David R Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 I'm planning a new tank, and I'm trying to decide between 5'x3'x2' (LxWxH) or 6'x30"x24", both work out at almost exactly the same volume. I've got quotes from a couple of reputible tank builders [won't name names], one who says both sizes will be fine in 10mm glass (and said he could go up to 6'x3'x2' in 100mm, just) and the other who has said all three sizes will need to be made from 12mm. I've had a bit of a play around with the glass thickness calculator, but I'm not sure what to make of the results. I've seen plenty of 6'x2'x2' tanks made out of 10mm glass, and my old 5'x2'x2' was made from 10mm, but according to this they're unsafe. Could someone a bit more clued up shed some light on it? I know its logical to go for the 12mm, better safe than sorry etc, but its going to mean a big increase in price and weight, so I don't want to waste money on 12mm if 10mm is enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cichlid7 Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 i would go 12mm (min) as you are going 3foot high there will be alot of pressure so you will need good bracing too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 I'd err on the side of caution and go ith 12mm - if you think of the total investment including all the stock and time, the price difference of using the thicker glass is pretty minimal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 from the glass merchants (metroglasstech) charts base 1500 x 929 15mm thick sides 1500 x 600 scale finnishes at 1200 but that says 12mm so I would expect that 15mm would be possibly the recomended I would honestly recomend going for toughened though as the weight is really heavy and if it breaks, just think of the damage a piece of glass shooting accross a room could do with that much force behind it. At least with toughened, it would do a lot less harm to kids and other things in the path of fire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted September 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 i would go 12mm (min) as you are going 3foot high there will be alot of pressure so you will need good bracing too. 3' wide, not high. 5'x3'x2', LxWxH Barrie do you think the 30" wide tank would need 15mm for the base, or 12mm? Whats the price difference between normal and toughened glass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 What glass thickness is Evil_elmos tank? His is 6x3x2 isnt it? id say 12m for a 5x3x2 would be sufficient with good bracing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 Or you could use this glass thickness calculator... http://www.fnzas.org.nz/articles/technical/glassthickness/ 5 feet wide by 2 feet tall in 10 mm gives a 2.29 safety factor. Should work fine. 12mm would be better but probably double the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 I can only go by what international glass merchants advise. Toughened glass is twice the price of annealed (normal) You can see why I dont build big tanks... just not comfortable at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted September 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 5 feet wide by 2 feet tall in 10 mm gives a 2.29 safety factor. I've already been playing around with that. It says a safety factor of 3.8 is commonly used, but how far from this can you go before it gets dodgy? 2.29 sounds like a lot less than 3.8, but then again I'm not entirely sure what the numbers are actually refering to so I could be way off.... :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 3.8 is more like an ideal. Ideally I'd be driving a ferarri... There are a lot of tanks out there down in the 2.0 range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil_elmo Posted September 13, 2007 Report Share Posted September 13, 2007 i have a 6x3widex2high made with 10mm glass for slides and top but used a 12mm glass for the base. The tank is also very well braced Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted September 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2007 That sounds good, I'll have to get you to send me some pics of the bracing some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.