# sliding glass door for DIY plywood tank?



## iwade4fish (Jan 5, 2009)

Would this be a safe endeavour? Have access to many 4x8 panes of glass from doors. Just wondereing if anyone else has thought of or done this.


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## stevezx2002 (Jul 21, 2009)

I dont think the glass would be thick enough to support the load of the water.


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## mithesaint (Oct 31, 2006)

I have glass from an old door that I'm planning on making into a tank...someday. Mine is only 37x84 or something like that, and 3/4" thick. Might want to check the thickness of the glass. It's likely tempered if it's an old door, and that should help with strength.

Uh oh...I opened the can of worms about tempered vs not opcorn: =D> 8)


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

If they are solid doors, not hollow ones like patio doors, you should be able to do something with them. If you are forced by the size of the glass to build an aquarium too tall for the thickness of the glass, you can make it a paludarium (half water, half terrarium). There can be an access hatch on one or both ends to work on the aquarium and the terrarium parts. The hatch is also a good failsafe to not overfill the aquarium, since it would drain water when it reached the hatch opening.


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## SYcichlid (Jul 14, 2005)

Just searching through some old posts and thought I would add my.02 to this. Being in FL we have access to sliding glass doors with Impact glass for hurricane protection. The glass in the doors are constructed with a single pane on the outside, a layer of glass,poly vinyl beuterall, glass on the inside ( this is for an insulated glass door). If you set the glass up as it would be in the door with the 3 layers on the inside i don't see why it won't work. A door with impact glass can take a 4' 2x4 shot at 120 mph and it will not penitrate through. If they are safe for our houses against hurricane why not an aquarium? Plus they are tempered panes on the inside.

You might be able to pick a door up at Lowes that is what we would call a special order return for really cheap.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

*4' 2x4 shot at 120 mph and it will not penitrate through*

Single impact over sustained pressure.
Wonder what effect that same force needed to propel that wood to 120mph was applied continuously.
Guess it would depend on how many gallons would be pushing against the glass.
Not saying the door wouldn`t work, just it would make me nervous.


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## SYcichlid (Jul 14, 2005)

These type of windows or doors have a design pressure of +60/-60 pounds of pressure per sq. ft. some times depending on the size of the glass even higher +75/-75. your standard glass or just tempered glass has only +35/-35.


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## iwade4fish (Jan 5, 2009)

These panels came off an older neighborhood, built in the 60's. Not sure if they are to code or not, I assume the worst and they are not to code. I like the 'special order return' idea. Good idea!! Got a friend at H.D.


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## IDEAS-NG (Oct 23, 2008)

I in no way mean it be a smart A$$.
But just try it.
*It sounds like it should work.* The real question is do you have the time, a few tubes of silicon, and could you accept that this might not work?
Check the glass thickness, take your time, and keep us posted.

Good luck.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

SYcichlid said:


> These type of windows or doors have a design pressure of +60/-60 pounds of pressure per sq. ft. some times depending on the size of the glass even higher +75/-75. your standard glass or just tempered glass has only +35/-35.


Sure about that?

The total water force acting on a front pane of glass will be (1/2 x 62.4 x H^2 x L) where H is the height of the aquarium and L is the length. To get the pressure, divide the total force by the area of the glass (H x L), and you get an equation for average pressure (1/2 x 62.4 x H). So, a 24" tall aquarium would have an average pressure of 62.4psi on the front pane of glass, regardless of length. But since the pressure is distributed linearly from 0psi at the water surface to max at the bottom, the maximum pressure would be 124.8psi at the substrate. Not sure if you use average pressure or max pressure when designing for aquarium glass.

So, do you know whether your 60psi rating is for max pressure or average pressure? I'm thinking for a storm door, the glass would never see anything but a uniform oressure on the glass, and not different pressures at different locations, so I'm not sure if the 60psi rating can be reliably used for an aquarium application. Also, do you know whether that is sustained pressure, or instantaneus? I'm thinking for a storm door, it would not be sustained pressure, but more like a passing storm that rapid changes the outside pressure compared to the inside pressure of the house, so the door won't blow out. The sustained pressure of an aquarium may fatigue the glass over time, though not sure about the fatigue properties of glass.

Also, the glass in a storm door is continuously braced around all 4 edges. No matter how you brace the top of the tank, it will never be quite as stiff as continuous bracing, so the same pressure will create more deflection in an aquarium vs. a storm door - or said another way, the design loading in an aquarium will have to be less than the design loading on a storm door due to the different applications, dpending on just how much bracing you are willing to install on your tank.

Also, do you know if the 60psi rating incorporates any safety factor? For example, is every pane of glass designed to survive at 60psi, or is that the average pressure at which one of these panes would break? If none of the panes should break at 60psi, will they break at 70? 100? 120? 61? I'm thinking the safety factor will be low or non existant, because worst case scenario if the glass blows out is, you get a new door (probably under some warrenty). You're probably going to want some safety margin to cover not only the value of your fish, but also the potential water damage, in the event that something bumps into the tank when full for example.

If it were me, I'd measure the thickness, and wouldn't build an aquarium any deeper than the standard tank size of the same length with the same glass thickness, or maybe a few inches deeper. You might end up with something like 8'x12" tall - would be a cool tank as a novelty, but wouldn't be the tank I'd choose to build unless I had a setup in mind that I really wanted and would be perfect for that particular tank size.


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