# building my tank, normal glass or tempered am confused



## Gamezawy

Any Advice ? any one


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## NWA-Planted

Do not use tempered or anealed.

Regular glass is plenty strong. there is a good chart somewhere that escapes hel me that provides thickness for length height etc.

The reason not to use tempered is say a rock falls against the glass hard enough, tempered the whole side explodes sending glass water fish shrimp etc everywhere.

Same possibility with regular pane glass except your more likely to just end up with a line or large chunks.


You can use tempered I would just advise against it. that thick of glass though I really don't foresee any bowing problems, but make sure your silicone work is good!!

"People who don't like bacon can't be trusted. - NWA-Planted"


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## izabella87

I got 3 home-built tempered glass tanks. As long as you don't throw rocks, its a very resistant glass. And to actually prove this resistance theory, I've tried to brake a tempered glass panel. Unsuccessfully. My panels are approximately .5-.7 mm in thickness. And so far hold aquariums of up to 54 gallons. 
If you use regular glass, make sure its thick enough or the size of the aquarium you're making, and that the edges are sanded so that there aren't irregularities.

As for transparency or clarity, it's not much different between the two glass. But I've noticed that the tanks I've built, compared to the glass tanks I bought, they are harder to make scratches on.

Anyhow, what ever you choose to do, good luck !!


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## Gamezawy

thank you NWA-Planted for you input

all i wanted is to make that tank never bows thats why i wanted to use tempered

but i will look at your opinion


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## Hoppy

15 mm thick glass should be plenty strong, whether tempered or not. And, the chances of breaking it are very small whether tempered or not. If tiny scratches caused tempered glass to suddenly break, manufacturers wouldn't use tempered glass for the bottom of most tanks, where sand particles can scratch it so easily, not that it is easy to scratch glass. So, I wouldn't worry about sudden breakage of tempered glass sides and ends. But, it is possible that you would see some optical effect from the tempering. One way to detect tempered glass is to use polarized light, so tempering might, in some circumstances, be noticeable on the front panel. I don't think I would use tempered glass for anything except the bottom, if that, but that is primarily because once you temper it, you can't ever drill the glass for anything, and who knows for sure that you won't ever want to do that?

Here is a place that will guide you in calculating the glass thickness you want: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/?p=1732 And, an easy to use "calculator" http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/pl...bles--Diagrams/Glass-Thickness-Calculator.htm


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## NWA-Planted

izabella87 said:


> I got 3 home-built tempered glass tanks. As long as you don't throw rocks, its a very resistant glass. And to actually prove this resistance theory, I've tried to brake a tempered glass panel. Unsuccessfully. My panels are approximately .5-.7 mm in thickness. And so far hold aquariums of up to 54 gallons.
> If you use regular glass, make sure its thick enough or the size of the aquarium you're making, and that the edges are sanded so that there aren't irregularities.
> 
> As for transparency or clarity, it's not much different between the two glass. But I've noticed that the tanks I've built, compared to the glass tanks I bought, they are harder to make scratches on.
> 
> Anyhow, what ever you choose to do, good luck !!


 haha this just made me think of the old saying you shouldn't throw rocks if you live in a glass house! 

sounds like either way you should be successful!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## KGsPFT

Thought this site was pretty neat. Found it researching DIY tanks.

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

The Aqua Sketcher tool is really cool too. Would love to have this as an app on my phone/tablet.


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## proaudio55

I'm not a fan of tempered glass . . . but it's fine as long as you don't plan on doing any plumbing like I did. There isn't any way (that I know of) to drill a tempered pane of glass for overflows / return lines.

Canister filter plumbed through back wall of a 72gallon bow front tank...








http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pHosting.php?do=show&type=f&id=11513&title=hydor_plumbingc.jpg


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## Gamezawy

thanks guys for all the the help well looks like you all advise against tempered glass
but i may use the bottom only as tempered as Hoppy advised me 

Well i have another question in all tanks i saw the bottom panel holds all the glass panels front, back, and sides but ADA Tanks the bottom is inside the Tank panels so would i do like ADA or i Do the normal tanks method


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## NWA-Planted

Gamezawy said:


> thanks guys for all the the help well looks like you all advise against tempered glass
> but i may use the bottom only as tempered as Hoppy advised me
> 
> Well i have another question in all tanks i saw the bottom panel holds all the glass panels front, back, and sides but ADA Tanks the bottom is inside the Tank panels so would i do like ADA or i Do the normal tanks method


I have not looked at Ada tanks that closely, but really either way would work, actually though the bottom pane being on the inside makes things a LOT easier to line the panes up, vs trying to balance on the edge. just make sure your front and back panes are longer than the base to accommodate the width of the side glass plus the base.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2


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## OverStocked

Make some smaller test aquariums before making an aquarium this big and this expensive. You'll learn a lot before you blow all that money, time, and despair... 


Do not use tempered. At that thickness it is pointless.


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## DogFish

I agree tempered isn't a good choice from a safety stand point. No one plans on smacking their tank glass with rocks, that's the whole point of not using tempered glass.

Tempered has to be ordered from the manufacter to the size you need. Glass shops can not cut it to size. This is were higher cost can occur. Shop around, an ethical shop may give a little better price based on cutting your pc from scrapes they have on hand.

Best tips: pay to have them polish the edges. No matter how you try you'll never get a fish as good as the machine.

Gloves, gloves & more gloves, you just can't stay clean enough when you get to the assembly point.

AND, dry fit 1st. Use painters tape, assemble it , look at it, think about how you'er going to lay down the silicone.


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## Hoppy

Silicone adhesive is stronger in tension than in shear. So, putting the bottom inside the sides and ends adds considerable strength to those joints over what you get with the bottom outside the sides and ends. I can't recall seeing any factory made tank that didn't have the bottom inside the sides and ends.


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## Gamezawy

thanks for the great help 

DogFish dont worry i have build many tanks before but new thing here is putting the bottom inside the sides and ends and using heavy glass like 15 MM

i will be making small tank about 55 Cm before the main one to test it and take some experience 

and i will be using painters tape and clamps to make it very Tight


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## jeffkrol

Gamezawy said:


> thanks for the great help
> 
> DogFish dont worry i have build many tanks before but new thing here is putting the bottom inside the sides and ends and using heavy glass like 15 MM
> 
> i will be making small tank about 55 Cm before the main one to test it and take some experience
> 
> and i will be using painters tape and clamps to make it very Tight


word of caution.. "tight" isn't exactly what you want.. You don't want to squeeze all the silicone out of the joints... 
http://www.design4aquariums.com/


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