Glass thickness

[lebanik]

o.k. this question is for all the people who build their own tanks.
i am considering building a cube tank 24"x24"x24" out of glass. Now my question is what thickness glass would be the minimum i should use? would 1/8" be thick enough? or do i need to go to 1/4" the price is nearly double here locally.

I have built hundreds of tanks/hoods out of acrylic but nothing for a very long time out of glass.

thanks for the input

brian

[defaced]

I'd do 1/4" for the bottom and back if you plan on mounting alot of wood and such on it and 1/8" elsewhere.

[Jason]

I just made a 21w x 21l x 36 high viv out of 1/4 inch glass. I used this because I figured it would be stronger and I plan to have a decent amount of water in the viv. It is freaking heavy!

Maybe make the bottom from 1/4 inch, but I really don't think the sides need to be that thick, especially for a viv, but lets see what others think.

[lebanik]

That was kind of what i was thinking as well. Not alot of water, so didn't need to be an aquarium per se.

i will probably GS and silicone cork bark to the back and plant a couple of descent size plants in it, so the 1/4" might be a good idea for the back

I was also toying with the idea of buying a piece of tempered glass for the bottom and going with the cheaper stuff for the sides.

the main reason i want to make it, is so i can design a front opening tank, versus a top opening one(aquarium)

thanks for the input
brian

[defaced]

I wouldn't consider cork and GS to be a heavy background. If that's all it's going to be, then 1/8" will be fine.

[lebanik]

What about the tempered glass, you think i need it for the bottom?

thanks for your input, i hate to buy something i can make myself. Especially if i can do it differant/better.

Brian

[defaced]

I'm a fan of over building to some extent so I'd go with 1/4" because it's going to be more rigid than tempered 1/8". Also if you ever want to drill your tank, you have that option. It's not that I don't think 1.8" tempered wouldn't work - I don't have the experience to say one way or the other - but I'd much rather error on the side of caution and spend a few more bucks and know that my project is going to work.

[lebanik]

Thanks for all you input.

brian

[defaced]

No problem. Whatever you choose, post up a construction journal. It's always cool to see people do completely custom configs.