# Glass thickness question..



## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

There have been other posts in the past.. And I have searched many posts, and even other forums for a more prominent answer but none are really sticking out to me.. I am in the works of potentially building a 72"x24"40" display viv for our living room.. I am however unsure of the thickness of glass that should be used on this. I was originally planning on using 1/4 all the way around and than 1/8 for the doors but as always would rather be 100% satisfied with a decision before spending 500 dollars on glass. This is not gonna be filled to the max with water of any sort. But I will have a small water feature in the viv. Probably guessing to have about 2-3 inches of water.. But that equals out to quite a few gallons of water due to the depth and length of the tank. So what is everyones thoughts? What thickness of glass would you shoot for with this size build and what would you feel safest using? Thanks all!


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## reptiles12 (Jul 18, 2012)

My 180 gallon tank is 3/8 inch glass, I would consider that to be safe all the way around. 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk


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## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

reptiles12 said:


> My 180 gallon tank is 3/8 inch glass, I would consider that to be safe all the way around.
> 
> Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk


Was this purchased or scratch built? if it was purchased as a 180 gallon aquarium, they build thicker glass to deal with the water preasure when filled.. Either way, I am taking your input into consideration!


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## Aldross (Dec 30, 2013)

What type of glass are you looking at buying? Tempered, CSG, Float, or plate.
Chosing the type will help decide a thickness.


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## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

Aldross said:


> What type of glass are you looking at buying? Tempered, CSG, Float, or plate.
> Chosing the type will help decide a thickness.


gonna be just single strength plate. As I would like to drill it and all that good stuff.


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## Aldross (Dec 30, 2013)

Then yea I would go with a 1/4" plate. 3/8 is a bit over kill since you would be housing but a few inches. Will you be using a partition? That would make it much easier to deal with the water and glass stress. Confine the water to just where you want to have your feature. You should be able to hand syphon that area. Then for your large land area drill your hole for the drainage layer. Or just drill a hole for both.


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## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

Aldross said:


> Then yea I would go with a 1/4" plate. 3/8 is a bit over kill since you would be housing but a few inches. Will you be using a partition? That would make it much easier to deal with the water and glass stress. Confine the water to just where you want to have your feature. You should be able to hand syphon that area. Then for your large land area drill your hole for the drainage layer. Or just drill a hole for both.


I would not use a partition, however I would be constructing the false bottom with filter pads.. Thus eliminating a lot of empty space for water to accumulate. So in theory there would be a lot less actual water in the viv. I guess one concern is just having a huge 72x40 pane of 1/4 glass. The backing wouldnt take much abuse.. but would hate to have a lot of weight on it as well. The BG will consist mainly of foam and pvc vines. with also a faux rock wall/waterfall.


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## gturmindright (Mar 15, 2006)

I am about to build a 48x24x24 tomorrow with 1/4 plate glass. I am not concerned about anything besides moving it when I have to move. I think another important thing is making sure it sits on something perfectly flat. Hope that helps. Although yours will be two feet longer.... This build helped me decide on thickness....
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/71866-vics-display-paludarium.html


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## dscichlids (May 23, 2010)

You will want to set it on styro for sure unless you are going to but a frame on the tank. 1/4 inch glass is fine for that size viv.


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## pdfer (Jul 3, 2013)

just my opinion, but I just built a 6 ft. tall vertical viv and used 3/8 tempered just so I wouldnt have to worry about stressing it to move or whatever. I do not regret it at all. I was very impressed with the difference of the sturdy feel of 3/8. You have to make sure that you have all your holes pre-planned/drilled because you cannot drill once it is tempered.


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## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

I did plan to add the aquarium framing to the bottom and top as well as trim out the edges.. So to avoid any risk of sharp edges and just extra support.


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## gturmindright (Mar 15, 2006)

Foam is necessary? The guy I'm getting my glass from is an aquarium builder and he says plywood will be fine. I have a 1/2" piece of MDF going under mine.


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## vachyner (Aug 10, 2013)

I have been scheming up a giant display build myself and have decided to go with plywood due to it being much more cost effective. What I have come up with to solve the large pane of thin glass problem is to do three smaller panes on a slide track for the front of the viv. the right and left pane will be on the front track and the middle pane on the rear. This way I can slide any one of the panels over and access anywhere inside easily. Not sure if that'll help you in your decision or not but it's just the COA I decided to take.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

That's awfully big for 1/4" annealed. I don't build large tanks. It's outside of my experience, but I will say that I believe it's too thin. Personally, I would not trust it. Professionally and personally, it worries me.

