Yes you can run thinner glass if it's tempered. the only problem is that a lot of what they make those tables out of is whats called saftey...or sandwich glass and thats not good. (The glass wall will only be as strong as the think pieces it's made up of... however in general 1/2" tempered glass would be fine for your application. Personally I always go with thicker glass...(I have 5/8" on our 240 and 1/2" on our 150 and 110 long.) With young wolves running around the house I want to be sure it can survive an impact.
4000 gal
- Thread starter necrocanis
- Start date
Tnx wolf. Tnx to everyone, and for johnptc for some offline great advice. I'll be on vacation for the next month so see you guys then. I'll try to get the lumber to start the window when I get back. That's the tenative start time.
Cliff
Cliff
Railroad ties are usually chemically treated to keep them from rotting or infested with termites. I'd rethink using this material.
Wanted to show you guys the filter design before I leave. I did this last night. It is clear just to show the inner workings. The part that juts out is the overflow box. it will flow directly on to a thin filter pad with poly fiber packed on top of it. below that will be pot scrubbers, and the second chamber will have them too. I realize for it to be a wet dry effectively I need to reduce the height of the wall on the second chamber, just remember this is a rough draft that I did freehand. The measurements and everything are inaccurate for now. After the water goes up through the second chamber which I plan on sticking an air diffuser in, it will go over the wall into the collection chamber where the pump will push the water directly through the side of the tank. The top of the overflow box would be the water height about 6" below the top of the tank. The height of the collection chamber sits at 3' right now. Just wondering if this idea would work or not? Can I actually drive the water at ground height straight through the side of the tank without fear of the water pressure on the motor, or if the power kicks off will it back flow through the pump and over flow the sump? Just curious. Had one suggestion to make the collection chamber the same height as the tank, but if it filled up I am not sure how I would get the water low enough to get the wetdry up and running again, seems like I would have to drain the whole tank. These are some issues I have to overcome on this tank. The filter will be one of the first things that I build. There will be two identicle to this one so that I can direct two pumps to sweep the bottom continuously. Hoping to cut down on the need to go into the tank for cleaning. Might also be comming up with an automatic water changer for this thing also, cause hey if you're go do it why not go all out right?
Scatocephalus;1177900; said:
I realize that, my father in law works railroad construction, and he'll be supplying them for free, non of them will be used on the interior. They'll never touch the tank water. Hope this gives you peace of mind, they are there for looks and support.
You have to consider that in a damp environment they will waft off the chemicals that they contain which will settle as a film on the surface of the water and then mix with it as oxidation/gas exchange occurs.
coolkeith;1196402; said:
His glass height does not require that thickness. You are incorrect. Water volume has NOTHING to do with glass thickness. It is solely the dimensions of the pane that do.
http://scubageek.com/articles/wwwparad.html
nolapete;1196429; said:
I spoke of Water volume because if this tank does fail, 33,700 pounds of water will be loose. That would be very dangerous. For a tank this size you must increase safety factors.
Neglecting safety is a terrible thing to do. You have to think of all the what ifs.
I wrote a material thickness calculator for determining safety factors awhile ago. Maybe it will help those who need help-
http://www.geocities.com/chefkeithallen/MaterialThicknessWizard.html
