Advice on possible tall peninsula tank

Rob-ski · Jul 1, 2022

Hi,

So I've been lurking on these forums for a good while now, and I'm starting to plan a new aquarium build. Our place is not massive, it is a victorian terrace in London, but has an open plan downstairs.

I'm toying with the idea of a peninsula tank to devide the dowstairs room a bit. There used to be a wall where I'm planning to put the tank and when we moved in a few years back we had the floors redone. I managed to take a picture at the time so I'm know there are support plinths underneath so I think it should take the weight. (I'll get this validated)

Anyway, as the place isn't massive, I'm thinking of a tall and fairly narrow peninsula. The current dims I'm looking at are 150 cm wide, 50cm deep and 80cm tall, holding 600L (roughly 59in X 19 5/8in X 31 1/2in - 158 us gallon)

The first question is regarding glass. I've looked at some glass calculators and it is suggesting front and sides at around 18mm while the bottom specifies 28mm. I can't seem to find low iron glass which is this thick. Has anyone built a tank this size and found glass that would fit? The thickest seems to be 15mm, would that cut the mustard or would the risk be too great?

Also, for the bottom, would 2 panes of glass glued (siliconed) together to get to 28mm or more work? Would I even need this much glass thickness if the bottom was sitting flat on the cabinet? I would probably look to silicone the bottom panel inside the front and sides rather than under the front and sides if that makes sense.

Thanks in advance.

Rob

Chrisv. · Jul 1, 2022

I have no idea about the availability of low iron glass in the UK, but I know it's available in the US. Have you tried contacting glass companies or tank builders directly? Here in the US some of the tank builders will also sell glass directly for DIY projects.

Rob-ski · Jul 1, 2022

ya, it is available over here, but only up to a certain thickness. I guess I'm wondering more if I can use a double layer for the bottom glass but then thinking about it, I suppose I could just use regular glass for the bottom since optics don't really matter.

The only other concern is that I can't seem to find anything thicker than 15mm over here and it is specifying 18mm. Is it too risky to use that for front and sides? Would eurobracing change the math on this? I would obviously need some sort of cross bracing but I am planning on a canopy so I wouldn't mind if I had to add some additional glass if it meant the tank was more structurally sound

BZOFIQ · Jul 1, 2022

Rob,

I have a tank built in the EU and it is 211x80x60 or little over 1000L

My bottom, back and sides are 19mm and that's by request - in other words it is overbuilt.

Talk to aquarium makers in your area and they should be able to guide you on how thick you need it.

BTW. If you need thick "starfire" glass lookup Pilkington's Opti-White - you should have no problem getting it.

Here is my tank as built. Normally you'd only have the front/back and cross brace on a tank my size but I requested some upgrades.

Rob-ski · Jul 1, 2022

Hi,

Thanks for the reply! This tank is very similar to the one I'm thinking of though I'm looking at 500mm wide and 800mm tall rather than the 800mm wide and 600mm tall that you are using (so basically the rectangle on the end turned 90 deg)

I've seen opti-white from a few suppliers so what I'll do is get in contact with a few of them to see if they can get in thicker glass for me.

Do you have a canopy on your tank? I can see the extra bracing, so I'll probably go for that in addition to the cross brace for added stability.

EDIT: I see you have 19mm for the bottom. Since I'm going taller, I am still not 100% sure if I need to go thicker on the bottom, but I can use regular glass for that

Cheers

Rob

BZOFIQ · Jul 1, 2022

Rob-ski said:
Hi,

Thanks for the reply! This tank is very similar to the one I'm thinking of though I'm looking at 500mm wide and 800mm tall rather than the 800mm wide and 600mm tall that you are using (so basically the rectangle on the end turned 90 deg.

I've seen opti-white from a few suppliers so what I'll do is get in contact with a few of them to see if they can get in thicker glass for me.

Do you have a canopy on your tank? I can see the extra bracing, so I'll probably go for that in addition to the cross brace for added stability

Cheers

Rob