New tank 300 gallon

[Ograx]

Well I'm looking at upgrading from a 125 to a just under 300 gallon tank.

I have a few question to those out there who have built a tank this size.

My wanted measurements are 72x48x20

What kind of bracing do I need at the top of this tank so it doesn't burst ?

I need the drain and return from sump to be invisible and not on 1 of the sides of tank. ( Tank will be in middle or room with 360 view)

Any ideas or pics of something similar would be much appreciated.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

You'll be needing some serious Eurobracing and probably a center brace as well for a tank that is going to have a 6' x 4' footprint. If the side Eurobracing is heavy-duty enough, you may get away without the center brace but that's a very wide tank. Having it only 20" tall though should help reduce the pressure alot.

[lastlight]

I was under the impression that glass thickness, tank height and horizontal span of the glass determines how much bracing you need?

The tank being 48" wide only means he has 2 sides that are 48" long whereas most large tanks are a bit shorter. Far as I understand those 6 foot sides need to be braced like any other 6 foot long tank and the 4 foot sides like any normal 4 foot long tank (all other things like thickness and height being equal).

Maybe I'm missing something though. If you have a 4x2x2 tank, does adding another 4x2x2 onto it to make the tank 4x4x2 require more bracing? I thought the pressure on the seams would be the same.

[golf nut]

http://www.oceansmotions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1129


Maybe this will help, I am sure using a better drain system the real estate could be increased.

[lastlight]

I remember that build. Total shame they didn't go with one overflow and try and make it a bit smaller. By the time they piled rock around those things it wasn't a very large tank anymore.

[golf nut]

I gave Derek at Miracles Aquariums a quick call to discuss other things, I asked him about the tank you wish to build, in his words using 3/4 glass you would need no Eurobracing at all providing you are not running a wavebox, which looking at the clean look you want will not be happening.

[Ograx]

Yeah no Wavebox.

3/4 inch glass is what I was looking at using

I was thinking I would brace the tank with a piece of glass 1 inch thick at the top which covers all the edges.

Not quite sure how I would get a piece of glass cut like that though.

Acrylic might have to be the way to go if I brace like that.

I would love to have no brace for aesthetics but do you really think the tank
would hold without?

Tank is going on concrete in a basement with dedicated flood drain but a 300 gallon burst would definitely overload the drain.

[golf nut]

I guess there are two ways to look at it, He would build a tank for you exactly as portrayed and fully insure it against issues, however if you build it , even if they were 1 1/4 thick then it is your baby.

Structurally speaking that size of tank is fine without any Eurobracing if built correctly with 3/4 glass.

[abcha0s]

3/4" inch rimless would be over speced.
5/8" rimless would meet acceptable safety standards.

The major consideration is the height at 20"

I prefer over speced, but you will pay significantly more for the 3/4" and if it's not necessary, why bother?

If your interested in how I designed my 300g, you can read my build. If I had a "do over", I would have gone rimless.

[lastlight]

What's appealing to me about using glass a little thicker than needed is the greater width to all the seams. I'll be doing an inner eurobrace on my next big tank on the bottom...sides would be too ugly. But a 3/4" seam would be very strong I think.