Toughend laminated glass instead of floatglass.. need help

[Clothsack]

Hey guys/girls

im going to start my plywood build soon and im lost atm on what kind of thickness / type of glass i should get for my front window after reading information on several websites...

tank dimensions
Length: 78.74"
width: 78.74"
height: 59.06"

After running the dimension on the glass calculation it tells me to get 38mm floatglass wich costs approx1300 euro for 1 panel, vendors tell me 38mm doesnt get used much so i would need to wait for more orders before the factory will produce that thickness.

After googling a bit ive read that "12.12.4 toughened laminated glass"(25.52mm thick , 12mm toughend glass , 4 layers of 0.38mm transparent foil and 12mm toughend glass) and has the same strenght as the 38mm float glass and only costs about 680 euro.

Now is my question if someone has experience with toughened laminated glass as the front aquarium window.
he or she could give me advice, or just go with the floatglass instead because it is proven to work.

thanks in advance

-Clothsack

 

[fishdance]

You are going to get different responses depending on the technical expertise and experience of posters.

If using laminate, I would choose SGP (by dupont) as it repels water better than EVA which in turn is better than PVB. Would still waterproof the laminate if possible using neutral cure silicon. The 4 interlayers melt into one.

Toughened glass is 5 - 10 times stronger than float but you do have to protect the edges. It's heavier than float glass too.

I don't have the local knowledge of your area though.

 

[Clothsack]

You are going to get different responses depending on the technical expertise and experience of posters.

If using laminate, I would choose SGP (by dupont) as it repels water better than EVA which in turn is better than PVB. Would still waterproof the laminate if possible using neutral cure silicon. The 4 interlayers melt into one.

Toughened glass is 5 - 10 times stronger than float but you do have to protect the edges. It's heavier than float glass too.

I don't have the local knowledge of your area though.

Thank you for your response,

I was just curious if the toughend laminated glass wich is almost 13mm thinner then the 38mm floatglass would be thick enough for the tank im going to build. It might be 5-10 times stronger then float but im not sure if that counts for the pressure of 1600 galons aswell.

It is alot cheaper then the floatglass aswell so i might go for the toughend laminated glass instead.

Covering the edges with silicone wouldent be any problem. im not sure how much the glass would weight but i dont see a problem there, i would just have to get more people to help me get it in place.

Im hoping on someone who used this type of glass to give me their opinion.

 

[fishdance]

Toughened glass being 5 - 10 times stronger equates to a 25mm toughened glass being equivalent to 125mm float in theory. Potentially as strong as 250mm float. I'm sceptical but toughened glass is cheap enough to over engineer and I would worry using ordinary float glass on large panels, even if thick enough.

I used 19mm double laminate (3 layers of 19mm toughened glass with 2 layers of SGP) which provides 61mm thick panels as I have a water depth of 200cm. These panels needed to be craned in.

You will still need to protect the edges from impacts. The silicon over the laminate is purely for waterproofing to prevent delamination.

 

[Clothsack]

Toughened glass being 5 - 10 times stronger equates to a 25mm toughened glass being equivalent to 125mm float in theory. Potentially as strong as 250mm float. I'm sceptical but toughened glass is cheap enough to over engineer and I would worry using ordinary float glass on large panels, even if thick enough.

I used 19mm double laminate (3 layers of 19mm toughened glass with 2 layers of SGP) which provides 61mm thick panels as I have a water depth of 200cm. These panels needed to be craned in.

You will still need to protect the edges from impacts. The silicon over the laminate is purely for waterproofing to prevent delamination.

thank you for your reply,

Do you have any idea how heavy a 180x150cm toughend laminated glass would be? I was hoping to lift it in place with 4 people.

what would be the best option to protect the edges from impact? build a wooden frame arround the edges on the inside and waterproof it after the panel is silliconed in?

 

[Lepisosteus]

5ft tall is your issue. If the window was 36” tall 3/4-1” glass would be fine.

 

[Clothsack]

5ft tall is your issue. If the window was 36” tall 3/4-1” glass would be fine.

True, but 5ft tall is something i really want because of the fish i want to keep, and because the huge viewing panel would be awesome.

I dont know if the 5ft tall actually makes a huge difference to 36"

The fish im looking into are tiger shovel nose, pbass, giant gourami and pacu but im not 100% sure on what to get. so maybe 36" would be sufficient.

 

[Lepisosteus]

True, but 5ft tall is something i really want because of the fish i want to keep, and because the huge viewing panel would be awesome.

I dont know if the 5ft tall actually makes a huge difference to 36"

The fish im looking into are tiger shovel nose, pbass, giant gourami and pacu but im not 100% sure on what to get. so maybe 36" would be sufficient.

60” tall compared to 36” tall makes a massive difference for thickness. 36” tall 3/4”-1” glass will do. Bump that up to 60” tall I wouldn’t use anything under 2” personally. Having owned 3 4ft tall 500 gallon tanks, you will be in for a lot of fun trying to clean them. Each one of those tanks were constructed with 1.5” or 1.25” acrylic. Last pic is a friend of mine going for a swim to clean and scape.

 

[Clothsack]

60” tall compared to 36” tall makes a massive difference for thickness. 36” tall 3/4”-1” glass will do. Bump that up to 60” tall I wouldn’t use anything under 2” personally. Having owned 3 4ft tall 500 gallon tanks, you will be in for a lot of fun trying to clean them. Each one of those tanks were constructed with 1.5” or 1.25” acrylic. Last pic is a friend of mine going for a swim to clean and scape.

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first of, nice tanks.

I was looking into acrylic but the prices here are off the charts. acrylic tanks are not very common around here at all, i havent seen one in person myself.

 

[fishdance]

It's important to know what you really want from a tank. So you can decide where compromise is acceptable.

Very hard to beat a tank that has a wall of water as tall or taller than you. Even nicer to dive in or do swim laps.

Acrylic is much safer and lighter but scratches easily with algae showing these scratches. The "feel" is quite different from glass.