# 1/8th inch glass strength



## rainbuilder (Sep 21, 2011)

I have a question about glass strength. How big of an aquarium could you make with 1/8th inch thick glass? Depth, height, length, volume, etc. I have an idea that I'm thinking about doing in a few weeks and if it happens it will blow your minds...


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

Maybe 8"x8"? 

I can't imaging anything longer would hold up under the pressure.


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## rainbuilder (Sep 21, 2011)

What about length? Would the length matter? I'm trying to find the biggest size it could be if it were 1/8th inch thick glass... All sides but the back will be 1/4 inch thick but I think it would be the same as if all the sides were 1/8 inch thick.


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

When i researched my rimless 41gl I learned that the brunt of the force is 1/3 up dead center on the longest panels in a rectangle. The longer the glass the more the leverage. So cubes are structurally stronger that a rectangle.

The taller you go the more force. What you can do at 15" high, might not work at 45" high.

The thicker you go the stronger your "box" is the more you can push the limits.

I read I could go 36x15x18 with 1/4 glass I went 3/8s to be safe. 3/8s should be able to handle 24" tall in my size tank.

Good luck wit h your build.


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

I would just spring for the 1/4th glass even if it was safe. Having dealt with 1/4th inch glass, its pretty thin already.


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## rainbuilder (Sep 21, 2011)

I need one side to be 1/8th of an inch, it's an interesting experiment I want to try... I just need to know what dimensions it could be if only the back was 1/8th of an inch. I was thinking about a cube, probably about 8-10 inches each side. Would this be too big if only the back was 1/8th inch thick?


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## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

8" might work. 
Will it be a true cube 8x8x8 or will it be higher?


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## xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx (Jul 12, 2011)

Take it from me, I picked up a home made 40 gallon tank last month, and Friday night the back glass suddenly broke, and needless to say I spent all weekend cleaning my carpets. All because the idiot used 1/8" thick regular glass instead of using acrylic, or thicker glass.


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## jasonpatterson (Apr 15, 2011)

Standard 10 gallon tanks (20"x10"x12") are built using double strength (1/8" thickness) glass. Smaller tanks use thinner glass still (ex: I've got a 2.5 gallon that uses 1/16" glass. It's crazy thin.) A 10" cube is definitely appropriately sized for double strength. Heck, you could get away with single strength (3/32") on that most likely, though I wouldn't try.


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## Chlorophile (Aug 2, 2011)

Although height is probably the most important factor because the panes end with the top being unsupported, the longer your pane of glass is the more risky. 
Pressure is applied pretty evenly to the glass, but the glass will flex the most in the center and that means the load on the silicone is much higher in the center of the pane than on the edges. 
If the glass didn't flex at all the silicone would all share an equal load and be very strong, thus the thicker glass makes for a safer aquarium, even if the actual pressure of the water isn't enough to crack the glass, it could be enough to bust the silicone seam when the glass flexes and the load becomes poorly distributed.

I don't hear about glass cracking very often unless the glass was scratched fairly deep on accident. 
Either way 1/8" is 3.2mm, which in my eyes isn't thick enough for anything, not enough glass-silicone-glass surface area. 
But if you have to do it, I wouldn't do anything over 5 gallons but it would be safe for 10 gallons.


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

You can always maybe just use tempered glass if its just the back pane. May I ask why it'll only be one pane?


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## Al Slick (Jan 22, 2012)

jasonpatterson said:


> Standard 10 gallon tanks (20"x10"x12") are built using double strength (1/8" thickness) glass. Smaller tanks use thinner glass still (ex: I've got a 2.5 gallon that uses 1/16" glass. It's crazy thin.) A 10" cube is definitely appropriately sized for double strength. Heck, you could get away with single strength (3/32") on that most likely, though I wouldn't try.


Finally somebody points out that a standars ten gallon uses 1/8" glass. Aren't the dimensions like 20"x10"x 10"? I wouldn't say ten gallon tanks were esepecially fragile either. What you want to do sounds completely reasonable and if you want some more security than you might want to think about some framing.. unless that interferes with your design! 

I'm excited to see what you're doing.


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