2000 Gallons Tank Project

[h0nkzz]

I'm in the process of building my new house and I'm going to build a +- 2000 gal concrete tank with 3 glass panel. The tank dimensions are 20' long x 5' wide x 31" high. The glass panels would be about 32" high and all of them have reinforce concrete/steel frames on all 4 sides

My question is how thick of a glass panel do I need to use ??
any input is much appreciated

heres a simple illustration of what the tank construction looks like

[armthehomeless]

Is there a reason you are not planning on using acryllic?

[h0nkzz]

Is there a reason you are not planning on using acryllic?

price and availability in a 3rd world country I'm living in ??

[aggrocichlidfan]

I would try to get..acrylic is better bet with tht size aquarium...I would be to scarred to lol thts just me tho

[h0nkzz]

okay i might just have to look into that options too i guess, so how thick of an Acrylic panel will I need ?

[TaTeR ToT]

id say 1.5-2" thick panels for acrylic, for glass id say maybe 2.5-3" thick panles, tempered if possible.

[armthehomeless]

price and availability in a 3rd world country I'm living in ??

Fair enough!

[afremont]

The pressure at the bottom is only going to be about 1.3 PSI or 187 pounds per square foot at the bottom of the panel. The average pressure will be half that, but multiplied over all that surface area there will be a huge amount of force on the large panel. Maybe you could reconsider breaking the long panel into three sections 4' wide and you could use much thinner material. As for how thick the glass actually needs to be, you should probably talk to a glass supplier or a structural engineer.

[h0nkzz]

Doing small viewing panels is definately out of the question. This is goin to be a showpiece in my family room so i want that single huge window.

[afremont]

Well, according to this calculator:

http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium

1" should be thick enough 1.25" should be fairly well kid safe
A safety factor of 4 allows for people to slam their fist against the glass. Still, even with very thick glass an accidental shock with a sharp metal edge and it could shatter. 2000 gallons of water gushing into the living room might knock an outside, supporting wall down. I'd talk to an engineer before deciding on anything. I think you should probably talk with your insurance company as well, just in case of the unspeakable. :-O

[SunnyHouTX]

In that case, a separate, thinner, pane of glass/acrylic can be placed a couple of inches away from the main glass as protection. It should be places in such a way that replacement is easy and cheap. Just my 2¢

[h0nkzz]

Well, according to this calculator:

http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium

1" should be thick enough 1.25" should be fairly well kid safe
A safety factor of 4 allows for people to slam their fist against the glass. Still, even with very thick glass an accidental shock with a sharp metal edge and it could shatter. 2000 gallons of water gushing into the living room might knock an outside, supporting wall down. I'd talk to an engineer before deciding on anything. I think you should probably talk with your insurance company as well, just in case of the unspeakable. :-O

well unfortunately we dont have any home insurance here. But we use only brick walls, so i wont worry about any walls collapsing.
I did the aquatools thing with 31" (80cm) height and it gives me 20mm glass thickness at 4.0 safety factor.

[h0nkzz]

this where the construction is at the moment.

[tbui1178]

Pretty awesome! Please keep us updatef with progress. What kind of filtration set are you going with? What are you going to stock it with?

[h0nkzz]

I havent really thought of filtration yet, but maybe a huge wet & dry trickle at the bottom since I'm gonna have about 3' clearance underneath the tank and I'm gonna trow a bunch of wave maker in the tank.

as for stocking goes, its definitely tanganyikans. we'll see what I can get, there arent too many choices here.