well i was reading that post about building own custom tank and now i am worried about the custom tank i am having done.

we got 2 sliding glass doors and the glass is 5/8 inchesa thick i believe.
the doors are 4 ft. wide and 6ft. tall. my dad has told me the aquarium we get out of it will be about 2 ft. wide and 2 ft. high and about 4 ft long? i am not sur eif hes right.
also i am goign to be putting dividers in it i will be dividing it into 4 pieces since i have 4 different species. one of the divisions will need to hold water, now im guessing at that size and i want to fill it a little more than halfway on that one section which will be {if this size is accurate for the aquarium} 1 ft. 1 in. by 2 ft. w, and 2 ft. high, will i be able to have a section like that hold at least a foot of water or will that glass and size not hold it? the other sectiopns will have siol substrated and water dish they dont really need to be water tight and they will probably be adjustable.

so my questions are, what size aquarium can i have still having 3 dividers 2ft. by 2ft.
will the glass be thick enough to hold, will the structure be able to work for my wants?..i have treid and tried today to figure this out but ium horrible at math and even worse at trying to be accurate in it <_< ok i think thats all of them.....thanks, and i knwo theres already a topic like this bt8u i didnt want to butt in on it plus iw as so confused after i read it i had to take a break :lol:
thank you ahead of time for help :)

Are you using that glass for the dividers as well? For a 4' x 2' x 2' tank, you would then need 7 pieces of these sizes:

Front - 4' x 2' = 8 square feet
Back - 4' x 2' = 8 square feet
Left side - 2' x 2' = 4 square feet
Right side - 2' x 2' = 4 square feet
Bottom - 4' x 2' = 8 square feet
Divider across middle left to right = 4' x 2' = 8 square feet
Small divider to make t with previous divider = 1' x 2' = 2 square feet
Another of the previous = 1' x 2' = 2 square feet

Total square feet = 44 square feet

Two 4' x 6' glass doors gives you 48 square feet.

You might have enough if they are cut just so so there's not any waste but that may be very hard. Each of the pieces must be in a single piece. So, like a jigsaw puzzle, you may not have enough even if you have the same total square feet since some little pieces won't be useable.

Also, you have to account for overlap of the sides which adds the width of the glass twice to certain parts of the tank (unless you lose a little on the length and width and height).

You can do similiar calculations as above to find out what size you can make the tank since you'd have multiple choices.

I think 5/8" glass should be thick enough for your needs if you can get all the joints to seal really well. It would help to have a top and bottom frame at least like aquariums sold at the store have. Since you're only putting in some water, there will be less chance it will leak. I'm assuming that the glass doors are just a standard sort of glass and not something else. Be very careful cutting them!

Good luck!

wow! :o thats really helpful, but the divisions will be from front to back not side to side.....like i think you thought it would be from the left to the right it will actually be sitting on my dresser so that the 4 divisions will be side by side and i will be able to see each species from the front.....i hope that explains it well enough . thank you robyn i cant understand it all but im going to print it out and give it to my dad hes a carpenter so he shoudl know.

thank you very much robyn i really appreciate it! :)

Oh, ok. In that case, replace:

"Divider across middle left to right = 4' x 2' = 8 square feet
Small divider to make t with previous divider = 1' x 2' = 2 square feet
Another of the previous = 1' x 2' = 2 square feet"

With:

Three dividers front to back = 2' x 2' = 4 square feet x 3 of them = 12 square feet

That gives four compartments. Add a divider for each addtional compartment.
The totals remain the same unless you add more dividers.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP I AM GLAD TO HAVE A MORE ACCURATE IDEA OF WHA TI WILL HAVE.