Hi friends, Iam making a 8 feet long and 2 feet wide tank for 16 inch arowana, I have a doubt in glass thickness, should I use a 12 mm or 10 mm thick glass? And normal glass is fine or do I need a toughened glass. And what type of cover I should make, considering I have 1 inlet and 1 outlet from canister filter I would also need a provision for a HOB filter. Thanks in advance
A google search will provide lots of charts for calculating glass thickness; it's determined by depth, as this is what creates increasing pressure and necessitates thicker glass. Bear in mind that you don't necessarily want to go with the minimum thickness; thicker glass is great for peace of mind.
I use ordinary annealed window glass. My tanks are 24 inches deep, and I always go with the 12mm thickness; yes, it's a bit more expensive and heavier, but worth it in my opinion.
An excellent material for making covers is the clear corrugated greenhouse siding available at lumber yards. It's safe and inert, it is very easy to cut to size with tin snips or even heavy-duty shears, extremely lightweight, resilient and tough. You can cut out various shapes and holes for filters, etc. This stuff works beautifully for plywood tanks and other types with a fairly wide frame around the top, with the cover material sitting "inside" the frame. It would be less useful for a rimless design because its corrugated structure makes it about 3/4-inch in overall thickness, so it would be visible...and pretty ugly...just sitting on top.
It's good with jumpers like Arowanas as it flexes and gives a bit when they strike it, so there is somewhat less chance of them damaging themselves as opposed to a heavy glass lid which they hit as though it's a concrete wall. They also cannot ever break it, unlike glass.
I use ordinary annealed window glass. My tanks are 24 inches deep, and I always go with the 12mm thickness; yes, it's a bit more expensive and heavier, but worth it in my opinion.
An excellent material for making covers is the clear corrugated greenhouse siding available at lumber yards. It's safe and inert, it is very easy to cut to size with tin snips or even heavy-duty shears, extremely lightweight, resilient and tough. You can cut out various shapes and holes for filters, etc. This stuff works beautifully for plywood tanks and other types with a fairly wide frame around the top, with the cover material sitting "inside" the frame. It would be less useful for a rimless design because its corrugated structure makes it about 3/4-inch in overall thickness, so it would be visible...and pretty ugly...just sitting on top.
It's good with jumpers like Arowanas as it flexes and gives a bit when they strike it, so there is somewhat less chance of them damaging themselves as opposed to a heavy glass lid which they hit as though it's a concrete wall. They also cannot ever break it, unlike glass.
