48in tall aqurium glass thickness? (1600 Gal)

[2031]

I know glass thickness is asked a bunch but what do you guys this the glass thickness for this aquarium should be? The majority of the tank will be made out of 1/4" steel.The glass pane is 130"x48" and will be supported by 3" angle that is .5" thick. I have attached some pictures to give you a rough idea what im talking about. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[M1A1]

Laminate two 3/4" sheets to get to 1.5". Maaaaybe one 3/4" and one 1/2" but that's dropping pretty low in terms of safety factors (2.9).

Acrylic would need to be 2" thick.

 

[fishdance]

I'm building something very similar but it's two of those sized tanks joined end to end with a removable baffle in case I need 2 separate tanks or one long tank. Using HDPE sheets and angle steel frame.

I bought double 19mm toughened glass with Sentry Glas Plus (by Du Pont) laminate. SGP is the most suitable for moisture but still need to waterproof the laminate edge and protect the temper glass edge from impacts. Easily done with a steel angle frame. Side on however, it's literally bulletproof if you search YouTube . However I'm not in USA.

I would not trust ordinary float glass for that depth as I've seen tough glass fail too but where you will be placing the tank would affect your risk assessment. The price difference is not large and well worth the peace of mind especially many years later. Toughened glass is 5 to 10 times the strength of float but the quality of base materials and manufacturing process varies greatly.

 

[2031]

I'm building something very similar but it's two of those sized tanks joined end to end with a removable baffle in case I need 2 separate tanks or one long tank. Using HDPE sheets and angle steel frame.

I bought double 19mm toughened glass with Sentry Glas Plus (by Du Pont) laminate. SGP is the most suitable for moisture but still need to waterproof the laminate edge and protect the temper glass edge from impacts. Easily done with a steel angle frame. Side on however, it's literally bulletproof if you search YouTube . However I'm not in USA.

I would not trust ordinary float glass for that depth as I've seen tough glass fail too but where you will be placing the tank would affect your risk assessment. The price difference is not large and well worth the peace of mind especially many years later. Toughened glass is 5 to 10 times the strength of float but the quality of base materials and manufacturing process varies greatly.

Thanks for your input, it is greatly appreciated!

I like the sounds of that. I'm definitely going for peace of mind. I'm still in the rough planning phase but the plan is to have 2 1600 gal tanks. One would be a peninsula tank like the pic and one would be an in wall tank, so i would need 3 glass panes total. The tanks will be in the living room/dining area so I definitely want to do it right the first time around.

When you say you went with double 19mm does that mean 2 19mm panes and the center so maybe like 40-45mm total? I'm worried about clarity. Did you go with low Iron glass? Is it alright if i ask you what size glass you got and about how much you payed? Do you have any pictures of your glass or build? I would love to see some! Sorry for the rapid fire questions, this has been on my mind for a while and I cant find much information on DIY tall tanks.

 

[DRUKENMUNKY]

I do not know about diy but i can tell you that my 4 ft tall acylic tank is 1 inch thick and it has never bowed or shown any signs of wear

 

[fishdance]

Yes. Double 19mm with 1.5mm interlayer to produce 40mm thick overall.
While you used to be able to obtain 25mm float, it's hardly ever made now as tempered laminate is far stronger.

Please send me a private message with your email if you would like photos or in depth discussion.

Acrylic is much easier to work with, safer, lighter and more readily available but its hard to beat glass if that's what you want.

 

[2031]

Yes. Double 19mm with 1.5mm interlayer to produce 40mm thick overall.
While you used to be able to obtain 25mm float, it's hardly ever made now as tempered laminate is far stronger.

Please send me a private message with your email if you would like photos or in depth discussion.

Acrylic is much easier to work with, safer, lighter and more readily available but its hard to beat glass if that's what you want.

I cant seem to figure out how to sent you a message. I think your account is private or something.

 

[fishdance]

I'm not able to send you a message either. Maybe your account is too new?

 

[Matteus]

I cant seem to figure out how to sent you a message. I think your account is private or something.

I think you need to have 5-10 posts in order to operate the pm function.

nice “catfish” in your prototype photo. Lol.

Cool project. are you planning to cover all the steel with glass, or are some parts supposed to be exposed to the steel? From what I understand, unless it is stainless steel, metals can leech toxins into an aquarium over long extended periods of time. Just trying to wrap my head around what the final product would look like, out side of the drawing.

 

[2031]

I think you need to have 5-10 posts in order to operate the pm function.

nice “catfish” in your prototype photo. Lol.

Cool project. are you planning to cover all the steel with glass, or are some parts supposed to be exposed to the steel? From what I understand, unless it is stainless steel, metals can leech toxins into an aquarium over long extended periods of time. Just trying to wrap my head around what the final product would look like, out side of the drawing.

All of the steel will be coated with some sort of epoxy paint so there is no bare metal. At least that is the plan as of right now.

I'm not able to send you a message either. Maybe your account is too new?

Yeah that might be the case. Ill try to get some more posts and ill pm you my email when I am able to.