[a4a4a4a4]

The normal force of the tank wall to the floor will shear across the acrylic if it's not perfectly flat. Pressure outwards is normal to the tank wall relative to the water, but if this force goes diagonally through the floor, that's bad.

[abduhl]

If the tank burst due to it shearing off of its base then it is not the glass that has the problem; it’s the connection to the base. This might sound pedantic but the OP said the forces on the GLASS were ill-distributed. The most important part of after the fact disaster analysis from an engineering context is being excruciatingly specific about the performance of structural elements.

[upsidesinclude]

If you wanted to be pedantic you would correct the statement because there is no glass.

To be excruciatingly specific.

[abduhl]

The article refers to the aquarium as glass throughout it.

[kayodelycaon]

The material used is plexiglass, aka acrylic, a type of clear plastic. Actual glass is probably too brittle or expensive.

People use "glass" to mean the clear part of a window, not the actual material, in this context.

[upsidesinclude]

Plexiglas®

A trade name.

[abduhl]

I'm glad to hear that you'd agree with me then that a correction saying "there is no glass" would be inappropriate because when someone says glass they mean the clear part of the tank.

[seattle_spring]

This may or may not be your intention, but fyi you are coming off as extremely condescending bordering on /r/iamverysmart level tones.

I'm no expert, but I know that a hot tub on slightly uneven ground has a good possibility of bursting and ruining the tub due to how much stress the water will unevenly put against a side. I don't see why the same underlying reasons wouldn't apply here too.

[lqet]

But isn't the overwhelming majority of the glass material connected to the base by the glass itself (namely the glass below it)?