# Pond viewing pane thickness?



## TheDukeAnumber1 (Sep 13, 2018)

I can't answer your question but I would suggest that if you use acrylic getting a smaller piece and testing it out to see of it holds shape against water. I bought a sheet and made a custom lid for my 10 gallon. It developes a slight bow after about a week. In my case it's not very noticable and easily correctable by ocasionally flipping the lid, but I imagine that this could be greatly pronounced in your project.


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## diverjoe (Oct 21, 2016)

Hate to be the one to break the news to you but for 8’ of rimless I believe you would be looking at 1” acrylic. The Home Depot link is only 1/4” which would only be good for a 10 gal tank or so. The most difficult issue you need to understand is the seal between your tank and either the glass or acrylic. Acrylic doesn’t really like adhesives and silicone will simply peel off once dry. Other folks have did this just read a lot. Look for wood or fiberglass aquarium builds. There are a number on the forum and on google. Btw I first had a 180 that was made with 3/8” acrylic and was fully eurobraced on the top. It bowed close to 1/2” on each end of a 4’ straight edge. Wasn’t comfortable with that and I have a 3/4” on the way. It is only 25” deep and 6’ long and it still MUST be braced. 

Good luck. I think that would be a fun thing to built. Also check eeekbay and local for sale boards sometime you can find a 4x4 or 4x8’ sheet of used “bullet proof glass”. Which is often polycarbonate or plexiglass acrylic softer sibling. Also check a lot of the custom tank builders will make custom cuts to your specs. 

Lol I’ll stop now!



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## Streetwise (May 24, 2019)

What about using internal cameras for viewing options?


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## Willcooper (May 31, 2015)

Thanks for your replies. I posted the link as just an example of a sheet of acrylic. I figured this would need to be about an inch thick or so but didn’t know if someone had developed a rule of thumb. I’ve seen a ton of people doing this with indoor ponds like the king of diy and others. I believe a type of cement glue is used in addition to the water pressure further sealing it. Really all I want is to have as much of a viewing pane as possible and I assume that I would need to have a top brace but would be more than happy to be rimless. 


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Streetwise said:


> What about using internal cameras for viewing options?




Oh I will be doing that as well! Lol. 


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## Quint (Mar 24, 2019)

Well figure the pond is going to be about 750gal (roughly) with those dimensions you posted. Thats a decent amount of water about 6k lbs worth. I dont have an answer for ya but recommend going a little over what you think will be thick enough. 

Here is a link to get started, not sure if you looked at it already. Plexiglass Sheets, Fiberglass, UHMW, Polycarbonate & Engineering plastics: Calculate Aquarium Thickness - How THICK must the Plexiglas be?


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## AngieJ (Sep 10, 2019)

I'm new to aquariums, I'm a koi keeper and when I rebuild my pond (3,000 gallons and MUCH too small) I want to build it semi-raised and with a viewing window. These are much more common in Europe than in the USA. Most of the time they are made with tempered and laminated glass, not acrylic. There are calculators on some of the "monster fish tank" forums for how thick your glass should be based on the size of your tank. I have searched for a turnkey supplier here in the states and I can't find one. I plan to have a machine shop make a stainless steel frame for me similar to this one and then order the glass from a local glass shop. The glass is then siliconed to the frame. 

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/47/16/25/471625cfb4139305fc2114a4502245a0.jpg

Also: if you plan to keep koi in your pond and that is the absolute largest footprint you can have, go deeper. The more volume the better. Your planned pond isn't really large enough for koi. With good filtration, the guideline is 250 gallons minimum per koi. You also have to account for freezing and predators like raccoons and heron which can clean you out over-night. My 3,000 gallon pond is too small. Most of my friends ponds in my local koi club are in the 6,000-12,000 gallon range, with a few of them in the 30,000 gallon range.


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## straha20 (Sep 1, 2016)

What about a solid viewing side with a few porthole style windows?


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## Bandit1200 (Dec 11, 2010)

This isn't my picture


https://imgur.com/VX2uPpW


This is @ Moody Gardens in Galveston. I can't tell you exact dimensions, but this sheet is at least 3" thick...and I want one!


Amazing place by the way, wish I could afford to go more often.


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## Willcooper (May 31, 2015)

Thanks all for the thoughts and suggestions. What got me thinking of this was turtles. I had red eared sliders when I was a kid and I would like to get some of those or maybe the smaller painted turtle. I was thinking those and mosquito fish and American flag fish. But I’ve also considered rainbow trout and others. Who knows. 


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## Econde (Oct 13, 2015)

This site has a lot of different thickness' available. Also it seems to be more affordable then your options in town. That link is for 1" thick Plexiglass. They have thinner and thicker sizes as well.


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