I was looking on garf and they dont recommend making a tank over 24"s tall is the tank is longer then 48" well mine will be 96" long and i wanted to make it 30"s tall, i have a sheet of 3/8"glass I could use that is 30"x96" so it would fit perfect.... anyone see problems? and instead of using hardibacker or a 2part epoxy, why not use the sheets of paintable Styrofoam from home depot, line the interior of the tank and paint it with dry lok?
Why not make the tank taller?
- Thread starter AndrewMack
- Start date
i doubt they really meant not to ever make a tank over 24" tall. what they probably meant was in order to make a tank taller than that it'll require thicker material. the length doesn't affect material thickness at all it's the height that matters. the deeper the water the more pressure gravity puts on it. it's like taking a 5lb weight. it only weighs 5lb, but if u stack another on top it's gonna weigh 10lb. water works the same way.
soggysandwich;1068359; said:
I'm not sure about the styrofoam either. I don't know if I would chance it. It would suck to build all that and then have to take it down again, but then again, it might work... good luck.
bukster;1068319; said:
sorry but thats wrong.. Your saying you can have a 1o,000gallon tank but if its only 24" tall than you can keep it 1/2" thick..
Yeah i agree. If you had a 1'x1'x1'x it would only require maybe 1/4-1/2'' plywood. Now think about if you had a 19'x89'x1', that would require much much more materials and bracing.milkman407;1068531; said:
LOL Milkman!
How can you be a member of this forum so long and have built a couple of tanks yourself and not know that the height of the tank is the MAJOR factor in material thickness? Sure, the length of your glass window plays it's part BUT in the end; The higher the tank the thicker the glass.
So yes, it will be possible to build a 26' x 26' x 30" (that might be a little more than 10 000 gallons) plywood or concrete tank using 80" x 26" windows made of 1/2" glass. Easy.
This makes an interesting read.
And this sums up all the theory very well.
Sorry if I came across as
on you. No disrespect dude.
How can you be a member of this forum so long and have built a couple of tanks yourself and not know that the height of the tank is the MAJOR factor in material thickness? Sure, the length of your glass window plays it's part BUT in the end; The higher the tank the thicker the glass.
So yes, it will be possible to build a 26' x 26' x 30" (that might be a little more than 10 000 gallons) plywood or concrete tank using 80" x 26" windows made of 1/2" glass. Easy.
This makes an interesting read.
And this sums up all the theory very well.
Sorry if I came across as
on you. No disrespect dude.
I agree. Think about it this way. Hypothetically. Take a 40'x40' tarp and lay it out in the yard. Build a frame out of 2x4's all around it. Fill it with 2 inches of water. You wouldn't even have to nail the 2x4's together because there isn't any pressure pushing outwards. Now, grab all 4 corners and lift straight up(we'll say with a hoist because of size). What is going to happen to the tarp? The center will blow out. Why? Because you turned the width into depth.
AndrewMack;1068215; said:
You can make it taller, it will just require more exterior framing/bracing. Garf just has simple tank design/build. If you are building a plywood tank, you should just be able to paint the plywood. I don't see where the styrofoam provides you any type advantage.
well i wanted to make the tank 96"x30"x30". I already have a piece of 3/8" glass, will that be enough?