4000 gal

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Who here thinks 36" is the max height for 1/2" plate glass? That's really really bad advice if you ask me.

Is my understanding correct, that the height of the tank is 4.5 feet?

That the glass is 48" high? That the viewing area planned is 36" from the top of the tank? Or will the viewing window be centered from top to bottom?

Man, this is just a disaster waiting to happen if all goes as planned right now.

There is no way 1/2" plate glass should be used for this tank. I cannot stress that enough.
 
Hey guys back from vacation. Glad to see a few people got to argue about glass thickness. I am redoing the design for the window. There will be several windows instead of just the one and they will all be smaller. Still going to use the piece of glass I have now just cut into sections and used at the top. in all there will be either 4 or 6 panes of glass. I would rather go with just the one, but the glass thickness worries me also. I think I will cut the glass in half down the length, and width giving me 4 pieces. I will use one on the side and the other three across the top front. That would leave
1.25' x 2.25' viewing on all four of those panes. My next plan would be to have 4 more pieces of thicker glass for the bottom to do the same with. Sectioning it out like this would allow for me to distribute the stress on the front of the tank equally whereass there wass a big gap for the window in the earlier design. Would it be more cost effective to get 4 1" x2'x3' sections of glass or just one big 4'x6'x1" piece? This table top looks hella sturdy. They paid 1500 for the table origionally. Not too sure how shaby the glass material would be. It's just a hair over .5" is there any way to tell if it's tempered besides destroying it? Also I am scraping the railroad tie idea. I will just go with 6x6"s, and paint them black to make it match up with my origional ideas.
 
coolkeith;1198198; said:
Who here thinks 36" is the max height for 1/2" plate glass? That's really really bad advice if you ask me.

Is my understanding correct, that the height of the tank is 4.5 feet?

That the glass is 48" high? That the viewing area planned is 36" from the top of the tank? Or will the viewing window be centered from top to bottom?

Man, this is just a disaster waiting to happen if all goes as planned right now.

There is no way 1/2" plate glass should be used for this tank. I cannot stress that enough.
Click to expand...

You evidently didn't review the link I put in. If the tank is 12 miles or 12 inches the force against the glass is the same. You're making the mistake that most people do. The thickness of the glass is based on the height of it, not the amount of water that is behind it. The amount of water being held by it has absolutely nothing to do with the thickness.
 
Appreciate the suggestions guys but this glass issue seems more confusing than anything else. I realize that the height of the water determines how thick the glass needs to be. That's why I suggest that I will make seperate glass panes for the top and bottom unless it's more economical just to buy a whole pane of thick glass. I'm not rich by any means and must do this on my meager military salery, but I might can sell some of my artwork to help out with costs!
 
Nolapete- I did read it before and it was a good read. Thanks. You shouldn't base everything on that single page about hydrostatic pressure though. Most people at this site, MFK, give great advice about building strong aquarium stands, but only a few here have great advice on how to build strong aquariums.

Further explanations-
Glass is flexible, but it has no ductility. It will only bow so much before it breaks. The longer the glass spans without reinforcement, the more it will bow, and the closer it will be to failure.

Example,
10 gallon tanks are generally 12" high and made with 1/8" plate glass. This works perfectly fine because the glass is reinforced well and if it does break the damage will be minimal.
Should someone make a tank that's 15 ft long x 8 feet wide x 12" high (900 gallons) with 1/8" plate glass? Absolutely not. A 15ft long piece of glass that’s 1/8” would break too easily and the damage could very severe.

Another example-
Which piece of glass would be easier to break if you were to stand on it and then jump up and down on it? (Thickness and Type of glass would be the same)
boardstrength.jpg

Obviously, if you stood in the middle of the 6 ft span, it would be easier to break. What does that tell you?

It tells you that Length matters when it comes to strength and how much it bows overall. Reinforcement adds strength, but it doesn’t increase its ductility.
Volume matters too, in how much you need to overbuild the tank just in case there are any accidents.

I hope you understand now.

Good article you linked. I bet Hover Dam has a safety factor of about 10,000 just in case. Most home aquariums only use a safety factor of about 4.
Here’s a good article about safety factors and how to calculate the thickness of glass-
http://www.fnzas.org.nz/articles/technical/glass_complete/
 
yea that looks nice, just maybe a bigger window or two of the same size other than that good work so far and good luck!
 
necrocanis- I don't know what to tell you about using the old table top. If you don't know what kind of glass it is, then your pretty much screwed.

I'd just use it for a smaller tank or a sump.

I wouldn't skimp or cut any corners with a 4,000 gallon tank.
 
ok, so I am going to price out a 1" piece of 8' x 4' pane of glass. Anyone have any ideas of what the price would be? I'll make some calls. Don't worry everyone I will still do this project, but if the glass is uber expensive that will definitely set me back. I have a few ideas for raising money for this project though. Currently I am setting back $10 a week, and I am collecting cans for recycling, and all my change goes in a jar. Only got about $100 so far and a buttload of cans lol. I can collect them at work. They have a can crusher and make us recycle. I volunteered to be the recycle rep, and I get about 30 lbs of cans per week. At 48 cent per pound for recycling here you do the math on how many cans I need lol.
 
I guess I could skimp on the wood a little since everyone thinks it will be overbuilt the way I have it. I'll use the same design just with smaller dimension wood. Ply will definitely still be 3/4" though. Might save some money there. Also I do skeletal articulations of fish and other animals, plus sculptures and paintings might try to sell a few of those. Right buyer pays enough I could get the tank built off of one or two skeletons.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom