L shaped tanks?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
So you are saying 4'x4' viewing window, so are you planning 4' deep?

If you are doing 4' deep than you would be asking for failure if you go with 3/4" acrylic. 3/4" glass might be OK (still not safe IMHO) but definitely not acrylic.

Boat window acrylic is still just acrylic. As long as it is cell cast acrylic it is what you want. But if you are going 4' deep than I would say 1.25" is the MINIMUM and 1.5" would be what you should really go with for acrylic. If you think you can do 3/4" acrylic in a 4' deep tank than go for it. Just be sure to post your failure and how it fails so we can have a clear example to show the next person that thinks they can skimp on viewing window thickness. And hopefully you don't get hurt or hurt anyone else.

Just remember, we are all trying to help you and provide our advise and experience. The physics behind your tank design is not that complicated and the more I look at it the more I agree with myself on what you need for viewing window thickness.

Jointing the inside corner of that tank (if you don't want a brace there) would be easier with acrylic in my opinion. Acrylic, solvent welds together to create one piece. I have worked with acrylic quite a bit and it is pretty easy to use as long as you have the tools to work with it. A router table is basically a must.

Glass would probably be fine with a normal T type joint as long as you have the proper thickness of glass and good silicone. The proper thickness of glass would be 1". You could probably get away with 3/4" but I would highly recommend against it. Glass is far more dangerous that acrylic if it fails because it can fail completely all at once and with that amount of water and pressure being released all at once with large pieces of glass in the mix could kill someone.
 
I have been reading more and i'm not going to use 1/2. I think it could work because the bow factor, but I'm look at think stuff right now.
 
It was going to be a 3' deep but im going to just make it 4' and get thicker glass or plexiglass.


The whole thing is the pressures and not having a cal. Its all opinions and im trying to see what has worked for others in the past.
 
It is not just opinion here. It is simple physics. An L shaped tank is not much different than a regular rectangle tank. Really the only difference is there is an inside joint.

About the inside joint. Making a normal "T" type joint. This is the type of joint that is used to glue together typical glass and acrylic tanks. In an inside joint you have the water pressure actually pushing the joint together where as an outside joint like the corners of the average fish tank would have the water pressure pushing out on the joint, trying to push the joint apart.

So an inside joint is no problem and is probably stronger than an outside joint.

Not sure why you are questioning the window thickness so much. All you need to do is treat it as if it was 2 windows than size in a rectangle tank at that water depth.
 
I actually have an all acrylic L - shaped tank. It has viewing panels of 6 feet long and 3 feet deep. The "back" side where the overflows are measure 4 feet long and 3 feet deep. The tank is 2 feet from front viewing panel to the back panels.

So, in reality if it were a rectangle tank it would be 10 feet long 3 feet in depth and 2 feet front to back.

It is made of 3/4 inch acrylic (euro braced), works fine but 4 foot deep acrylic tanks require 1 inch thick acrylic for shorter spans (under 7 feet). If you have spans of 8 to 10 feet or so and 4 foot of depth those tanks are 1.25 inch acrylic.
 
Since reading Muni's build, I have been considering a L shaped tank in my basement. I am looking at 20 long X 8 long X 2 deep X 2.5 tall. I don't need Monster volume, but I do want Monster length :)

Just remember, your outside corner is going to see close to double the pressure of any other joint. This is where your tank is going to blow apart if it fails. Forgive my rough sketch...laptop pressure pads and Paint don't go together well.

L.jpg



The top sketch is a typical, rectanular tank. For the most part, pressures are pretty much equal at all critical locations (not counting bottom to side seams). This can change of course if the rectangle gets several times longer than it is wide.

But if you look at the L shaped tank, you can see that the outside corner is working twice as hard as any other corner.

Not that its a "deal breaker"...just something you need to keep in mind.

Good luck :)
 
I was told that it would cost me $1320 dollars for a two inch think 8 foot wide and 4 foot high clear sheet of cell cast aylric from this one company.

I too have thought of some type of L tank idea maybe in a bedroom or something and have the fish tank wrap around half the bed to make it to where someone could lay down in the bed and look at the fish swimming in the tank.
 
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