Purchasing custom tank - TEMPERED OR NON-TEMPERED??

Steve Fast · May 31, 2019

Antics said:
It's a brand name for a material people often use on barebottoms. Like a brushed plastic. Can't remember if it's HDPE or some other material.

https://www.interstateplastics.com/king-starboard-marine-board-cp62.php

Tuffloud1 · May 31, 2019

Steve Fast said:
https://www.interstateplastics.com/king-starboard-marine-board-cp62.php

Can this be put under sand?

JoshH · May 31, 2019

Tuffloud1 said:
Can this be put under sand?

Yes it can, you can also use egg crate as well if you want

Tuffloud1 · May 31, 2019

JoshH said:
Yes it can, you can also use egg crate as well if you want

Wouldn’t egg crate trap all kinds of detritus?

JoshH · May 31, 2019

Tuffloud1 said:
Wouldn’t egg crate trap all kinds of detritus?

No more than a regular sand bed would it would still require occasional siphoning to stay clean. The only issue I see is you would need a thicker sand bed if you wanted to keep any sand dwelling fish

Tuffloud1 · May 31, 2019

Here are a couple pictures of a side by side comparison of the non-detailed vs detailed bottom seams.

Looks like they use a ton more silicone on the non-detailed. I’m curious if the non-detailed is a stronger seam because of how much they glob on. Although, it appears they don’t actually scrape or actually touch the non-detailed whereas they have to agitate and scrape the detailed to get it perfect.

Custom Aquariums states that either choice is equally strong/durable.

I chose the detailed version even though I will have a sand bed in case I ever took the sand out.

I’m hoping it will be as strong as the non-detailed version.

Matt Carden · May 31, 2019

As I understand it, all the strength of the joint is between the panels.

Tuffloud1 · Jun 1, 2019

Does anyone know if these safety factor calculators assume a metal frame with cross bracing is being used? When I punch in my tanks dimensions with a safety factor of 3, it says 15 mm glass should be used.

Since I’m doing 5/8 glass, this comes out to 15.875 mm.

So does this calculator assume a metal frame is used? Mine will have an aluminum frame top and bottom with 2 cross braces at the top.

I’m curious if the safety factor would be higher than what this calculator shows.

Tuffloud1 · Jun 2, 2019

Man, I’m really stressing about this glass thickness business.

Everywhere I read, I see different information.

Bottom glass: does it need to be thicker than the rest of the panels? Let’s say 5/8 is the minimum thickness the side panels need to be to be completely safe. According to everywhere I’m reading, the bottom panel is under even more pressure. So wouldn’t the bottom require 3/4 glass to be completely safe?

According to Custom Aquariums, they said there is no reason to go with 3/4 on the bottom and 5/8 like the rest of the side panels is sufficient.

This goes against all the advice out there that states “rule of thumb, the bottom panel should be the next step up from the sides”.

Steve Fast · Jun 2, 2019

Tuffloud1 said:
Man, I’m really stressing about this glass thickness business.

Everywhere I read, I see different information.

Bottom glass: does it need to be thicker than the rest of the panels? Let’s say 5/8 is the minimum thickness the side panels need to be to be completely safe. According to everywhere I’m reading, the bottom panel is under even more pressure. So wouldn’t the bottom require 3/4 glass to be completely safe?

According to Custom Aquariums, they said there is no reason to go with 3/4 on the bottom and 5/8 like the rest of the side panels is sufficient.

This goes against all the advice out there that states “rule of thumb, the bottom panel should be the next step up from the sides”.

Try a quick and dirty pounds per square inch calculation. The compare that to you standing. Oddly enough it might not be as big as you expect.

Tuffloud1 · Jun 2, 2019

Steve Fast said:
Try a quick and dirty pounds per square inch calculation. The compare that to you standing. Oddly enough it might not be as big as you expect.

Would it be like this:

Psi=(2.5)/(2.31)

2.5 being tank height in feet

2.31 being pressure of water in pounds per foot of height.

This comes out to 1.08 psi.

Is this correct??

Steve Fast · Jun 2, 2019

i would do

((total gallons*8.6 lbs/gallon) + tank weight)/(bottom area in square inches)..

sorry figured you could grab those umber faster than me as i'd have to dig the thread for the details...

Tuffloud1 · Jun 2, 2019

Steve Fast said:
i would do

((total gallons*8.6 lbs/gallon) + tank weight)/(bottom area in square inches)..

sorry figured you could grab those umber faster than me as i'd have to dig the thread for the details...

Thank you

So (2279) + 49)/(2016) = 1.15

Is 1.15 anything to worry about with 5/8 glass on the bottom?

Steve Fast · Jun 2, 2019

i don't know glass strength, though that is about the same as someone weighing 167 lbs standing on a 1 square foot piece of glass... bottom line if you can stand on it and it not break then the water won't break it... i think custom aquariums is right...

Higher Thinking · Jun 2, 2019

Did you submit your order requesting that they drill for the MM overflow? I did that two months ago and they responded they didn't drill for those anymore because of issues with CA framing being too thick and not working properly. Basically forced me to go with Synergy.

