Glass tank building

[JayM]

oh, sorry

 

[JohnK]

It was only a model The duct tape seams did not come out %100.

 

[dcforester1]

Doesnt look to good from this angle?

 

[JohnK]

Yea, it leaked all over the place

 

[The Ng Thing]

Is that back panel starfire cardboard?

 

[s_kelley]

you build the cabinet too? looking good!
is that the exact size of the tank? Why so much of a lip around it on the stand?

 

[JohnK]

Yes, starfire cardboard front and sides, regular back.

I like the shelf, I've always built my stands somewhat like that. It is also to give more room inside the stand for sump, pump exct... Tank is to be 36x24x20"

 

[JayM]

as someone 'sensitive' to leaks, you had me going John.....

 

[Cjtabares]

What is the diffrence between polished edges And swiped edges. I asked for a quote from glass cages and I asked for all edges polished and they said did I want polished or just swiped?

 

[JohnK]

I have only heard that term from glass cages. All the advice I've gotten is to ask for "ground and polished".

One person (uncleof6 on RC) said to request that the bevel be minimal so as to keep as much of the surface area as possible for the seams. I asked a glass guy to look into what the options are here, but he said he would have to talk to his supplier and get back to me.


Edit, adding link
http://www.frametek.com/HTML/Articles/Who_Swipes_Glass.html
http://mail.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1764976

 

[Cjtabares]

I went to a glass place and the price he gave me was $560, glass cages it was $400 if I pick it up in Boston on the 20th I am not ready to order yet. Idk any othe glass places around me. Did you find the prices of the local glass places to be that far from glass cages?

 

[JohnK]

I have only gotten one quote so far so I can't compare. I'd be pretty heistant going through GC as I'm planning on doing a rimless and I don't want to count on GC craftmanship to look nice

I did just find out that altec does glass (I get my acrylic from them), so I'll be getting a qoute from them in the next few days.


How big of a tank are you planning?

 

[Cjtabares]

Ok i am going rimless to so I should stay away from GC? I am planning a 36"x36"x24" 135gal

 

[JohnK]

I said that just for cosmetics.

I figure with a rimless you're going to be looking at a lot of the tanks detail when you view it. As far as I know there isn't any problem with GC glass structurally, I just don't trust that they will do a nice finished looking job.

What thickness glass did you get qouted? IIRC with a rimless tank that size you're solidly getting into the 3/4" range.

 

[Cjtabares]

Oh I was looking at 1/2". Maybe I won't go rimles. What is the best way to brace a tank?Euro barce?

 

[JohnK]

That's what I would do.

Adding a euro brace, or a a center brace makes a drastic difference in the stress on the seams. If you've been using a tank building calculator, I've been told that you should double the saftey factor if rimless, so insted of 3.8 you want to shoot for more like 7.6

From the figuring I have been doing 36" long and 18" tall is pushing it going with 1/2" glass. If you go to 24" deep there is a lot more stress.

 

[Cjtabares]

Ok thanks

 

[JohnK]

Running the math on the calculator I'm using I get the following for a 36x36x25"

@ 3.8 saftey factor, the glass should be 11.96mm, so 12mm or "1/2" "
@ 7.6 saftey factor, the glass should be 16.91mm so more than 1/2" by quite a bit.

 

[Cjtabares]

Yeah I didn't know it would have to be A 7.6 safty for a rimless. Do you know any good sorces on how to do euro bracing?

 

[JohnK]

7.6 may be a pretty cautious saftey factor to shoot for, but it's what I've seen reccomended. If you think about it, rimless is going against all logic in tank design (but sure looks cool).

If you can live with bracing it, you should.