Arowana aquarium planning

Eddie_87 · Oct 16, 2013

Hi Guys

I am planning to build an aquarium by the size of 8' x 4' x 4'. The back, sides and the bottom will be bricks layered with waterproofing coats. It s just the viewing panel that I am still concerned about.

First of all, I am not good at calculating water pressures, so i am having a difficult time to decide on whether to install tempered glass or acrylic sheet as the front viewing panel. 90% full will be at 862.99 gallons/3262.1 litres (thanks to MFK calculators!), so I am thinking a 12mm / 19mm acrylic sheet would be good to withstand the pressure, or will it not?

Cost is also one of the concerns, but as long as it can withstand the water pressure, I am willing to go the extra mile. The contractor will start building at the end of this month, I have to come to a decision real quick to accomodate the craftsmen. Hoping that some experts can chime in on this.

David R · Oct 16, 2013

I think you'd want considerably thicker than 19mm acrylic. Tempered glass is considerably stronger than regular, but there are downsides. For 4' deep you would want more than 19mm glass, you could reduce the height to around 3' with no negative effects on the arowana.

This thread might be better in the DIY tanks forum, there are plenty of people with experience bilding big tanks that don't keep arowana.

E.C. · Oct 16, 2013

If you're gonna include the plecs, as your sig says so in the tank, well, I'd say don't go acrylic, they're gonna damage it by sucking on the glass...

Eddie_87 · Oct 16, 2013

David R said:
I think you'd want considerably thicker than 19mm acrylic. Tempered glass is considerably stronger than regular, but there are downsides. For 4' deep you would want more than 19mm glass, you could reduce the height to around 3' with no negative effects on the arowana.

This thread might be better in the DIY tanks forum, there are plenty of people with experience bilding big tanks that don't keep arowana.

Thank you for the feedback. Just curious. Would a 30mm acrylic do better than 19mm tempered glass? Sorry, I suck at these technical issues.

Eddie_87 · Oct 16, 2013

E.C. said:
If you're gonna include the plecs, as your sig says so in the tank, well, I'd say don't go acrylic, they're gonna damage it by sucking on the glass...

Very tru! Never tought of it. Will any sucker catfish/algae eater damage/scrath the tank? How bout snails?

E.C. · Oct 16, 2013

Eddie_87 said:
Very tru! Never tought of it. Will any sucker catfish/algae eater damage/scrath the tank? How bout snails?

Snails will do. :thumbsup:

And because you're living in Malaysia you could get Malaysian Trumpet Snails almost for cheap in the Market right? I have MTS for my clean up crew. I'm not an expert regarding plecs, But I think if your aros would tolerate flagtails then you will have a algae eater in the tank, It's always a hit or miss regarding flagtails and plecos... let the experts chime in. :nilly:

nirman · Oct 16, 2013

1/2" thick glass will enough if your aquarium's water height is 3'. Using the height of 3' instead of 4' will reduce the cost greatly on buying glass panel. And also it will reduce some water volume, but if you realy need that much of water volume then you can try increasing the width.

David R · Oct 16, 2013

nirman said:
1/2" thick glass will enough if your aquarium's water height is 3'.

Do you mean 1/2" toughened, or are you talking about water height greatly under 3' (with 12mm glass anything over about 70cm height will give you a safety factor of less than two). 3' water level with 1/2" glass has a safety factor of little over 1.

19mm toughened would be adequate for 4' depth, IMO, if supported evenly around all four sides.

I agree with EC that glass would be a better choice than acrylic with plecs, although despite my best efforts I have never been able to find any solid evidence of plecs damaging acrylic tanks.

Pole · Oct 16, 2013

I would say do water depth of 3 feet, and maybe increase width to 5 feet, your arowana will appreciate it.

nirman · Oct 16, 2013

David R said:
Do you mean 1/2" toughened, or are you talking about water height greatly under 3' (with 12mm glass anything over about 70cm height will give you a safety factor of less than two). 3' water level with 1/2" glass has a safety factor of little over 1.

19mm toughened would be adequate for 4' depth, IMO, if supported evenly around all four sides.

I agree with EC that glass would be a better choice than acrylic with plecs, although despite my best efforts I have never been able to find any solid evidence of plecs damaging acrylic tanks.

Yup i mean 12mm tempered/toughened glass for 3' water height.
But also theres a little disadvantage of using tempered glass that if any damage occurs on the glass then there would be a explosion of little pieces of glass and the large amount of water.
Anyhow non-tempered glass thickness would be around 3/4" for 3' water height as i've seen.


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Arowana aquarium planning

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