Steel-framed concrete wall

[andyroo]

My submariners,
this is a bit of a thesis, so please bear with me:

We're rebuilding our (new-to-us) farmhouse and there's boring concrete wall at the end of the main corridor: in-built tank! "Pocket" is 7'10" x 17", and the ceiling is a little over 8'. Money is an issue, yes, as is availability fo anything abnormal (not talking about stock).

Back & sides are to be reinforced concrete (2' PVC passthroughs to underneath embedded into two back corners) and bottom is to be 4" thick reinforced (extra) concrete shelf with a middle pillar. Cabinet underneath to rendered with 4" retaining sides & plumbed with cold-tap & drain, with one exterior-grade 120V plug. Cabinets above will have similar E.plug but regular (timber?) shelves, assuming that primary filters will go underneath (please comment on above -vs- below) and above shelves will be for lights & small air or current pumps. 18" headroom from tank/water-top to lowest shelf (enough?). Expecting to use a sealed canister filter rather than sump, as electricity is costly & problematic & likely erring towards solar & battery- that'll be another thread. So, that's the background.

Q1:
I'd love to go to 3' tall as the corridor is pretty long, and view will tend to be from standing. Re depth, my current 100Gal"show" is 24"x14"x6'; I need a stool & spatula for the far corners already, so I'm good at it... well, at least I know what I'd be getting into... With good bracing I've seen 2' tall with 3/8glass on a 2x2x8;
can I do 3' deep with 1/2" glass?

Q2:
Bracing tends to be in glass. Alt., I'd like to set the glass into a welded 1" angle-iron frame, with the top braces as welded-on brackets attaching (via bar, tube, flat or even cable with turnbuckle) to brackets set into the back concrete wall. Back-wall bracket would be stainless, as would any sailing-type cables & tighteners, but I expect the rest would be epoxy-painted (plenty of WestMarine 150 on-hand, as one of the wonders of owning a vintage B'Whaler).
do people ever do a welded steel bracing rather than glass?

Q3: within Q2,
would it be better to i) pre-cast the frame (welded to rebar) and then set the glass once everything else is done, or to ii) set the frame to glass and then set/cast that assembly into place (frame pre-welded with rebar extensions or grommets for TapCon screws)? I'm expecting the former, as glass-last is what I see in plywood builds.

I can import acrylic or low-iron glass, but the costs are prohibitive... Maybe in the 20yr rebuild. So I'm stuck with green tint... any suggestions on lighting/backlighting to reduce this annoyance? Does anybody sell a "hint of red" bulb for such things?

Thanks,
DrDroid

 

[andyroo]

IE:
at 7'10 x 17" and plenty of bracing(?) on all sides & top,
Q: how high can I get with 1/2" glass?

 

[andyroo]

... seriously, the rebar's up & I need to get back to the contractor before COB tomorrow.

 

[Ulu]

I used customaquariums.com online configurator.

it says 3/4"

 

[Ulu]

For 1/2" you need tempered glass.

 

[andyroo]

Thanks Ulu,
Really? I don't know much about tempered glass but that the suppliers seem to be able to do it, so long I'm going with low-iron and therefore having to import. I'm of that mindset that "if I'm only going to do this once, I might as well do it right". Option #2 would be acrylic, but that'd be erring towards 1/3 more money again on something that's done as soon as some well-meaning somebody wipes it with Windex.

Alt. is to shave from 36" tall down to 30" which, to be honest, ain't particularly terrible. 3' is starting to feel like a lot of work for not so much aesthetic/habitat return. Note: I'm entirely happy to hear argument on this

 

[Ulu]

They can put a thin glass over the acrylic. This is how bullet-proof windows are made.
I'm sure it's costly.

I like glass myself. Most consumer-grade aquariums here are thin tempered glass. I have two 55's like that, and they bow visibly. More than a typical plate glass job. My 30 talls are plate glass and thicker. They do not bow visibly.

But on a job where a failure could mean a fatality, I would go with thicker glass than the standard designs. Every other bit of the rig can be improved after the fact, except the glass.

If the standard design calls for 3/4" plate, I would use 3/4" tempered if I could get it.