180 Gallon Glass build help

[Tenzen]

My congrats to your GF for sticking it out. Very few women made it in structural engineering in the 45 years I was an engineer.

She won't answer because there is no true blanket answer. It requires complete situational analysis. Either way can work fine, depending . . .
hem out with air pressure, before we produced a window-wall or curtain-wall etc. This is because calculations and experience alone cannot predict everything.

Haha, thats why she just looks at me , rolls her eyes and looks at me like I am an idiot !!
I guess from her perspective I am ... Couple that with the fact she thinks I am insane ( And Annoyed ) with my love of building bigger and bigger tanks

 

[Tenzen]

Tenzen - Thanks again, They make it look easy! I may look for those brackets to hold the panels together. I hope they're not crazy expensive, but I'm sure there are DIY brackets that could easily be made.

I just went to the local Home Depot and grabbed some small 90d clamps , put some felt pads on them and called it good. I did look for the exact ones they had in many of the videos but could not find them anywhere

 

[69maritime]

Ok sounds good. I'll check out the clamps. In the mean time, I've gotten one response from a glass supplier a little further away and he is going to quote me on 10mm low iron glass. He does not have access to 12mm. With the correct bracing am I pushing it with 10mm on a 6X2X2 tank?

 

[Tenzen]

In have always used 12mm personally for that size tank. There are many sites around if you put in your details desired they will tell you what thickness glass to use. I am out right now but have them bookmarked at home. Can grab them later but they are a very quick google search.

 

[69maritime]

Thank you for your help. No rush at all, just the planning stages right now. If you have time later, that would be great. But don't go out of your way. I've been googling for 30 minutes now and so far it varies from 9 -12mm. And really when they say 9mm, that probably mean 10mm because who sells 9mm glass? funny I haven't found one to 11mm glass!?

 

[Ulu]

My 125 is 10mm at 18”x18”x72” and I probably wouldn’t go 24” deep with 10mm.

Now we do have an occasional earthquake here, but not serious ones.

If you want it to last a long time, find some 13mm or 1/2” As you go thinner with the glass, the glue has less purchase, and it’s application becomes so much more critical.

It’s a double whammy, because you have to worry about the thickness of the glass and its reinforcements and the silicone dimensions too.

The thicker the glass, the less you’ll worry about the silicone integrity of the joints.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Thank you for your help. No rush at all, just the planning stages right now. If you have time later, that would be great. But don't go out of your way. I've been googling for 30 minutes now and so far it varies from 9 -12mm. And really when they say 9mm, that probably mean 10mm because who sells 9mm glass? funny I haven't found one to 11mm glass!?

Different manufacturers do vary quite a bit in actual thickness. For instance, in the tank i showed above, 2 different manufacturers:

Peninsula glass low iron 3/8" comes in a bit beefier than true 3/8"(~9.5mm) at around 10mm:


While this PPG starphire 1/2" Comes in right on the money at 12.8mm, true 1/2". Note that my panel is inset about 1/16" and that this panel has a polished edge which obscures around 1/32" of the edge from view.

 

[69maritime]

I appreciate all your input people, Thanks again. Funny how it can be so different between manufacturers.

I'm still waiting to hear from a couple more suppliers and a large fish store 3 hours away from me. What I have so far is a quote for 10mm and 12mm glass. They're $1000 dollars in the difference. Ulu, your last post talks about a tank 72X18X18 with 10mm glass. From a few calculators I've looked at, that is at a higher safety factor than 3.8. I'm not needing to go the 24" high. I'm not even sure of my stocking yet. What's everyone's thoughts on 72L X 24D X 18H with 10mm? I do like the idea of it being a little lower so it will be easier to get my arms in there. Also the guy giving me the 10mm quote has been very easy to deal with.

 

[69maritime]

Another question. Why is my profile listed as a Mosquito Fish? Just cause I'm new?

 

[Backfromthedead]

I appreciate all your input people, Thanks again. Funny how it can be so different between manufacturers.

I'm still waiting to hear from a couple more suppliers and a large fish store 3 hours away from me. What I have so far is a quote for 10mm and 12mm glass. They're $1000 dollars in the difference. Ulu, your last post talks about a tank 72X18X18 with 10mm glass. From a few calculators I've looked at, that is at a higher safety factor than 3.8. I'm not needing to go the 24" high. I'm not even sure of my stocking yet. What's everyone's thoughts on 72L X 24D X 18H with 10mm? I do like the idea of it being a little lower so it will be easier to get my arms in there. Also the guy giving me the 10mm quote has been very easy to deal with.

Now youre thinkin. If properly braced, you could make the long wall panels (72x18) 10mm. I strongly advise using 12mm, or 1/2" for the short walls (22-15/16"x18") and bottom panel (70-7/8"x22-7/8"). Like myself and Ulu stated before, these panels are going to constitute your adhesion surfaces, and you want them as thick as possible.