Tile + surface tension = broken glass?

[Jamiedog]

Okay, so we recently went over to a 40 gallon viv for Wave. I currently have shelf liner in there, because my husband was concerned that surface tension would cause the glass to break if we put tile on it, tile being rather on the heavy side.

Let me get this out of the way first: physics is, uh... not my forte. Physics, advanced math, anything involving spatial dimensions or 3-D, my mind can't handle it. I can name all the kings of England, backwards, back to Aethelred, and can quote verbatim large chunks of books, but I don't do dimensions! :lol: So I have no idea if he's right, or not. I suspect he's right in theory (having gotten an A* in A-level physics, which he swears up and down is difficult to do), but also suspect that in practice, most vivariums/aquariums are designed to hold some weight on the bottom - a fish tank is full of water, which has to weigh more than a few tiles, right? (Yes, I know, distribution, blah blah blah; still makes no sense to me! :wink: ) Can't argue, so wanted to come to the experts/experienced ones here.

Tile - safe or no? Yea or nay? Because I really want it, for the look and the ease of cleaning and the heat-conserving properties. I found some I really, really liked in 18x18" sheets at Lowes. Do I go buy it? Please tell me I can go buy it... :wink:

Thanks!

 

[bambichik39]

I use slate in all of my glass tanks, no issues. Just be careful when you put them in and out because you can crack or scratch the glass.

 

[Jamiedog]

Great - time for "I TOLD YOU SO!" :laughing6: And yeah, will be very careful - I'll be in deep trouble if I have to get a replacement viv! We're not exactly rolling in cash at the moment.

Thank you!

 

[BadCon]

Its not going to break the glass. I've had some ungodly heavy objects sitting in glass tanks...never an issue. Like the above poster said, just be careful taking them in an out.

 

[Jamiedog]

I did have tile in my 20 gallon, so have some experiencen with using a careful hand. No worries! Will be ultra careful. Thank you! Much appreciate it. Tomorrow - to Lowes! Will have to actually line the shelves or something equally ridiculous with the leftover liner. :lol:

 

[thegreybush]

I piled slab granite in my glass tank. It is doing fine. Tile is a lot lighter than granite slab. :wink:

 

[Jamiedog]

That's what I said, but he just had to argue! :lol:

Three "yea"s - I'm going for it. :wink:

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

From a purely theoretical point of view Hubby is correct.
But most tanks are tempered glass and the amount of surface tension would have to be crazy high.

 

[thegreybush]

I suppose considered that 1 gallon of water weighs approx. 8 lbs that a 40 gallon tank should be able to withstand 320 pounds of pressure spread across 5 surfaces so like 63.3ish pounds per surface and then the rule of 3's of engineering says you need it to be 3 times as strong as what you need, I'd conjecture you could get 180 lbs on it?

I should try this....

 

[Jamiedog]

I'm just going to nod as if I understand what you guys are saying, and go buy some tile. :wink: (Thanks! And he's usually correct about these things, have to admit to that much, but whether it will happen in practice... Well, I'm the one who wants to rush on ahead and try it and consequences be damned, while he's overly cautious, and we clash somewhere in the middle.)