Glass thickness on new tank

lolgranny · Mar 10, 2017

hey guys, I'm almost done with my complete remodel of a new house I'll be moving into and I'm looking a getting a new tank. I'm wondering what size glass you would all suggest as they said either 1/2" or 3/4" would work.

The dimensions are 96"x30"x30"

I'm leaning towards 3/4" but I would obviously save a lot if 1/2" is the way to go. Although I could save some $, my gut is telling me that since it's my last tank I should get the thicker glass.

Just looking for some reassurance from my friends here

jschultzbass · Mar 10, 2017

3/4" for sure but it will be crazy heavy! I have a 77x30x30 tank from AGE with 3/4" starfire and love it. It has stainless steel bracing and a PVC bottom. It is a tank, weighs about 650 lbs empty.

jschultzbass · Mar 10, 2017

Can you even get that size tank in 1/2"?

Best Fish-Jake · Mar 10, 2017

The thicker the safer! Make sure you have good seals regardless

lolgranny · Mar 10, 2017

Schultz it's from AGE who I'm getting the quote from, initially we talked 3/4" and then one of the superiors recommended 1/2". I'm wondering what it will weigh empty as well, luckily I hit the gym on the regular so I'll just man mode it in my myself

. Haha!

I'm going to have a bunch of guys over and rent some suction cups to get it from the driveway inside

lolgranny · Mar 10, 2017

jschultzbass said:
3/4" for sure but it will be crazy heavy! I have a 77x30x30 tank from AGE with 3/4" starfire and love it. It has stainless steel bracing and a PVC bottom. It is a tank, weighs about 650 lbs empty.

Do you have any photos of your tank? I'm interested in how you did your overflows and all

jschultzbass · Mar 10, 2017

I had them put a "Ghost" style overflow on it. Here are some pics of when I got it, when I set it up and one of the pretty fishes

jschultzbass · Mar 10, 2017

It is heavy. Mine went into the basement man cave and I rented a powered stair climber dolly as well as had about 10 guys helping.

lolgranny · Mar 10, 2017

See I wanted to go that route but they said with the ghost style the tank would be sitting 5-6" off the wall and thats not appealing to me. Is this how much yours is off? It looks less, but again photos are hard to tell

Luckily I have a straight shot through the door into the house and on the stand. Not looking forward to moving houses all together. Haha

mtfish · Mar 10, 2017

I would not go 1/2 inch. You are only going to move it once, right? 3/4 inch will let you sleep at night without one eye open. I have a similar tank and went with 3/4 inch low iron glass.

lolgranny · Mar 10, 2017

mtfish said:
I would not go 1/2 inch. You are only going to move it once, right? 3/4 inch will let you sleep at night without one eye open. I have a similar tank and went with 3/4 inch low iron glass.

3/4" it is!

Does anyone have a issue with mp40s on 3/4" glass?

jschultzbass · Mar 11, 2017

lolgranny said:
See I wanted to go that route but they said with the ghost style the tank would be sitting 5-6" off the wall and thats not appealing to me. Is this how much yours is off? It looks less, but again photos are hard to tell

Luckily I have a straight shot through the door into the house and on the stand. Not looking forward to moving houses all together. Haha

I just measured mine and the ghost overflow is 4.5 inches out from the aquarium. I don't konw if that's too much for you but that's what was needed to incorporate 1.5" plumbing.

How do you plan on doing the MP40s? all along the long side of the aquarium? if you try to just put them on the ends you won't get near enough flow on that long of a tank...I tried on mine and didn't work the best. I used a combo of MP60 and Tunzes.

lolgranny · Mar 11, 2017

jschultzbass said:
I just measured mine and the ghost overflow is 4.5 inches out from the aquarium. I don't konw if that's too much for you but that's what was needed to incorporate 1.5" plumbing.

How do you plan on doing the MP40s? all along the long side of the aquarium? if you try to just put them on the ends you won't get near enough flow on that long of a tank...I tried on mine and didn't work the best. I used a combo of MP60 and Tunzes.

ill have to measure again and see how that looks, doesnt seem near as bad as 6". I will have 1.5" drains as well. Thanks for looking !

I was going to do 2 corner trapezoid overflows, then put 2 gyres in the center of the tank and have my 4 mp40s on the side walls (2 and 2). If i have to add more down the road i will, i just want to work with the equipment i already have on my current tank. haha

lolgranny · Mar 11, 2017

Same goes for the lighting, for now im going to put 3 radion gen4's, 4- 250w halides, and 6-8 T5s. Hoping that will be enough, but again i might have to upgrade to 400w halides or add something else.