Thin glass

[Demonknight]

So due to medical issues we moved back closer to my home town/family and the place we are trying to get has a huge basement. Of course i called dibs on it for fish tanks, now the question..being in the middle of nowhere with the nearest fish store being several hundred miles off building a tank seems the way to go (big tank), now i have read so many threads and builds using plywood and such that i'm pretty sure I can do this...but not one has done what came to me..build a tank with wood on the bottom, back and sides (along with a frame for the front) and then instead of trying to make the wood water proof us thinner glass and build it more like a normal tank..this way the plywood (in my mind) keep the thin glass from breaking by not allowing it to flex too much.

anyone see any issues that I'm not seeing?

 

[ImACoolguy]

My DIY skills suck but I would t skimp on glass. The thicker the better.

As many reinforcements and precautions as possible. After all when you say "big tank" think of all that water on the floor of a brace in the stand broke or the glass cracked from being thin.

I repeat my DIY sucks but that's my 2 cents. There is some very DIY handymen and women around here they can offer better advice can me


Caleb

 

[Laeris]

So... You remember when Scotty had that huge tank on the Enterprise to save the whales and it was a near thing? Like that, only real! Minus the whales. Wait, how big is the basement?


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[Andy Sager]

So due to medical issues we moved back closer to my home town/family and the place we are trying to get has a huge basement. Of course i called dibs on it for fish tanks, now the question..being in the middle of nowhere with the nearest fish store being several hundred miles off building a tank seems the way to go (big tank), now i have read so many threads and builds using plywood and such that i'm pretty sure I can do this...but not one has done what came to me..build a tank with wood on the bottom, back and sides (along with a frame for the front) and then instead of trying to make the wood water proof us thinner glass and build it more like a normal tank..this way the plywood (in my mind) keep the thin glass from breaking by not allowing it to flex too much.

anyone see any issues that I'm not seeing?

One potential issue with using the thinner glass is that if the plywood is not perfectly smooth, there is the potential for a pressure break. Something as small as a grain of gravel can break the glass. You might want to use a plexiglass instead to allow for such issues.
Next, plywood will bow from the pressure ( depending on how deep) so you would need to have some supports for the wood as well. Add that to the thin glass and you could be looking at some leaking issues.


Hope this helps