# new tank - glass thickness



## yashrishi (Feb 26, 2011)

Hello 

I am building a new freshwater aquarium tank as per below:

length - 48in (121.92cm)
width - 18in (45.72cm)
height - 24in (60.96cm)

I will be using 10mm glass, with euro bracing on top and bottom.

The aquarium tool calculator says that I have a safety factor of 2.5 for the above dimensions.

Is the safety factor calculated with the aquarium completely filled with water?


I plan to have only 50cm of water in my aquarium, the remaining empty space will be hidden by the top cover...


If I calculate with 121.92cm x 45.72cm x 50cm(height of water), I have a safety factor of 4 with 10mm glass.


Grateful if you could give your opinions and advices...

*c/p*


Thanks a lot,

Rishi.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I would think the safety factor has to be filled with water. Otherwise, it would just be measuring a piece of glass. Never used it though and never thought of making my own


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## yashrishi (Feb 26, 2011)

Thanks for your quick reply 

So would you consider it safe if I build a freshwater tank with the following specs:

length - 48in (121.92cm)
width - 18in (45.72cm)
height - 24in (60.96cm)
glass thickness: 10 mm
euro bracing on top and bottom
water filled at 50cm level

:fish-in-bowl:

Regards,

Rishi.


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## Brando (Oct 6, 2010)

i am considering building a tank of exactly the same dimensions,( a friend who owns a glass business has offered me a good price on starphire glass) i just started researching this more...i am curious, are you using tempered glass or not? what is normally used in tanks?
what is your source for plans/information? 
explain the euro bracing

While the strength of tempered is higher, if it breaks , it shatters into a thousand tiny pieces, while untempered glass will just crack, preventing possibly am immediate catastrophic flood


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## yashrishi (Feb 26, 2011)

Hello  

I will be using normal 10mm glass - not tempered..
euro bracing are like normal bracing, without the center brace.

so guys, any idea if my tank will be solid/safe enough with these specs:

length - 48in (121.92cm)
width - 18in (45.72cm)
height - 24in (60.96cm)
glass thickness: 10 mm
euro bracing on top and bottom
water filled at 50cm level


Thanks,

Rishi.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I have heard the bottoms of newer tanks are tempered,and supposedly that makes it hard to drill for plumbing.Not sure if that is true or has meaning,but definately worth reading up on to see for sure.


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## driftwood (Feb 13, 2011)

10 would be fine, but if you have the money, go for 12mm( will give you 4.0 FULL) and wont have to worry about it.


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## yashrishi (Feb 26, 2011)

driftwood said:


> 10 would be fine, but if you have the money, go for 12mm( will give you 4.0 FULL) and wont have to worry about it.


driftwood,

If I go with height=60cm, and fill the aquarium with only 50cm of water, I also get a 4.0 safety factor.

Can I still go with the 10mm? 12mm is almost double the price...


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## driftwood (Feb 13, 2011)

9 mm is the min. for a 48in x 24 high from what I have read, so I would think 10mm would be fine. go to saltaquarium.about.com/od/diytanksrefugiumso


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