Vertical tank build
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I have a 36" cube and my tangs definitely will swim straight up and down, especially when chasing food. It's the 24" x 24" that I think would be kind of restricting for them. As for glass or acrylic, where as I'm more of an acrylic fan, in this case I would advocate going with glass. You are going to have to get real good at using the long grabber tools, have at least two of them, one for each hand. That leads to other issues to consider. You'll need plenty of room above the tank to maneuver those grabbers. So you'll want to have a lighting setup that can be moved out of the way. Still, things will drop/bang against the sides which is why I'd recommend glass, thick glass. (Rimless if possible.) It's also easier to scrape coralline algae towards the bottom off glass using a magnetic scrapper.
On the flip side, there are many benefits and cool things you can do with the extra depth. Your idea of "... that if I built a structure up the middle with lots of caves and ledges it would encourage the fish to use more of the vertical space." is something I've always wanted to do, especially being seen from all sides. Forget the tangs and go with other fish that will utilize the structure and small shoaling fish. One thing I've noticed is that when the fish get startled, they tend to dive deep instead of jumping out.
There's just one other thing you have to do, make a build thread! I want to watch.
On the flip side, there are many benefits and cool things you can do with the extra depth. Your idea of "... that if I built a structure up the middle with lots of caves and ledges it would encourage the fish to use more of the vertical space." is something I've always wanted to do, especially being seen from all sides. Forget the tangs and go with other fish that will utilize the structure and small shoaling fish. One thing I've noticed is that when the fish get startled, they tend to dive deep instead of jumping out.
There's just one other thing you have to do, make a build thread! I want to watch.
You basically either want to do the standard plate/float glass or a low-iron glass (like Starphire glass). The low-iron is slightly clearer and more expensive, but some people say it scratches more easily and some people think some kinds may yellow with age (I have not seen any empirical evidence to back either of these cons, these are just what I’ve seen people say). Standard plate/float glass (called annealed glass) is slightly less clear (many people note that they can’t tell the difference unless they see the two side by side), but it is cheaper, known to be the most scratch resistant material used in the hobby, and it for sure won’t yellow over time.
If crystal clear viewing is your top priority, and you’re not too concerned about scratching - go with the low-iron. If not going over budget (or not going over too far) is your priority - go with the standard annealed glass.
You do not want to use heat-strengthened or tempered glass (they’re both stronger than normal glass, but they both are less clear than normal glass too, and the way tempered glass breaks makes it considered a bit of a safety hazard for anything larger than nano aquaria).
Also, with regards to tank material thickness, most recommendations I’ve seen say to use the same thickness for either glass or acrylic, because while acrylic is stronger, it also bends more - so the extra thickness for the acrylic is basically to keep it from bowing out of proportion and busting a seam that way.
A couple random notes here:
- If you were to go with acrylic for the tank, you’d want to use cell cast acrylic.
- Here’s a simple but useful glass thickness calculator for aquariums (it’s generally recommended if this is one of your first DIY tank attempts that you exceed a safety factor of 3.8, so I’d say to probably set 4.0-4.5 at a minimum as your safety factor in the input box - the calculator may recommend a thicker, more expensive glass as a result, but the thicker glass, the safer it is):
Aquarium Glass Thickness Calculator
Given below is the online aquarium glass thickness calculator which helps you to calculate a volume of an aquarium, glass area, glass thickness, weight of glass and weight of water in a glass based on the length, width, height, and safety factor.
** Safety factor is basically just a number to describe how likely a tank is to fail under normal conditions (i.e. assuming the tank is properly built, on a level stand, etc.) - the higher the number, the safer it is.
SALTY 75
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Thank you for the advice, I’m glad I’m not totally going off the deep end with this idea haha. I definitely am planning on a school of fish I’ve had my eyes On thread fin cardinal fish, and pajama cardinalfish. I’m really excited to have lots of corals. I want gorgonias from the bottom going up and some cool stuff like that. I think glass is the way to go it sounds likeI have a 36" cube and my tangs definitely will swim straight up and down, especially when chasing food. It's the 24" x 24" that I think would be kind of restricting for them. As for glass or acrylic, where as I'm more of an acrylic fan, in this case I would advocate going with glass. You are going to have to get real good at using the long grabber tools, have at least two of them, one for each hand. That leads to other issues to consider. You'll need plenty of room above the tank to maneuver those grabbers. So you'll want to have a lighting setup that can be moved out of the way. Still, things will drop/bang against the sides which is why I'd recommend glass, thick glass. (Rimless if possible.) It's also easier to scrape coralline algae towards the bottom off glass using a magnetic scrapper.
On the flip side, there are many benefits and cool things you can do with the extra depth. Your idea of "... that if I built a structure up the middle with lots of caves and ledges it would encourage the fish to use more of the vertical space." is something I've always wanted to do, especially being seen from all sides. Forget the tangs and go with other fish that will utilize the structure and small shoaling fish. One thing I've noticed is that when the fish get startled, they tend to dive deep instead of jumping out.
There's just one other thing you have to do, make a build thread! I want to watch.
SALTY 75
Active Member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2019
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- 110
Awesome thanks so much for posting that link. I’m going to build a model tonight or tomorrow night and see if I really like the dimensions. I think I’ll go with glass just because I’m worried about scratches.You basically either want to do the standard plate/float glass or a low-iron glass (like Starphire glass). The low-iron is slightly clearer and more expensive, but some people say it scratches more easily and some people think some kinds may yellow with age (I have not seen any empirical evidence to back either of these cons, these are just what I’ve seen people say). Standard plate/float glass (called annealed glass) is slightly less clear (many people note that they can’t tell the difference unless they see the two side by side), but it is cheaper, known to be the most scratch resistant material used in the hobby, and it for sure won’t yellow over time.
If crystal clear viewing is your top priority, and you’re not too concerned about scratching - go with the low-iron. If not going over budget (or not going over too far) is your priority - go with the standard annealed glass.
You do not want to use heat-strengthened or tempered glass (they’re both stronger than normal glass, but they both are less clear than normal glass too, and the way tempered glass breaks makes it considered a bit of a safety hazard for anything larger than nano aquaria).
Also, with regards to tank material thickness, most recommendations I’ve seen say to use the same thickness for either glass or acrylic, because while acrylic is stronger, it also bends more - so the extra thickness for the acrylic is basically to keep it from bowing out of proportion and busting a seam that way.
A couple random notes here:
- If you were to go with acrylic for the tank, you’d want to use cell cast acrylic.
- Here’s a simple but useful glass thickness calculator for aquariums (it’s generally recommended if this is one of your first DIY tank attempts that you exceed a safety factor of 3.8, so I’d say to probably set 4.0-4.5 at a minimum as your safety factor in the input box - the calculator may recommend a thicker, more expensive glass as a result, but the thicker glass, the safer it is):
* The glass thickness calculator linked above (like every other one I’ve seen) gives the value for an unbraced, rimless tank - bracing raises the safety factor.Aquarium Glass Thickness Calculator
Given below is the online aquarium glass thickness calculator which helps you to calculate a volume of an aquarium, glass area, glass thickness, weight of glass and weight of water in a glass based on the length, width, height, and safety factor.www.easycalculation.com
** Safety factor is basically just a number to describe how likely a tank is to fail under normal conditions (i.e. assuming the tank is properly built, on a level stand, etc.) - the higher the number, the safer it is.
thanks for the wealth of knowledge this is amazing
jabberwock
2500 Club Member
I wouldn't do it. I don't even like cubes because of their shape. Maintenance issues (too deep), fish stacked up on top of each other leads to "dive bombing", flow issues, etc. Not my cup of tea.
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