Safety Disclaimer

1In one sentence

The output consists of estimates produced from general engineering formulae and empirical curves, intended to get you to a sensible starting design and a purchasing list quickly. It is not a structural calculation report and constitutes no form of professional advice, design document or safety certification. A failing aquarium causes serious water damage; a failing stand causes injury. Do the final review described in clause 10.

2Glass thickness: an empirical curve, not a standard

• The recommendation comes from a height-to-thickness safety curve calibrated against common commercial tanks (6 mm for a 60P, 8 mm for a 90P, 12 mm for a 120 cm tank and so on). It is not a national or industry standard.
• Real strength also depends on things we cannot know: the actual glass grade and thickness tolerance, whether it is tempered, the quality of the edge polish, the base mat and flatness of the support, the silicone workmanship, and how stresses evolve over years of service.
• Bottom thickness is stepped up by one or two grades according to span and should never be thinner than the sides; the page warns you when the bottom panel is thinner than the side panels.
• Every automatic recommendation must be checked against the glass you actually buy.

3Aluminium stand: three checks, and none of them is overall stability

The site checks beam deflection (δ ≤ L/500), beam bending stress (σ ≤ 85 MPa) and column stability (Euler critical load, safety factor ≥ 3). The following are not checked:

• Lateral stability of the frame under horizontal forces such as knocks, seismic movement or an uneven floor;
• Joint strength — the capacity and slip of the brackets, T-nuts and bolts themselves. The connectors drawn on screen are schematic models, derived only from what fits the slot and grips the channel; they are not any manufacturer's drawing and they do not participate in the calculation;
• Overturning of the whole frame under eccentric or external load;
• Shelf panels, cladding and diagonal bracing — not modelled, even though they materially affect real stiffness;
• Floor conditions — an uneven floor can leave one post hanging while others are overloaded, which is a common cause of real-world failures.

Material constants come from a single manufacturer's datasheet (APAS, 6063-T5). The allowable bending stress is the 127 MPa yield strength divided by a safety factor of 1.5, giving 85 MPa, and the column effective length assumes pinned ends (K = 1) with the largest clear distance between adjacent beams. Other manufacturers or alloys will differ — enter the real values using the "custom section" field.

4Floor loading: an average only

The site reports total tank weight and average floor loading (kg/m²) but does not assess the load-bearing capacity of the building itself. Whether a floor can take the load depends on its structural form, span, reinforcement and age — a structural engineer's judgement. Typical residential floor live-load design values are 200–300 kg/m²; assess your design against that, and have a professional look at it when in doubt.

5Sump and power cuts: the buffer is a geometric calculation

The power-outage buffer volume is derived geometrically. Whether it is enough in practice depends on your operating water level, overflow style, whether the drain can siphon and how the plumbing is arranged. Overflow during a power cut is one of the most common real accidents. Test it with fresh water and the power off before you fill the tank for real.

6Plumbing: an orthogonal schematic

Plumbing is modelled as orthogonal polylines covering only the two main circuits — drain (overflow to sump) and return (pump chamber, through a bulkhead in the tank wall, to the outlet). There is no fall, no flexible hose, no emergency drain and no water-change branch. Pipe diameters come from gravity-flow rules of thumb; elbow and valve positions are indicative, and fitting dimensions are fixed multiples of the pipe diameter rather than any manufacturer's drawing. Verify real plumbing against your pump curve and the space you have.

7Equipment suggestions: general formulae

Circulation is estimated at 6× tank volume per hour, heating at 1.2 W/L and lighting at 36–60 lm/L of glass area. These are generic starting points. They account for neither your room temperature, insulation, stocking density and light requirements, nor the actual performance of the equipment. Buy against the real specifications and the needs of what you keep.

8Atlas and disease content: not veterinary advice

• Temperature, pH, hardness and specific-gravity ranges are compiled from public aquarium literature. They are literature values, not measurements of your tank.
• Symptoms, treatment steps and medication doses in the disease entries are compiled from public sources and manufacturer instructions. We are not a veterinary body and this is neither a diagnosis nor a prescription.
• Medications have real effects on biofilters, invertebrates and corals; getting it wrong causes irreversible losses. Consult a licensed veterinarian before using any medication, and follow local rules on veterinary drug use.

9What the site does not provide

• No cost estimates. The bill of materials lists quantities of glass and consumables, never prices;
• No fabrication instruction. Ask your fabricator about drilling, edge polishing and tempering requirements;
• No complete biological judgement. Compatibility conclusions rest on five families of fact — water-parameter overlap, size ratio, temperament, congeners and recorded pairings. It is a decision aid and covers neither individual variation nor long-term observation.

10Final checklist before ordering

• The site has been measured for real, not from memory, with room left for access and maintenance;
• Glass thickness has been confirmed against the glass you will actually buy and with your fabricator;
• The stand design has a confirmed alloy and section data source, and someone has reviewed the critical joints;
• Floor capacity has been established, or a professional has looked at it;
• A power-cut overflow test and a full-water standing observation have been done;
• For large tanks, high water levels, unbraced panels or uncertain floor capacity, a professional has reviewed the design.

11Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by the laws of [to be filled: governing jurisdiction], the site and its authors and contributors are not liable for any loss arising from use of, or reliance on, the output — including but not limited to tank failure, leakage, water damage, property loss, loss of livestock and personal injury. Responsibility for building from these results rests with the user.