Overbuilt Large Tanks?

[FullSend]

I understand your standard glass with black plastic rim aquariums are workhorses. I'm window shopping for options to help with piece of mind. I'd call any leak from a tank 100+ gallons a disaster.

Who is over building tanks now?
Who has over built tanks in the past?

 

[Fish Fan]

Are you looking for stock or custom built tanks? For custom, Glass Cages seems hard to beat these days. The owner is a forum member, so if you have any questions he can help you here or more directly by email/phone through their website:

Glass Cages | Custom Aquariums and Tanks

Glass Cages offers glass and acrylic custom aquariums and fish tanks. We design and build all of our products in-house to ensure the highest quality tanks.

glasscages.com

 

[rtparty]

No mass production tank manufacturer is overbuilding tanks these days

If I wanted an overbuilt tank, I’d call @Joe Glass Cages and have them build me one to my specs

 

[Bbio]

Glass cages is probably the best. I wouldn’t trust anything that’s not rimmed/eurobraced. Planet aquariums makes tanks with steel frames instead of plastic.

 

[Kooma]

I understand your standard glass with black plastic rim aquariums are workhorses. I'm window shopping for options to help with piece of mind. I'd call any leak from a tank 100+ gallons a disaster.

Who is over building tanks now?
Who has over built tanks in the past?

I am partial to my miracles tanks. They overbuild heavily.

My 72x30x24 is 5/8” glass, eurobraced top and bottom, and armour seams.

I’m not sure they could build it any stronger.

 

[BryanM]

3rd support for Joe at Glass Cages.

 

[UncommonSense]

A fourth for Glass Cages!

They can build you a sub-150g eurobraced tank out of 19mm (~3/4”) thick glass, with 19mm thick euro… then you can option stacked 10mm (~3/8”) glass around the bottom seams, and interior vertical seam reinforcements…

You end up with every single structural seam reinforced, bottom structural seams 29mm (~1-1/8”) thick, and even a 16mm (5/8”) thick overflow box…

— if you don’t consider that overbuilt, you’re likely buying for a public aquarium!

 

[BZOFIQ]

No stock tanks are overbuild by any stretch. They all started using thin tempered glass that cannot be drilled.

 

[Rob A]

Get an acrylic they have welded seams and are lighter

 

[BZOFIQ]

Get an acrylic they have welded seams and are lighter

Also scratch when you just look at them.

 

[UncommonSense]

Also scratch when you just look at them.

And are only as good as the materials and craftsmanship used to make them…

You can definitely get very high quality acrylic tanks; though I’ve seen more than I’d like, from major manufacturers, with any number of problems… including but not limited to:

— acrylic used was too thin to prevent immense (>1”) viewing pane bowing, or center brace stress)

— joints were not meticulously prepped and/or were poorly welded… (crazing, bubbles, white haze in welded seams)

— cheap acrylic used (crazing an microcracks in pane faces from years under load, eventually leading to a sudden shattering of the acrylic)

This is before we get into the recent federal ban on one of the primary active ingredients in common welding solvents; Methyl Chloride…

some manufacturers are getting around this with DIY or commercially available two-part welding solvents, but to (roughly) quote a well known acrylic fabricator whom frequents this site:

“I just don’t build anything intended to hold water out of acrylic anymore”

 

[edd59]

miracles and glass cages, very well built

 

[Rob A]

Also scratch when you just look at them.

I haven't had issues you just have to be careful just like cleaning the silicon seams on a glass tank. Common sense goes a long way with any aquarium but I have never seen a seam failure on an acrylic though I'm sure it has happened

 

[painter1982]

No mass production tank manufacturer is overbuilding tanks these days

If I wanted an overbuilt tank, I’d call @Joe Glass Cages and have them build me one to my specs

My Eshopps M130 seems overbuilt. 3/4” glass, bottom internal bracing, inside corner silicone guards. Not sure what more you could do to beef it up. Can’t say eurobracing if you want a rimless.

 

[cba191]

This is the used one im picking up this weekend. It's ~150g. 3/4" glass with a 1" starboard bottom. With an aluminum frame top and bottom. I think that counts as overbuilt.

The stand is a bit overbuilt too. 2" steel.

 

[Fish Styx]

+1 @Joe Glass Cages

 

[FullSend]

This is the used one im picking up this weekend. It's ~150g. 3/4" glass with a 1" starboard bottom. With an aluminum frame top and bottom. I think that counts as overbuilt.

This is sort of what I had in mind. Take a rimless aquarium then slap a metal frame on it. The tank is built to stand alone if the workmanship is adequate. Adding a metal frame adds more tolerance for this, that or the other to be less than perfect. Plus, the silicone degrading over time becomes less of a worry. Maybe the expected lifespan of the tank triples?

Am I on the right track here? I'm out of my depth.

 

[Fish Styx]

This is sort of what I had in mind. Take a rimless aquarium then slap a metal frame on it. The tank is built to stand alone if the workmanship is adequate. Adding a metal frame adds more tolerance for this, that or the other to be less than perfect. Plus, the silicone degrading over time becomes less of a worry. Maybe the expected lifespan of the tank triples?

Am I on the right track here? I'm out of my depth.

Given what you are describing, Eurobraced with seam guards would be better, IMO.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I understand your standard glass with black plastic rim aquariums are workhorses. I'm window shopping for options to help with piece of mind. I'd call any leak from a tank 100+ gallons a disaster.

Who is over building tanks now?
Who has over built tanks in the past?

Tenecor
Glass cages
Planet aquariums

 

[hart24601]

I am partial to my miracles tanks. They overbuild heavily.

My 72x30x24 is 5/8” glass, eurobraced top and bottom, and armour seams.

I’m not sure they could build it any stronger.

I would also say that the miracles tanks I had were “overbuilt”. They are very conservative especially with reef tanks and use thicker glass than many other places.