Also, I didn't know about the Detailed vs. Non-Detailed option for the bottom silicone. I'm going bare-bottom and would have preferred Detailed. Maybe I can still get that option. Side note: this coming Friday is week 10 and last week they said still a few weeks out, which is super frustrating.

Tuffloud1 · Jun 2, 2019

Higher Thinking said:
Did you submit your order requesting that they drill for the MM overflow? I did that two months ago and they responded they didn't drill for those anymore because of issues with CA framing being too thick and not working properly. Basically forced me to go with Synergy.

Also, I didn't know about the Detailed vs. Non-Detailed option for the bottom silicone. I'm going bare-bottom and would have preferred Detailed. Maybe I can still get that option. Side note: this coming Friday is week 10 and last week they said still a few weeks out, which is super frustrating.

Yes I was able to get them to drill the holes for modular marine. It took a lot of back-and-forth and confusion from modular marine I must say though. Modular marine was extremely unclear on the measurements. I will be writing an official review after I receive the overflow. Modular marine Is customizing the box so it is definitely not their stock box. I did send a diagram of Custom Aquariums frame to modular marine two separate times to be absolutely certain that it will work. Who is your sales person at Custom Aquariums?

Higher Thinking · Jun 2, 2019

Tuffloud1 said:
Yes I was able to get them to drill the holes for modular marine. It took a lot of back-and-forth and confusion from modular marine I must say though. Modular marine was extremely unclear on the measurements. I will be writing an official review after I receive the overflow. Modular marine Is customizing the box so it is definitely not their stock box. I did send a diagram of Custom Aquariums frame to modular marine two separate times to be absolutely certain that it will work. Who is your sales person at Custom Aquariums?

I actually don't know. I'm going thru my LFS who took point on everything. Good to hear you got what you wanted. That makes me a little jealous I folded so easily. Oh well....

On a good note, my LFS owner is getting me the Synergy overflows (going with two of them) at $100 each.

Potatohead · Jun 2, 2019

Tuffloud1 said:
Man, I’m really stressing about this glass thickness business.

Everywhere I read, I see different information.

Bottom glass: does it need to be thicker than the rest of the panels? Let’s say 5/8 is the minimum thickness the side panels need to be to be completely safe. According to everywhere I’m reading, the bottom panel is under even more pressure. So wouldn’t the bottom require 3/4 glass to be completely safe?

According to Custom Aquariums, they said there is no reason to go with 3/4 on the bottom and 5/8 like the rest of the side panels is sufficient.

This goes against all the advice out there that states “rule of thumb, the bottom panel should be the next step up from the sides”.

At some point you have to trust the builder. I work in a profession where it’s easy to find information online or get other people’s opinions. People always second guess our professional opinion. I just tell them that we’ve done this a thousand times and have trained, experienced people behind it, so they can either take our word for it, or the word of some guy who knows a guy or some random dude on the internet. If they want to spend extra money to sleep better, no problem. If they want to tell us how to do it, I just tell them we will do whatever you want to your specs but don’t call us when you have a problem, lol.

So anyway the point is, at some point you have to trust the builder. You’re literally trusting them to build a box that if it explodes will cost many tens of thousands in damage, so trusting them is a good start.

As far as the bottom thickness, just about every mass produced tank has a tempered bottom. Whether it’s cheaper for them to use a thinner tempered panel over a thicker non-tempered, I don’t know, but that could explain why. One thing I would definitely consider is if the tank stand is supporting only around the rim or if it has a fully supported bottom like on a rimless tank. If the former I would be much more likely to upgrade the bottom glass. Isn’t going to 3/4” non tempered only about $200 anyway? In that case Id probably do it but I don’t be recall ever hearing about a falling rock breaking a tank either.

Tuffloud1 · Jun 2, 2019

Higher Thinking said:
I actually don't know. I'm going thru my LFS who took point on everything. Good to hear you got what you wanted. That makes me a little jealous I folded so easily. Oh well....

On a good note, my LFS owner is getting me the Synergy overflows (going with two of them) at $100 each.

What glass thickness did you go with on all your panels? What are your dimensions?

Higher Thinking · Jun 2, 2019

Tuffloud1 said:
What glass thickness did you go with on all your panels? What are your dimensions?

See that's the thing that has me wondering. You're getting all this anxiety about 5/8 vs. 3/4 and I'm getting a 360 gallon with 1/2". Dimensions are 96x36x24. My shorter height is why the recommended thickness is only half inch. If I went to 30" tall their guide says 5/8. I went non tempered all around and low iron on three sides.

I did contemplate upgrading to 5/8, but ultimately I just thought to myself, if there is a lifetime guarantee on their work with these lower thicknesses, what is the point on upgrading? Is the tank going to not fail when it otherwise would if I didn't upgrade? If that were the case, CA is doing something wrong.

I think the other poster got it right on the money. Eventually you just gotta trust their recommendations. Just anecdotal, but there aren't many instances of tank panels themselves failing. It's nearly always the seam itself. If you trust them to stick two sheets of glass together and hold several hundred gallons of water, just have to trust their thickness recommendations as well.

Excited for you, though!