Glass thickness question for a 72L x 36W x 24H with euro bracing?

[nightOwl]

For those that have tanks around 72L x 36W x 24H (260 ish) or similar what is the thickness of your glass? I am in the process of getting quotes on a tank and surprisingly have gotten a couple of different glass thickness quotes.

Thanks in advance

 

[Finland]

I have a 72X36X25 with 1/2" starfire on 3 sides and 5/8" regular glass on the overflow end.

 

[worm5406]

I was thinking maybe an inch thick.

 

[Easttuth]

1/2" up to 30" tall

 

[dave.m]

1/2" Starphire up to 36" tall with top and bottom euro-bracing.

Dave.M

 

[nightOwl]

Forgot to mention and not sure if this changes anything or not but it would have sapphire glass just on the front since it will be in-wall like my current tank that crashed. The other sides would be regular. From what I am seeing looks like 1/2" would be more than fine. Thanks for all the responses this is helping out a lot!

 

[worm5406]

Well maybe 2" would be better?

(For those that do now knot I know night owl personally and I am just picking on him)

 

[deleau]

My tank is almost those exact dimensions (except 27" tall). My glass is 1/2" thick and is eurobraced on the top with a pvc bottom.

 

[nightOwl]

Larry,
LOL I don't want to magnify the fish ...lol. I just saw your 1" suggestion as well...I am trying to get my upgrade before you...lol. Looks like 1/2" is all I need .

Well maybe 2" would be better?

(For those that do now knot I know night owl personally and I am just picking on him)

dave.m - would i need euro-bracing on top and bottom? I should check to see what my current tank has. I had not thought about top and bottom.

1/2" Starphire up to 36" tall with top and bottom euro-bracing.

Dave.M

 

[worm5406]

HAHA Thanks NightOwl.

You better get moving then if you are going to beat me.

 

[dave.m]

would i need euro-bracing on top and bottom?

At only 24" tall you should be okay with only euro-bracing at the top. The taller the tank the more important it becomes to strengthen the bottom of the pane. That said, it wouldn't hurt to get euro-bracing at the bottom of yours, too.

Dave.M

 

[nightOwl]

Man saw your email you pulled the trigger....

HAHA Thanks NightOwl.

You better get moving then if you are going to beat me.

dave.m - Thanks for the clarification.

At only 24" tall you should be okay with only euro-bracing at the top. The taller the tank the more important it becomes to strengthen the bottom of the pane. That said, it wouldn't hurt to get euro-bracing at the bottom of yours, too.

Dave.M

 

[Creative248]

I do glass for a living .I don't mean to laugh (Really Don't) But to use 3/4 or 1 inch on tanks as small as what i am reading is not needed!! We throw 1/2 Tempered glass in the dumpster,hit it with a hammer and 1/2 the time we can't even break it .The other 1/2 the time it will explode ,hitting the [profanity] out of it .3/8 Tempered glass is very strong and 1/2 inch is almost indestructible . I put up Shower doors and hang 8 foot by 3 foot doors off 2 hinges .The Hinges are notched into the glass and screwed to the wall .With that all being said i have built a few tanks for people over the years ,although I'm not sure of the gallons but we built one about 3 yrs ago out of 1/2 and it was 84x32(Tall)x24 all out of 1/2 with a few braces still to this day not a single issue .I hope this helps as to what thickness to choose

[Mod Edit: Please keep the language clean, there are kids who read this site. -RC Staff]

 

[dave.m]

Aquariums are seldom built of tempered glass, at least on the viewing panes. It is more common to use a low iron glass like Starphire for the viewing panes as these do not have the greenish cast of regular or tempered glass. The low iron glass is softer than regular glass and can scratch or break more easily, especially under the weight of water in a tall tank.

Dave.M

 

[nightOwl]

I have talked to a few builders and some want to make sure its over engineered but the cost is crazy with the jump. After thinking about it a little more and the fact I don't really like the euro bracing on my current tank and since its going to be behind a wall I am thinking i might just need a basic box that can hold water. I am limited by the width of my doors so i think I might try to put the overflow on the side instead of only the back. I will run the returns over the side instead of back so I can have more room to reach in from the back of the tank. I think my new tank will be 78" x 36" x 26". The side with the overflow will have a 36" weir x 6" deep. So my tank through the wall will still look 72" x 36" x 26". I have seen a few people mention that the low iron glass scratches easy. Is it that much of difference in the thinner glass?

 

[ca1ore]

This is almost the same dimensions as the Marineland 300DD, just a few inches less tall. That tank uses 12mm glass on the sides and 19mm on the bottom. No eurobracing! Just a pair of ABS cross struts.

 

[nightOwl]

ca1ore - You are right. Mine will be very similar to the this. i don't like the look of the internal returns it has though. I will have the cross struts (black pieces across the top?) as well with roughly 2' spacing between them.

This is almost the same dimensions as the Marineland 300DD, just a few inches less tall. That tank uses 12mm glass on the sides and 19mm on the bottom. No eurobracing! Just a pair of ABS cross struts.

 

[dburt520]

I just had this identical tank size quoted from DSA and Miracles... only change from a "normal" tank was peninsula style.

DSA will only build a tank to this dimension with 3/4 glass and because of it the quote was just over 5k (the LFS is making 250$ on it, he showed me the quote).

Miracles was pretty close however shipping was a bit more expensive coming from Canada to Arizona.

So, two questions:
1. Are there any other glass tank builders to seek a quote from (if 5k for just the glass box is my only option a large reef is not in my near or distant future...)

2. How would I go about telling a manufacturer that 3/4 is overbuilt? It seems like they "should" know what they are doing, perhaps it is more of aCYA by building it 3/4?

 

[sreefs]

When I had mine built 72x 30x25, they used 3/4" glass with euro bracing on the top 2" wide and on the bottom. Tank also has an external over flow. It turned out beautiful and was built by Coast To Coast, I would definitely use them again.

 

[nightOwl]

dburt520 - Check out Dutch Aquarium Systems out of Florida. The quote I got from them was pretty reasonable. I talked to a few places and mentioned that 3/4" seemed a bit much which is part of the reason i created this thread. The places that insisted on 3/4" glass said that they had never had a tank fail and did not want me to be the first therefore 3/4" was their recommendation.

I just had this identical tank size quoted from DSA and Miracles... only change from a "normal" tank was peninsula style.

DSA will only build a tank to this dimension with 3/4 glass and because of it the quote was just over 5k (the LFS is making 250$ on it, he showed me the quote).

Miracles was pretty close however shipping was a bit more expensive coming from Canada to Arizona.

So, two questions:
1. Are there any other glass tank builders to seek a quote from (if 5k for just the glass box is my only option a large reef is not in my near or distant future...)

2. How would I go about telling a manufacturer that 3/4 is overbuilt? It seems like they "should" know what they are doing, perhaps it is more of aCYA by building it 3/4?