Worried About Glass Thickness

[emo]

I have two 24x15x12 tanks, one is empty and will possibly be a marine nano, the other is FW has been running for about 3 months after upgrading from a 10g. The one which is filled, is second hand and was used for quite a while by a friend. It has a plastic frame round the top edge and on the bottom edge. The empty tank is also second hand and was used to keep gerbils. It doesn't have a plastic frame (never has), however it has a layer of tape, similar to electrical tape around the top and bottom.

I'm slightly worried after reading tanks this size (15 UKGal) should have at least 6mm glass, or 1/4" glass after calculating on GARF. Both these tanks have 4mm glass!

I took the plastic frame off the filled tank as it is a horrible nicotine beige colour. It has been running fine, as I said for about 3 months, I checked the front pane of glass right there, with a spirit level and there is no sign of bowing what so ever.

I recently built hoods for both tanks and they fit snugly around the outside of the tank.

Here is a picture of what I mean

Will this act as a brace for the tank without the plastic frame? Or is this glass way too thin!

Oh, and I have a very bad feeling i'm going to have to replace 90% of the silicone on the empty tank, there's quite a lot of it scratched away by stupid gerbils, d'oh!


Thanks for your help

 

[windsor-aquatic]

The tank(s) should be in 6mm glass; the fact that they are in 4mm indicates that they were not designed to be filled with water, only to house gerbils or similar. For the cost involved (about £30) I would buy new and get rid of the second-hand one, and then at least you've got peace of mind.

 

[emo]

Hi thanks for your reply.

I just called my friend who was the previous owner, and in fact he never actually had the tank filled, he was given it by his uncle who had been running it for about 5 years as a tropical tank, before moving back to the states (hence why my friend had it)

I am not for a second disregarding your answer or doubting your knowlege, you make tanks for a living so if anyone should know..!

I'm just wondering what the risk is in using these tanks. I haven't seen any tanks in my LFS with the same base dimensions as these, but I suppose they could maybe order some in. As I say I have built a hood for them both, as well as stands, so if if I couldn't get tanks with the same dimensions the cost for replacing them just won't be worth it.

Thanks again.

 

[smithrc]

[off topic] what do you do your diagrams with?

I'm trying to do a mock up of my fish shed

 

[emo]

[off topic] what do you do your diagrams with?

I'm trying to do a mock up of my fish shed

I use SketchUp 3d, you can download a free trial of it, but all it needs is some illegitimate tamperings.

I saw Navarre use it lots for when he was designing his vast tank and sump, and I decided to give it a go. It's brilliant, and dead easy to use.

 

[Paul_MTS]

if you buy a brand new clearseal tank it will most likely be in 4mm glass with no connecting bracing. thats what my sump is 24x12x12.

 

[windsor-aquatic]

The tanks that were the subject of this thread are 15in high, not 12in, and as such should be in 6mm glass.