1: It figures as if not braced. 2: The bottom panel is calculated as that depth. It has to be able to support the entire weight of the water and anything you put in the tank. Deflection is the true test of glass integrity. Glass can bend but it shouldn't, it is a very finite number.Works just fine on the laptop.
But I have some questions about it.
1. Does your calculator figure out thicknesses at your 3.8 factor as if the glass is braced or not braced?
2. Why is it that it's suggesting a thicker measure for bottom panel? I assume just for defection
Hi, rivermud.The calculator is built assuming zero bracing with a safety factor of 3.8. A lower safety factor has been shown with many commercially built aquariums. My best advice is to plug in known configurations suchs as a 55 gallon tank and see what safety factor they truly hold. Once you are comfortable with the numbers and the style of tank you wish to build you can use it to test your dimensions/build with what you are comfortable with. This is why I made the caluclator tweakable. It can reverse calculations for both glass and acrylic