Building a large aquarium in an earthquake active area

[StevenD]

Hi all,

I’m designing an 9’ or probably 10’ long tank, 30” high and 30” tall.

Material will be glass on a steel powder coated stand.

Based on the calculations, the glass could go down to 1/2” eurobraced.

I’m thinking for a double floating base.
Do you think the top layer should be in two bits and siliconed in the middle, or should I go for a rigid top layer?

Earthquakes are not common but could occur as it is considered an active area. Usually earthquakes might not even be noticed and will be limited to 4-5 on the Richter scale.

What is generally suggested? Since volume is going to be a lot, all that water moving around could create more stress on the seams.

Thanks in advance

Steve

 

[scriptmonkey]

Not sure I would be shooting for the minimum thickness glass in a earthquake zone. Also how far apart would the euro cross bracing be (front to back) along the length?

I would also look into reinforced seams just to be extra safe.

 

[StevenD]

Was thinking to add two front to back braces rather than one in the middle in order to spread the load.

While th glass thickness would be fine for a braced tank at 0.47”, I’ll go for 0.63” to be safe.
This extra thickness is mainly for the seams rather than anything else.

The bottom panels could be doubled up, but not so sure of this rigidity is beneficial as it would not absorb and flex enough and all the energy would be transferred to the vertical panels and probably put more strain on the seams, that’s why I was asking about the floating base is if it makes more sense to have the top layer cut in half and bonded together.

The tank will be put together at its final destination, so it won’t have to be moved that could cause more stress and potentially break the top layer of the bottom panel.

Any help in this reasoning would be highly appreciated

Thanks,

Steve