If I didn't have back issues and you asked me to help you move that, I would take one look and then bail out of that project so fast it would make your head spin. I'm saying it concerns me enough that I would refuse to touch that thing. I believe it's going to be too heavy to properly support it's own weight. For starters, I believe the top pane will bow down under it's own weight, possible causing issues with a fully square opening size.


Scott, I'd love it if you could post something about that story you told me. The one about the full on "professional" viv builder that did a large viv for a friend of yours. As I recall it was wracked with problems stemming from too thin of glass?


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## Dendro Dave (Aug 2, 2005)

Nismo95 said:


> There have been other posts in the past.. And I have searched many posts, and even other forums for a more prominent answer but none are really sticking out to me.. I am in the works of potentially building a 72"x24"40" display viv for our living room.. I am however unsure of the thickness of glass that should be used on this. I was originally planning on using 1/4 all the way around and than 1/8 for the doors but as always would rather be 100% satisfied with a decision before spending 500 dollars on glass. This is not gonna be filled to the max with water of any sort. But I will have a small water feature in the viv. Probably guessing to have about 2-3 inches of water.. But that equals out to quite a few gallons of water due to the depth and length of the tank. So what is everyones thoughts? What thickness of glass would you shoot for with this size build and what would you feel safest using? Thanks all!


Well If you are just building a large viv and don't need the front glass to be clear down low to see the pond's water column.... You can build a big wood box in the dimensions you need. Cut tracks, or rails, or something for the glass to rest on/in. and make your top. Might even be able to use magnets to hold the glass panes together, then you top.

So bascally a wood box with pond liner inside it. False bottom, and build your soil layer up there where the very top moss/ect... will be visible through the front glass. Theoretcially all 4 doors could be sliding, that lock in with magnets. and the viv would be modular.

wood box+ glass box + hood= big fairly cheap viv. The only thing you use with the wood box is you can't have a water feature where the watercolum is clearly visible with fish and stuff swimming. Unless you modify the front wood and cut it to add a piece of glass

More on my ideas...
http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/parts-construction/95116-dryad-viv-concept-life-size-girl-box.html


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## gturmindright (Mar 15, 2006)

Now you got me freakin out my top's gonna bow...


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

gturmindright said:


> Now you got me freakin out my top's gonna bow...


There is a HUGE difference in 4 foot x 2 foot (your proposed 48" x 24") sheet of glass, and a 6 foot x 3 1/2 foot (Nismo95's proposed 72" x 40") proposed sheet of glass. There is just a world of difference here.

Going back to the bigger build, I want to point out too, that glass is full of defects. Cutting glass can be a defect in and of itself. You don't cut glass, you score it and persuade it to break where you want it too. Any defects in your edge work can drastically lower the strength of your glass. Comparisons to the thickness of a professional tank do not take this into account. Professional aquarium manufacturers are going to properly edge the glass on large vivs like this, eliminating or drastically reducing the weak spots that YOUR glass, and yes, my glass, is going to be full of. 
You want to really get confused, try to wrap your head around this http://glassproperties.com/references/MechPropHandouts.pdf. That will tell you more about glass strength than you ever wanted to know. I'm going to give you a quick summary of what I feel is important to note from this link.
*The strength of glass decreases with increasing flaw size, sometimes drastically. Due to flaws and the strength of most designs, the practical, real world strength of glass can be 1,000 times less than the theoretical strength of glass.*

Now let me ask you what your experience laying a bead of silicone is? Mine is extensive, but I would not feel comfortable trying to lay in that much silicone before the first part started skinning over. Keep in mind that if your silicone skins over, the strength of your seam will be drastically reduced and may leak. For a proper, leak free tank, there is no putting a partial build aside for later. Fresh silicone doesn't bond to cured silicone. All the panes except the top should really be done at one time.

A failed, really large tank is a nightmare.


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## Pubfiction (Feb 3, 2013)

I have a 40x18 inch top that is 1/4 inch thick the vivarium is 36 inches tall. It already bows some. It has 2 screen vents cut in it with metal surrounds. It was big and you could see it flexing when we moved it even at that size I was uncomfortable, I had it made by a certain well known vivarium builder and he seemed to be indifferent and not that careful when moving it, but later I learned its probably cause he didn't care if I broke it once it left his hands. This tank seems much bigger. At the very least you will need some cross supports if it is 72 inches long would be very heavy very easy to break. The slightest unevenness on the bottom crack. haha, I even cracked a 1/8 18x18 exo terra bottom, can't imagine leveling a 24x72 inch 1/4 inch bottom. 










Looks about like that except the glass is more like 3 inches at the front and back instead of the 1.5 inches shown. In this one I opted for a 3/8 inch bottom.


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## gturmindright (Mar 15, 2006)

I am using an upper Sherman vent so that should help add stability. Maybe a good idea for more than just ventilation?


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