66" vs 50" deep

[toffee]

This is part of planning for my future plywood tank.

One of the objectives of this future tank is to have an viewing area of close to 4'x8', normally that would translate into a tank of little more than 4' deep, ie the glass covers more or less top to bottom. Most of the plywood tank threads on this forum has a massive stand of sort to elevate the tank to facilitate side viewing instead of top viewing like a pond.

what if the tank is say 5 1/2 ' deep, with the viewing glass/acrylic placed towards the top. ie for 5 1/2', from top to bottom, the first 4' or so would be the glass, then the bottom 1 1/2' just plywood with no viewing. This way, I don't have to build a stand to elevate the tank, and the tank can just sit on the concrete floor.

How would the additional 1 1/2' impact the water pressure on the glass?

I am pretty confused, so not sure if I am making sense here. Thanks for helping.

 

[spiff]

That's a lot of pressure. It can all be made to work, but I think your achillies heel there will be the plywood itself, not the glass.

But you got it; the pressure on the glass is only what its equal to or lower than. So if that 1.5ft extra is all below the glass, it'll have no bearing on it.

 

[toffee]

That's a lot of pressure. It can all be made to work, but I think your achillies heel there will be the plywood itself, not the glass.

But you got it; the pressure on the glass is only what its equal to or lower than. So if that 1.5ft extra is all below the glass, it'll have no bearing on it.

For a tank of 5.5 ft deep, since the 4'x8' glass will be places towards the top of the tank, it will only be subjected to the water pressure of top 4' of water?

The bottom 1.5ft will be subjected to the full water pressure of 5.5 ft of water?

If that is the case, I can put extra support for the bottom 1.5ft.

 

[toffee]

Based on:
pressure (lbs-per-sq-in) = depth(ft) * 15(lbs-per-square-inch-per-atm) / 33(ft-per-atm)

This is PSI per depth:

1 ft - 0.46 PSI
2 ft - 0.91 PSI
3 ft - 1.31 PSI
4 ft - 1.82 PSI
5 ft - 2.27 PSI
6 ft - 2.73 PSI

I am getting it right?

 

[spiff]

I'm not an engineer, but it sounds about right.

Do you have some plans in mind already?

 

[Bassinkorea]

This would make an awesome tank, and a great place for your fish to hide out of the way of prying eyes.

I'd love to see a project like this happen

 

[The1and only]

If you plan on setting it on a concrete slab anyways why not just build a cinder block tank?

 

[cvermeulen]

If you plan on setting it on a concrete slab anyways why not just build a cinder block tank?

Immovable, Ugly, Walls 6-8" thick, bleaugh. I mean it's perfect for some installations, but there are reasons one might not want to do it.

 

[cvermeulen]

Keep this in mind - if your water is 5.5' deep, you will either have to drain half the water or get a scuba setup to retrieve anything from the bottom, adjust filtration piping, aquascape, net out sick or troublesome fish, etc. After owning a 3' tall tank, I generally refuse to consider anything taller than 30" unless it's gonna have a footprint large enough to warrant it.

 

[toffee]

I am in early planning stage, this is my current thought:

Profile:

I would have to make a hole on an exterior wall and build this thing outside. This is going to be a paludarium, water will be a little less than 5' deep but only a little less than 3' for viewing, on top of the water will be a 3' area for turtle, frog etc.,

Thanks for helping me to think this thing though.