150 Acrylic Build :)

[Breadman03]

I'm not going to be building this myself, but I found someone who offered to build the tank for less than I could purchase a new Marineland 150 DD tank. Yes, I'm skeptical and am here to educate myself on best practices on acrylic construction as well as material selection. Basically, I need to know what to ask and what to look for in order to make an educated choice.

My plan is a 36x36x24-27 tank with eurobracing, a coast to coast overflow and BeanAnimal drain. The builder suggests using 1/2" acrylic for this tank. Is that appropriate?

As far as tank inspection goes, I'm under the impression that the seams should be generally free of bubbles and that crazing is bad. Crazing is those little cracks in the material, right? Is there an acceptable amount, or is there a certain amount expected?

Feel free to let 'er rip. I had no plans of having a tank built, but someone offered and I need to get pretty high up the learning curve pretty quickly. Thanks!

 

[john08007]

Sorry, I'm not an acrylic tank guy but it seems like you are not getting much help, as far as I know the main thing you are looking for will be the bubble free seems. The seems are basically "welded" or fused together, any bubbles would indicate they are not completely fused as one. You may also want to check online for the thickness, personally 1/2" seems a bit thin to me for a tank that is 24" tall, I may be wrong but I would check.

 

[Breadman03]

Bumping it up for the afternoon crowd.

 

[mypepper]

Using 1/2" acrylic for your build will be perfectly fine.

My 90 gallon acrylic tank is only 3/8" thick and the front pain of the tank, has very little bow to it, which this specific reef tank has been in service for over ten years.

Even though I prefer acrylic tanks due to superior strength and insulation values, the scratch factor is high on acrylic tanks. Even though I'm extremely careful when performing my weekly cleaning, my tank will still get a few hair line scratches that are barely noticeable, but I notice them. I'm going to attempt to polish out my scratches within the next few weeks and see how turns out.

Congratulations on your new 150 gallon tank and there's nothing more rewarding, then having a living ocean in our homes.

Have a great day,
Randy

 

[ecksreef]

I had my 120 gal 48x24x24 built with 1/2 inch to prevent bowing. It seemed like many online vendors do 3/8. It was built with an internal overflow box that I use as herbie drain. Very good quality for just under 900 bucks. The less bubbles in the seam the stronger it will be. It will not leak unless a bubble goes all the way through. Mine has been up and running for months and there is absolutely no bowing at 48 inches long so 36 should be good.