Where to get custom big and thick sheets of glass

[zooqi]

is there a company that sells big glass. Where those public aquariums get their glass from ? any help is appreciated

 

[Alphabet]

I would call a glass company in your area first. If I'm not mistaken I believe the public aquariums use acrylic. hth

 

[Acrylics]

All public aquariums (that I know of) use acrylic. As for glass, other than your yellow pages, I cannot say

James

 

[zooqi]

Acrylic works too and I forgot to type that on the top. Companies in my area don't carry anything big.

 

[Mishap]

Mo, B&G Glass in Reading can usually get large pieces, lemme know what size you need and I can see what I can do for ya. My dad went to school with the owner.

 

[zooqi]

Mishap,
thanks and I will have that in mind. Good to have reef friends all over PA. I'm putting a plan for a huge aquarium and at this point checking suppliers of stuff. It will be a busy spring.

 

[Acrylics]

If acrylic, what size do you need? If it's 10 x 6' or smaller you can use Polycast (less $$). If bigger than that - it's Reynolds (mo $$). In either case, most of your local pastics distributors (Laird, GE Polymershapes, etc) can get it for you.

HTH,
James

 

[zooqi]

I'm looking for thick three sheet of 10' x 8' to go in front to make an aquarium with 30' front. The rest of the corners cement walls like any public aquariums. I have not came up with the thickness yet and working to get those information soon.

 

[Acrylics]

Then the material would be Reynolds Polymers, Grand Junction, CO. They are the only company in the country that makes monolithic sheets of cell cast acrylic that big. I'd recommend you call them and ask about material thickness but I'd think 3-4" if they are to be 3 separate viewing panels. If you want - they'll make one panel 30' long but would need to be thicker and the cost goes up up up and they can install the pcs as well, for a fee of course. For that size, I wouldn't use glass at all.

HTH,
James

 

[zooqi]

Thanks James for the useful information. I did think about going to two sheets of 15' instead and it will be cheaper with framing and might look better.

 

[Acrylics]

Just to add, they do have the RPGAsia material which comes in at 15 x 6' which would cut your costs substantially but would limit the height to 6' panel so your actual viewing area would prolly be around 64-66"h x 172"l and probably be ~3" thick. If making the tank 8'h you'll need a "kicker" which is usually 12-18" or so and the header can cover the rest, FWIW
I'm not certain of the thicknesses they offer in this material if you're even interested.

James

 

[jacmyoung]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8387809#post8387809 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Acrylics
All public aquariums (that I know of) use acrylic. As for glass, other than your yellow pages, I cannot say

James

Monterey (CA) Aquarium's center piece is the 8" thick glass viewing wall two stories high.

 

[Acrylics]

If you're referring to their big tank that used to house the Mola Mola (~54'l x 15'h), it is 13" laminated acrylic from Mitsubishi and cost a coupla million $$. It was brought in in 4 sections, you can see the seams if you look carefully. If you're not referring to that tank, I cannot say - haven't been there in a few yrs

James