Great feedback everyone! This is exactly what I was looking for - plenty of options to air out before I commit to a particular design.
Let me try to respond to some of this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by friendlyAlien
Wouldn't it be easier to round the corners or angle them with a small side panel?
So instead of re-inforcing make a small "side" so instead of being a triangle if would be a a pentagon of sorts.
What I am really curious about though is what the forces are in the corners of the triangle and how you would cut the angle if it is glass?
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Hence the real challenge and perhaps rarity of this design. I believe the forces on the 45 corners would be the same as a 90 corner, however I would assume leverage may be greater. To be honest, I wouldn't be a fan of adding side panels to avoid the two 45 corners. It would take away from the triangle shape, and simply add more seams (to worry about). I'm perfectly happy with going with some type of dark-tinted acrylic exterior brace if it came down to it. Perhaps that would also help protect these pointed corners from exterior bumps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eznet2u
I took this to mean that he had not decided which way to put it, and wanted to have options. 
With 3 sides viewable the Overflow and returns would also have to be in the middle to hide them, but the OP also states that he wanted it to work as a corner tank and/or Flat.
In either of these configurations, your center Rock/overflow/returns simply will be in the way.
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To avoid confusion in this thread, yes I will be installing the tank in the corner of a room, however the omni-directional requirement for the tank and stand design still applies. I want this tank design to be flexible to allow other installation options.
That said, good point, I haven't brought up the over flow really yet, so I'm glad you did. Going with a drilled hole in the center tank, a straight pipe in the middle of the tank would be an eye-sore, not to mention awkward rock placement. What I am thinking is a large (maybe 1.5") PVC down-pipe, but simply route it on the bottom (under the sand/rock) and have it come back up the rear 90 corner. Perhaps a 45 bias towards the rear might work too and help quite water falling into the pipe. More thought on this later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dogstar74
You're already compromising the acute angle corner with the amount of silicone you can get to adhere to both sides, why compromise further with thinner tempered glass? I'd say go with a thicker plate glass and forget the cost of tempered.
Aaron
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Great point - tempered glass is out!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thepopo
Oo beveling the edges sounds scary. I would fear the stress on the glass might come back and bite u
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I'll still ask the glass supplier about beveling. But as mentioned earlier, I have no issues with external (or internal) bracing.
Glass Thickness??
Given that tempered glass is out, what size glass should I go with. For my estimates, I've pretended the tank is a complete square - 36" X 36" X 21" tall. But it might be better to estimate of a 48" panel, since that's the length of half this square.
So 7mm - 9mm thick seems to be what I'm seeing. Is this correct?
Flat working surface??
I was asked earlier why not go with all glass bottom. Thinking more on this, one of my fears is a lack of a true flat surface at my disposal. I don't think my masonry garage floor is really plum flat. If I knew how to guarantee a flat and level surface I would have way more confidence. For example, one school of thought would be to construct the stand 1st, maybe using one of my free glass panels as a flat reference or guide to build a a temporaray oversize FLAT table top, then I'd be able to glue the tank together having full confidence. I cannot stress this enough, you can have the most perfect and plum tank assembled and all it take is a crappy surface to crack glass or bust out a seam.