Tempered glass for a front, What do you think?

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prashan

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 17, 2011
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Sri Lanka
Does anyone have a tank with a tempered glass for the front side? Any bad experiences of blowing with the water behind it or something else? I just don't want someone watching at tank to be seriously get hurt in case of blowing the tank off. I'm offered a cheap deal to buy an tempered glass 7feets*4feets. Thickness is a bit over 0.5 inches. So I'm thinking of building a tank using it for the front. What do you think?
If I don't decide soon deal will go for someone else. Really appreciate letting me know your experiences and views.
 
You can use tempered glass, most people don't because its more expensive. Its also isn't nearly as flexible. As such any bowing will cause it to burst.

So all that said, yes, you can use it, but .5" is not thick enough for a 4' height. It is possible to cut tempered glass, however it is expensive and you will find very few people willing to do so, even if they do have the proper equipment. Hope that helps some!
 
fishguy306 said:
You can use tempered glass, most people don't because its more expensive. Its also isn't nearly as flexible. As such any bowing will cause it to burst.

So all that said, yes, you can use it, but .5" is not thick enough for a 4' height. It is possible to cut tempered glass, however it is expensive and you will find very few people willing to do so, even if they do have the proper equipment. Hope that helps some!
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What is the proper thickness for 4' high tank for tempered glass? I don't have to cut it if I have to reduce height, I can cover that from bottom by bricks. Because only the front side is going to be built by glass. Others are bricks and cement walls.
 
I've seen calculators for panel glass, but not tempered. The size you have is certainly thinner than the plain glass requires, but we know that tempered glass is a few times stronger. I don't think I've seen any conversions or estimate of how much thinner it can be for the same effect. I know it's tempting to think it can be several times thinner, but I think that would be in error. Regardless, I'd like to know the answer before testing it with hundreds of gallons of water, not to mention well cared for pets.
 
Drstrangelove said:
I've seen calculators for panel glass, but not tempered. The size you have is certainly thinner than the plain glass requires, but we know that tempered glass is a few times stronger. I don't think I've seen any conversions or estimate of how much thinner it can be for the same effect. I know it's tempting to think it can be several times thinner, but I think that would be in error. Regardless, I'd like to know the answer before testing it with hundreds of gallons of water, not to mention well cared for pets.
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Can you please tell me the thickness needs for a plain glass for the height of 4' and 3'. Then I can roughly guess something about tempered glass. I can reduce the height of glass too, without cutting the glass as I'm going to build bricks and cement walls for other sides. So it's good to know the thickness needs for the height of 3' tank also.
 
prashan said:
Can you please tell me the thickness needs for a plain glass for the height of 4' and 3'. Then I can roughly guess something about tempered glass. I can reduce the height of glass too, without cutting the glass as I'm going to build bricks and cement walls for other sides. So it's good to know the thickness needs for the height of 3' tank also.
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7 feet x 4 feet is 1.2", so either 1 1/4" or 1 1/8". It's 30.5MM at a 3.8 safety factor.
7 feet x 3 feet is 0.87", so 7/8" or 22.0MM at a 3.8 safety factor.
 
At 4 feet tall? I would go no less then 1" thick on the glass. That's tempered, 1.25" on regular glass. Maybe a bit thinner if you are euro bracing, better safe then sorry, very sorry.
 
Drstrangelove said:
7 feet x 4 feet is 1.2", so either 1 1/4" or 1 1/8". It's 30.5MM at a 3.8 safety factor.
7 feet x 3 feet is 0.87", so 7/8" or 22.0MM at a 3.8 safety factor.
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What is safety factor? sorry for being dumb. I haven't heard of it before.
I've heard a tempered glass is at least 3 times stronger than a annealed glass. So 0.5' thick tempered glass would be strong as at least 1.5' plain glass. I assume there wouldn't be a problem even I go for 4' high with a 0.5+' thick tempered glass. It's a glass used for a door. So I guess it is a laminated glass too. If so it would be safer than just tempered. I just assumed it though. Anyway glass has to be covered from every side with bricks. So full length will reach something around 6.5' and height 3.5'. What do you think?
Thanks a lot for the information. That is helpful a lot.
 
http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/SAFETYFACTOR

http://www.rigidlifelines.com/blog/entry/much-ado-aabout-safety-factors-of-two

Here are some engineering descriptions.

In common language, it means the glass is stronger than the amount expected to be needed. This 'stronger than' can be defined mathematically, but it means you don't have to worry. If the glass is not perfect (it has imperceptible defects) or it was made with substandard materials or if the house moves a little bit or the fish ram the glass a bit or the 5 year old nephew pounds it, it will typically be fine. 3.8 is the standard used in manufacture because tank makers have found that this works. That does not mean that a tank with a 2.5 will simply fail. It just means that you have less room for error with defects, quality, earthquakes, monster fish, and nephews.

Laminated glass is different and is rarely suggested for tanks. Tempered glass (which is stronger than toughened glass, which are both stronger than plate glass) is actually used for safety as when it breaks, it shatters into small round pieces. Plate glass that shatters becomes shards of flying glass which is why car front windshields are tempered.

If the glass you have is actually tempered and laminated to reach 1/2", I would have no way to estimate it's strength.

For measuring pressure and therefore thickness, you'll want the height from the water line to the lowest point where the glass is exposed to sight. (Glass below the bricks does not count.)
 
Drstrangelove said:
http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/SAFETYFACTOR

http://www.rigidlifelines.com/blog/entry/much-ado-aabout-safety-factors-of-two

Here are some engineering descriptions.

In common language, it means the glass is stronger than the amount expected to be needed. This 'stronger than' can be defined mathematically, but it means you don't have to worry. If the glass is not perfect (it has an imperceptible fracture) or it was made with substandard materials or if the house moves a little bit or the fish bump the glass a bit or the 5 year old nephew pounds it, it will be fine.

Laminated glass is different and is rarely suggested for tanks. Tempered glass (which is stronger than toughened glass, which are both stronger than plate glass) is actually used for safety as when it breaks, it shatters into small round pieces. Plate glass that shatters becomes shards of flying glass which is why car front windshields are not tempered.

If the glass you have is actually tempered and laminated to reach 1/2", I would have no way to estimate it's strength.

For measuring pressure and therefore thickness, you'll want the height from the water line to the lowest point where the glass is exposed to sight. (Glass below the bricks does not count.)
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Thank you again!
Do you think it's a big risk to build a tank of 4 feets high with that glass even it's bit thicker than 0.5' without lamination?
 
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