72x24x28 10mm
72x36x24 12mm
72x24x36 12mm
72x30x30 12mm

84x24x24 10mm
84x24x28 10mm
84x36x24 12mm
84x24x36 12mm
84x30x30 12mm

96x24x24 10mm
96x24x28 10mm
96x36x24 12mm
96x24x36 12mm
96x30x30 12mm

PM me For Custom sizes or sizes not listed

once again once your end panels are 3x3 15mm is required
3x4 19+mm 3x5 25mm

as a general guide

6mm is 1/4"
10mm is 3/8"
12mm is 1/2"
15 is 5/8"
19 is 3/4"
25 is 1"

If you have a size you like to know post on this thread or Pm me

I don't think the private message worked so here it is again:-

Hello Mate

I'm biulding a 1200uk gallon 10ft w x 4ft d x 4ft h fibreglass tank.

The whole tank is fibreglass molded into a tank.

The front has a 9ft w x 3ft h hole in it so there's a 6inch frame arounf the hole.

I'm syliconing a 10ft w x 4 ft h 25mm/1 inch sheet of glass to the back of the frame on the front.

Do you think this is thick enough?

Thanks for your time and expertise

 

[gunther28]

I had never realy givin this thread a thought but lately iv been lookinf into making my own nano tank 30 gallons so I went a head and looked into. This thread and saw the numbers so I went around and measured all my tanks and I have several glass ones 125,180,210,55,55 and they were all several mm thiner then what this guid says they are all center braced and I'm not sure what kind of glass it is but I was just wondering what could explain that they are all fine and have never leeked and don't bow

 

[necrocanis]

Sizes given here incorporate a higher safety factor. Thinner glass will hold water, but remember this is MFK, and most of us keep monsters that are considered tank busters! Why go thinner, and risk water everywhere? I could have went with thinner on my build, but feel way safer knowing that my fish will be safe!

 

[gunther28]

Yay know I understand that mine were all made by a manufactuer so I was just wondering if the glas mine are made out of is different or some thing has I under stand there are different ways of making these tanks that could contribute to the thickness of the glass needed rite

 

[amehel0]

we consider our sizes as bare minimum.

monster 77 thats fine.

 

[amehel0]

colstr2 the guy is right and wrong. yews glass at long lengths will seperate from the base however rather then going up in thickness merely adding floorbracing will do the trick. a 6x2 10mm panelwith one 2' edge on a surface and the other 2' edge up in the air at 45 degrees will bow quite a fair bit. and will hold its own weight.