Tank glass thickness

Hi all, whilst I was planning my internal filter in the 3ft tank I wanted to get more accurate measurments than accept that a 3ft tank is aaxbbxcc. So I grabbed the tape measured the outside dimensions and was going to subtract the glass thickness to get the inner dimensions. I got a bit of a shock as I thought a 3ft would be 6mm and not 4mm glass. Any thoughts advice or corrections on my assumption is very welcome.

 

My 3ft tank is made of 5mm glass.

 

Just checked mine - also 5mm?

 

Jip. Standard 3 foot is 4mm glass. As @Ryno also discovered. Sorry Ryno. Sometimes the panels bend slightly under the pressure. You can have your own 3 foot tank built for roughly the same cost with thicker glass and add bracing if you like.

Not to worry though. You are not alone on this. My old 5 foot tank was 6mm glass with bracing in the top. I only discovered this after I bought the tank. Had my own tank built to spec with 10mm glass and bracing. Feel much better now.

 

@tracyp, @DewaldC. What is the make of your tanks? Daro?

 

Ok thanks, this tank does not have any bracing so just concerned.

 

I have an old 3 foot tank with a cracked base. Also 4mm. Think Daro makes them in 5mm.

 

@SloMo.00. My tank also has bracing.(the pet shop made it for a guy and he never picked it up so I bought it for a standard price):bigsmile:

 

My old unbraced 3ft was 6mm and it bended. Rather brace it with some 6mm glass. My new 3ft is 4mm but braced with 8mm - beefy

 

Yup think I am going to brace it, I want to make a canopy for it and the last thing I need is for it to bend and crack against the canopy. This tank stands in one of those standard open metal frames that you get should I have a support down the centre of the stand also then?

 

Score! So in other words not standard hey. I wanted to fix my 3 foot but decided to rather build a new tank.

@Razer2007, did you also have your tank made with braces? I must say very interesting that a 3 foot tank with 6mm glass would still bend like that.

@karele. You can allways have braces put in. Not gonna cost too much.

 

@SloMo.00. (damn spelling) - yup - I got the tank made by someone here in CT - but the old one definitely bent. You can see it in the beginning of my 1st 3ft thread. (not the river)

 

Standard production sizes and glass thickness are:
2ft(610x325x325mm) - 4mm
3ft(915x325x380mm) - 5mm
4ft(1220x450x450mm) - 6mm

I bought a used standard size 3ft tank with a 4mm thick broken front panel, though the rest of the tank was 5mm. :blink:

@karele, if your 3ft tank is 4mm glass, 380mm tall, unbraced and you fill it all the way - I'm sorry to say that it's a disaster waiting to happen. :worried:

 

Yeah man I've seen a 4mm unbraced 3ft tank filled to about 3cm from the top. I was afraid to go near it.

 

Sho. Sounds impossible hey. he he. Just shows hey.

@karele, what do you mean support in the middle of the stand? Does the stand only have metal on the sides so the tank rests on the outer edge? Is that what you mean? If so you definitely need to add support in the middle. Tank will break as soon as you fill it.

 

my 3ft is on a 15mm squre tubing stand which only has legs on the side, but about 2cm thick solid wood underneath the tank and everything is fine, but for peace of mind I'd actually prefer it to have a leg in the middle. Like my 4ft stand.

 

Yup only rests around the edges, ok I am starting to get real nervous about this tank now. It has been running with water and some plants for about 6 months now and just about 2 weeks ago I added some guppies. I have had this tank for a few years now already. Ran it for a while and took it down when I went overseas and then recently wanted to try and start it up again. When I enquired initially in the store I purchased it on the response was that they have sold many and have had no problems! Thanks all for the advice.

 

You're in the same boat as I was some 9 months ago when I just set up my old 3ft, filled it etc with great enthusiasm, just to hear the people say that the bend doesn't look safe. I should take it down and brace it. Well I never did and it never gave problems. But you know, anything is possible.

A friend of mine actually uses a bent piece of 3mm aluminium (about 1cm wide) which fits over the middle of the tank which acts as a little "brace" or "clamp". This is on a 3mm glass 2ft. Sketchy but it works.

 

Don't get too nervous. I would start with what Razer has done. Get a piese of wood to rest the tank on the stand. This way the weight is much better distributed. Have a look at the glass when filled. Inspect the tank and make a decision. Adding braces would set you back 2 days. So no need to worry about waiting too long for the tank and you'll have peace of mind. You are really lucky the tank has not cracked without support under the bulk of the weight.

 

Thanks again, Well good reason to drain the tank and redo the substrate any way, was wanting to go the pfp route and still need to change the filter from the internal aqua 901 to my own internal design. I will place a sheet in the bottom of the stand and was thinking to maybe do a canopy that "clamps" around the tank. Maybe line the insides that is going to clamp around the tank with a high density foam or polystyrene just in case of a rough or uneven finish.