DIY Glass Aquarium Building Tips

The quality of glass is determined by the individual manufacturer's methods and techniques of producing the glass. Testing samples of uniform manufacture has indicated that the tensile strength runs from 19.3 to 28.4MPa.

• Refer to "How to Calculate the Glass Thickness for your Aquarium" by Warren Stillwell for further details on the "Nature" and "Physical Characteristics" of Glass.

Due to limitations of the manufacturing process, the strength of glass can vary, which means a suitable safety factor must be used when calculating glass thickness. The commonly used factor is 3.8. This is not an absolute guarantee, however it will essentially remove all risk of glass failure other than that created by damaged or very poor quality glass. Scratches and chips in the glass will be the main cause of failure at this point.

You can use our DIY Custom Aquarium Glass Thickness Calculator to get a quick idea of which glass thickness will be required for your tank, and if you want to vary the glass thickness and Safety Factor for your specific design, you can download Warren Stillwell's free Excel formatted Glass Thickness Calculator (download now). Many DIYers think that the 3.8 Safety Factor is a bit of an overkill for their particular tank and location situation (i.e. low traffic in a protected area), and therefore feel comfortable with a lower factor.