DIY plywood build questions

gators94 · Apr 25, 2023

I’m planning to build a plywood tank and have been watching tons of videos and reading all the forums. I’m looking for any tips or advice when building. I originally wanted it to be 96x36x36. However I was given a sheet of 1/2 inch tempered glass that is 95x44. Would this be too thin for a 96x44x36 build with a fill level of around 38”?

DIYreefer · Apr 25, 2023

I could be mistaken, but I believe that 1/2" glass will indeed be too thin for your application.

gators94 · Apr 25, 2023

Yeah I was worried of that. I wasn’t sure if it being tempered would allow me to push it a little.

DIYreefer · Apr 25, 2023

gators94 said:
Yeah I was worried of that. I wasn’t sure if it being tempered would allow me to push it a little.

That's not my area of expertise, so hopefully someone that would know better will chime in. However, I am well versed in making plywood tanks (mostly large frag tanks and sumps) so if you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out. I'd be happy to help.

flagg37 · Apr 25, 2023

Tempered glass is much stronger (5-10x) than regular annealed glass. The biggest drawback to using tempered glass in a fish tank is that if it fails, it is instant and catastrophic. If you brace it all the way around I think it would handle it but it’s easy for me to say that from here without any risk to my living room. I’ve not found a good glass calculator for calculating loads with different variables (euro braced, tempered, laminated…). I have my structural engineer run calculations for the staircases I build but paying one to run calculations on it would probably cost a grand on its own.