And it has Begun(muahahahaha)

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Ok well I am leaning towards 10' X 32"tall only filled to 30" and 40" front to back. These are external dimensions But with the tank that high, will 1/2" still be acceptable?
 
one very important thing that i goptta ask you and im not trying to scrutinize you, but plywood comes in sheets 8' long and 4' wide. how are you going to put a seem on a 10' long tank when it will have a seem thats not at a corner? see what i mean? you may be better off gaining the added gallons by going taller. it is definately safer this way
 
from everything i have been read and all the research ive done 1/2" will not be acceptible. At 30" 3/4" glass is said to be able to hold up for an 8' tank after 30" its 1" most manufactures and calculators suggest 1" at 30" on the 8' so its up to you but seeing as you have a tank tapper in your house and depending on how aggressive of fish you have 3/4" might be pushing it on a 10' build but let us know what you choose and remember I'm no expert I have just done a bunch of research and reading on glass thickness in preperation for a build of my own.


Good Luck!!! Now on with the planning :)
 
for that seam im just going to put a shiat ton of wood glue in between in and im going to use two gallons of a 2part aquatic epoxy. I don't have a tank tapper in the house, my son will not go near this tank unless he is with myself or my wife but thank you kindly for the concern. The glass calc on google said 16mm glass for a 34" and 10' so i will continue to do some research
 
ohh and 32"tall mind you ends up only having a 26" viewing area cause of the 2x4s on top and bottom
 
spiff;3208189; said:
That's not true. The longer the span, the more stress it'll be under and the thicker it will need to be.
Understand one key factor that your missing... if the bracing prevents deflection (bowing) you can go as long as you like and your pockets can handle just as long as the depth doesn't change there is no need to increase the thickness of the glass.
 
basslover34;3209787; said:
Understand one key factor that your missing... if the bracing prevents deflection (bowing) you can go as long as you like and your pockets can handle just as long as the depth doesn't change there is no need to increase the thickness of the glass.


I understand perfectly. This is elementry physics. Just about every calculator on the subject assumes that it'll be braced on all four sides. You still have this vast span in the middle that is unsupported, and the longer and/or taller that gets, the thicker it should be because the more stress it'll be under. The deflection you refer to is contingent on the thickness of the support surface, depth of water and thickness of the glass and length of span.

Unless you're talking about putting a verticle support in the middle of the span, in which case buying a 10' piece of glass is a waste of money when you can just use two smaller and cheaper pieces.
 
Iplan on putting a 2x4 every 10" up top maybe not that close but big enough to fit a 5g bucket in the tank so I have room to work
 
AndrewMack;3209883; said:
Iplan on putting a 2x4 every 10" up top maybe not that close but big enough to fit a 5g bucket in the tank so I have room to work
you can go larger than that but make sure that your less than 2' apart IMO

Spiff while your running the calculators did any of them happen to actually ask you where the top braces would be located and how many it suggests? No... Thats because it doesn't assume them and tyically you can use an open top design for most tanks upto 8' with no cross braces if you simply increase the thickness of the glass to account for the deflection. HOWEVER this is not the case with braced tanks as you are able to remove the deflection factor and use thinner glass.

The way it's be done for Many Many years... look into it
 
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