DIY Glass Question For BeanAnimal

[reefrubble]

Is It best to build the tank with the bottom inside the walls , or rest the walls on the bottom ? BeanAnimal , Help me out here .

[topherc84]

I'm not BeanAniman (obviously), however all of the glass tanks I have seen (10, 20L, 30br, 40br, 58, 90, & 180 custom cube) were build with the sides resting on TOP of the bottom pane.

[BeanAnimal]

What size tank?

The bottom "inside" allows the bottom panel of glass to be raised off of the stand, preventing it being point loaded. That said, the bottom silicone joint takes a large portion of the weight and the bottom unprotected edge of the vertical panels is subject to severe edge stress. In other words, this method requires bottom trim to help protected the raw glass edge and aid in supporting the silicone joint. This method allows for some torsional forces to act upon the tank and be "absorbed" by the bottom and side seams. Only the perimeter of the tank needs to be supported, as the bottom panel is raised.

The "sides on bottom" method protectes the bottom edge of the vertical panels. However, it is not as forgiving to a warped stand (torsion) and point loading (bumps in the stand). So the stand MUST be perfectly flat and rigid.

As for making a decision... I dunno. You may want to contact a few tank builders and get first hand advice :)

[reefrubble]

What size tank?

72"X36"X24" Tall . If Was your tank , what would do ?

Ted








72

[BeanAnimal]

I have seen several large tanks like that with laminated glass bottoms lately (sides on bottom). That is 2 staggered (overlapped) layers of smaller panels. In your case say 18"x36" or something like that. In theory such a design allows for more structural give without failure.

Building a proper frame for a "bottom inside" type design may be tricking or more time consuming than it is work. It may be easier to build a "sides ON bottom" tank and concentrate on building a proper stand. Again, a call to a few known tank builders would be a good idea :)

[K' Family Reef]

fwiw

dont know if this will be helpful in any way
but here is a 'montage' of a guy (rc member Matias Ilhabela) in brazil assembling a large glass tank...

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-04/reefslides/index.php
(makes it look easy)


and here is his 'thread' (fr the large tank forum)

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1547615&perpage=25&pagenumber=1



good luck.

regards

[reefrubble]

topherc84 , Thank you for your help . I should have mentioned the tank will be 72" X 36" X 24" tall .

BeanAnimal , Thank you for the advice . I will look into it .

Warren , Thank you for the links . He does make it look easy .

Ted