# are curved glass tank less safe?



## Al404 (8 Jan 2015)

just order a panoramic / rounded front corners tank, 45 x 36 x 31h 5mm thick glass
reading on a different forum i found a post of a person that has a cube 60L from same brand crack
he says that the crack appear and all water spilled out

since i just order this tank i googled for curved glass thank and found a 2009 post where some people did have issue with curved glass tank

tank was made from an other brand 

i thought that curved glass was more secure, but it seams that it can crack maybe do to water pressure or heat shock

any experience? i'm a little worried about my new tank


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## Mark Livermore (8 Jan 2015)

Can only speak from experience and have had a bowfront tank and all square/rectangle tanks and neither seemed any stronger/weaker than any other?

In theory my mind says if it is all one piece of glass with no silicon (ie rounded) it would be stronger as the glass is probably equally strong all the way around and therefore any stress is spread out, whereas with a silicon joint the pressure may build there as in theory the silicon could be weaker than the glass?

However i could and probably am speaking rubbish. One of the actual more knowledgeable people will be along to clear it up and make my post obsolete.

Just stop typing...


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## ian_m (8 Jan 2015)

Mark Livermore said:


> However i could and probably am speaking rubbish


Maybe. The pressure/force on a piece of glass in a depth of water depends only on its depth in the water and not on the glass shape. Thus pressure (force per unit area) is same for flat glass and curved glass. Either flat or curved will have problems if the silicone is not done correctly.


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## Al404 (8 Jan 2015)

this are images posted on the other forum
somebody reply that silicone joints make the tank more flexible
on some other forum says that operation used to bad the glass make it more sensible and weak

http://postimg.org/image/ggfdapl7n/
http://postimg.org/image/8u02949cr/


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## Wisey (8 Jan 2015)

Who manufactures the aquarium in question?


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## Al404 (8 Jan 2015)

Dennerle, that is the same manufacture of my tank
i didn't get my tank yet, but i'm not sure if i prefer to return it and get an ADA, the problem is that ADA doesn't have a similar size tank

the one in the picture is in clear glass, not sure if the different glass composition make it weaker

the log post i found is about an other manufacture
http://www.marineaquariumsa.com/reef-tank-advice/13214-aqua-h2o-tanks-that-cracked-burst.html

not sure if dennerle produce tanks or just add the brand on it
in local stores small tanks about 30cm size are mostly round corner


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## Wisey (8 Jan 2015)

As far as I am aware, Dennerle has a good reputation. As long as you handle the tank carefully and set it up placed on a mat or poly tiles to let it find it's own level then I would think it would be ok. I can't see water pressure being a problem unless the tank was not level and unusual stresses that the tank is not designed to cope with were placed on the glass. As for thermal shock, don't pour boiling water in it, but that goes for most glass.


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## Wisey (8 Jan 2015)

Looking at your dimensions, I assume it is the Dennerle Scapers Tank that you have bought. There are lots of threads on here with people using that tank, just do a search. I have not seen complaints about that aquarium in the threads I have read in the past.


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## Al404 (8 Jan 2015)

Yes is 50L Dennerle Scapers Tank what i bought, it just arrived


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## Wisey (8 Jan 2015)

Excellent, I hope you start a journal so we can see you set it up


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## Jamie McGrath (8 Jan 2015)

I did read a post on here claiming it was hard to get good water flow in a curved tank.


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## Wisey (8 Jan 2015)

Jamie McGrath said:


> I did read a post on here claiming it was hard to get good water flow in a curved tank.



I think that is most likely related to bow fronted tanks or corner tanks which are an unusual shape, rather than a rectangular tank which has curved corners instead of two pieces of glass joined together.


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## kirk (8 Jan 2015)




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## kirk (8 Jan 2015)

Great tank, you will not have any problems with it imo. The company are good. I thought you was on about bow fronts.  My sons tank has the rounded corners along with his previous two, if I had no faith in the design It wouldn't be in his bedroom.


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## Jason Blake (11 Jan 2015)

I would avoid corner tanks or any tank that is not a straight square and/or rectangle except for bow fronts for an entirely different reason.

The reason why I wouold avoid such tanks is try to get flow and distribution setup in these tanks is always extremely difficult. I speak from experience. To get the best flow you need your flow devices (Filter, Circulation pumps etc) pointed at the front of your tank. Pushing the water from the back to the front, down the front of the glass along the bottom and hopefully back up the back in a cyclonic motion. The best shape tanks to accomodate thsi motion without hinderence is a square/rectangular tank. With Corner tanks in particular you do not have a straight wall at the rear of the tank to set this motion up and therefore the flow is sent to the side with very strong flow in the corner and much weaker flow with deadspots at the front of the tank This unfortunately will ultimately spell disaster.

Sorry to put a kide wash on things but I have been trying with none standard tanks for quite sometime and without much sucess.

There maybe other setups that would be more suitable for a Corner tank such as a low setup where these elements are not so important, but I do not know much about them to be able to help you on that score, but I am sure someone else can.

I hope it goes well for you.


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