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RE: Tempered glass tank
> chong wan-tong <deweychong at yahoo_com> wrote:
> I went to an aquarium shop today to enquire on a 4ft
> by 2ftby 2ft tank for my future planted tank.
> >
> > The proprietress of the shop quoted me a price for the
> > "tampered" glass tank which she said is more costly
> > than the ordinary tank. She stated that the glass has
> > to be "tampered" to give it the durability.
> >
> > Question is: Is there a need for a "tampered" glass
> > tank for a 4ft by 2ft by 2ft tank for the durability?
> > <snip, rounded corners>
>
The term is "tempered", where the glass is stressed
during the manufacturing process resulting in a stronger
piece of glass. Yes, there is slightly more optical
distortion resulting from tempering.
There are some good past posts on this topic. In
general, small tanks (10g, 55g) are tempered while
large tanks are not (180g, 220g). Tempered glass
allows a relatively thin piece of glass to hold the
stress, making the tanks lighter and cheaper to
ship. However, large tanks require the extra thickness
to minimize the effects of "bowing" (depth related), so
tempering does not provide much of an advantage.
Your tank of 4'x2'x2' should not be tempered.
I'll have to look up the formula again to calculate
thickness required, but similar commercial tanks
are 1/2" non-tempered glass. Don't forget to
put a top brace across the 4' section.
--charley
charleyb at cytomation_com