slash Posted November 23, 2006 Report Share Posted November 23, 2006 Hi, what does this mean in a tanks structure? Is a safty factor of 2 very good? :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 Yes, 2 is reasonable. It just means the tank is twice as strong as it needs to be to hold the water. A safety factor of 1(In perfect theoretical land) would mean it's exactly as strong as it needs to hold the water, but even a tiny bit more force will break it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 A safety factor of 2 is only barely acceptable. It does not allow for defects in the glass or assembly of the tank. It could mean premature failure of the tank at any time. 3.8 is the glass manufacturers recommended minimum design point. This guarantees very close to 100% success rate for sustained loading over a number of years. The value 3.8 has been derived from statistical failure analysis of commercially built aquariums around the world over many years. Building a tanks with a safety factor less than 3.8 simply increases the statistical likelihood the tank will fail. In saying this, I regularly analyse tanks I see when I'm traveling. I've seen some pretty big tanks with safety factors as low as 1.3 that have been around for many years. Many tanks available in aquarium shops have safety factors less than 2 due to the maker using gut-feel rather than calculating the required thickness. Most of these tanks will never have trouble but will have an increased likelihood of breaking. Basically it's your risk if you go below 3.8 but if you do use 3.8 or higher you can be guaranteed of a good tank... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slash Posted November 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 iam thinking of purchaseing a tank with safty factor of 2 but is inclusive of a 1 year warranty, would that be sufficient time to analyse my tanks state or i can never tell if its safe with such a low factor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted November 24, 2006 Report Share Posted November 24, 2006 At 2, you'll never know. But as I said earlier, there are thousands of tanks out there with a safety factor less than 2 that have never had a problem and are just as likely to never have one. There are also many other factors effecting the overall life of the tank. How flat the stand is, how often the tank is thermally cycled, contact with direct sunlight, knocks and bumps etc. The tank you're looking at will most probably be fine. Just make sure you do everything else properly, like getting a very flat base for it to sit on so no extra internal stress is added to the glass or glue joins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquarium Dude Posted December 17, 2006 Report Share Posted December 17, 2006 So, a tank that is 1500mm long, 500mm high and 500mm wide will have a saftey factor of over 3.8 when made in 10mm glass. Also the spreadsheet calculator doesnt have a width measurement, so couyld you make it however wide you wanted? (eg. 1500mm long, 500mm high and 1000 wide, but still in 10mm glass) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 Nope, the sides are calculated the same as the front, just substitute width for length... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquarium Dude Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 oh, so you could make a 1500x1500 box that is 500 high and it would have the same thickness of glass and saftey factor of a tank 1500x600 and 500 high... Right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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