# glass thickness - a calculator



## nduli

I am currently engaged in debate with 1 custom aquarium builder as they don't appear to want to do my optiwhite in 8mm glass and would prefer to do it in 10mm glass.

my tank is 750 length * 500 high * 450 deep

they last night quoted me a tensile strength rating of 3.78 on 8mm glass as being structurally unsound so i had to do some research on what the hell that was all about 

i found the site below last night that has a great guide to how to calculate the required thickness of the glass. for those interested for future reference it also has a XLS that shows you all the workings 

Calculating Glass Thickness for Aquariums

this suggests to me that 8mm should be ok for my tank but wondered whether others concurred with my reading.......


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## BigTom

I use AquaCalc (it's based off the fnzas article and supposedly correct for braceless designs). It gives me a minimum side thickness of 7.97mm for a 3.8 safety factor (bottom 11.5mm).

That's a little close for comfort for me. I'd probably err on the side of caution and go 10mm for those dimensions (or use bracing). You pay your money and you take your chances 

 Rimless Aquarium Glass Thickness Calculator


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