Metal brace/frame vs single center brace?

egcc289

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Hi all,

I’m currently in the middle of a diy tank. I’m using a 1/2” thick glass. The dimensions of my tank are 44in long x 23in wide x 22 in height.

The tanks is already built up and after filling it for the first time I noticed the glass bowed about 1/8”. After three days it seems that the bow stayed relatively the same.

I’m in the process of trying to prevent any damage or bow (kinda playing it on the safe side). I’m either thinking on installing a 4” wide 1/2” thick piece of glass in the middle top of the tank or building a metal frame that would go all around the top without any other sort of brace.

Any insight or help would be much appreciated. I’m new to the forum so my apologies if I’m breaking any rules or if this sort of thing gets posted a lot.
 

Lost in the Sauce

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Cross bracing, euro style or a frame top could all be used to help the bow. I personally prefer euro bracing as I don't like having a glass runner under the lights and above the water which can cause shadowing if the runner is at all dirty.

If you use metal, be prepared to fully prep and seal the piece as it will be going in a very inhospitable place. That constant salt would be he LL on metal.

Good luck! And post pics. I live diy builds.
 

Ratherbeflyen

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I'm not an engineer, but I don't think you need additional bracing.


According to the online glass thickness calculator linked above, a 44" x 22" tank has a safety factor of 2 with ~3/8" glass.

1622728373174.png


A little bit of glass bowing is ok. An off the shelf 40 breeder tank has no bracing and will bow a lot more than 1/8".
 
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egcc289

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Cross bracing, euro style or a frame top could all be used to help the bow. I personally prefer euro bracing as I don't like having a glass runner under the lights and above the water which can cause shadowing if the runner is at all dirty.

If you use metal, be prepared to fully prep and seal the piece as it will be going in a very inhospitable place. That constant salt would be he LL on metal.

Good luck! And post pics. I live diy builds.
It bums me out to have to resort to any type of bracing really but if it means I’ll sleep better… then so be it.

Having a center brace Will represent a compromise to keep that glass as clean as possible. I’ve considered euro bracing it but the pieces are too cost ineffective (almost the same price as the side panels) that is a no go at this time.

As for the metal, I think I’ll just put some sort of wood frame around the tank mostly to help ease the looks of the brace.

thanks for the reply! Means a lot!
 
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egcc289

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I'm not an engineer, but I don't think you need additional bracing.


According to the online glass thickness calculator linked above, a 44" x 22" tank has a safety factor of 2 with ~3/8" glass.

1622728373174.png


A little bit of glass bowing is ok. An off the shelf 40 breeder tank has no bracing and will bow a lot more than 1/8".
Hey! Thanks for this info!!!

do you know what the safety factor means? I know that for aquariums it needs to be between 2.92 to 3.8. Like you said, a ~3/8” glass has a factor of 2 and my glass is 1/2”. For the calculator to give me the same ~1/2” glass thickness I had to input a safety factor of 6. In reality, I’m lost into what that means.
 

Lost in the Sauce

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It bums me out to have to resort to any type of bracing really but if it means I’ll sleep better… then so be it.

Having a center brace Will represent a compromise to keep that glass as clean as possible. I’ve considered euro bracing it but the pieces are too cost ineffective (almost the same price as the side panels) that is a no go at this time.

As for the metal, I think I’ll just put some sort of wood frame around the tank mostly to help ease the looks of the brace.

thanks for the reply! Means a lot!
No problem. I'm not the go to builder, have only built one tank from scratch, but honestly, I would be A OKAY with 1/8" deflection on the long sides. If it makes you sleep better, go for it.

Another option would be to build your frame support, into a hood. This takes no modification to the tank. Would be installed with the tank empty. Fill it up, and you've got support, and a hood to hide your lights.

Just trying to think out loud.
 

Ratherbeflyen

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Hey! Thanks for this info!!!

do you know what the safety factor means? I know that for aquariums it needs to be between 2.92 to 3.8. Like you said, a ~3/8” glass has a factor of 2 and my glass is 1/2”. For the calculator to give me the same ~1/2” glass thickness I had to input a safety factor of 6. In reality, I’m lost into what that means.
The safety factor is just how much stronger a system is than it needs to be for an intended load.

Ie. If a glass panel can hold 10kg, then if it had a safety factor of 2 it would be able to hold 20kg.

A safety factor of 6 means it's 6 times stronger than its failure point.
 
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