3/4 inch acrylic or 1 inch acrylic

[jckjohn]

hello members and nonmembers I was wondering if anyone can help me decide between 3/4 inch acrylic or 1 inch acrylic. my tank is going to be 14 ft long about 30 inch's high and 34 inch's deep.

while I am at it does anyone know the best adhesive to use (weld-on 40) maybe?

thanks for your input.

Jon

 

[kcress]

Your nomenclature is confusing. 14ft long. Okay

How tall?

Either will probably work - the question is how much bow can you stand? Looking into a bowed acrylic tank actually makes me nauseous if the bowing is too great. I think my eyes get mad and start arguing with my brain or something.

Your biggest problem will be cost and that 14ft. Acrylic doesn't come that long. It comes in 8ft. It takes huge skills to join it. Skills earned. At the Monterey Bay aquarium the Japanese company that bonded their acrylic forced everyone from the rooms and partitioned off the space so no one could see the 'earned' technique.

3/4" 4ft by 8ft sheets are about $950 each.

 

[jckjohn]

thanks kcress, reynolds polymer makes an acrylic sheet 15 ft long it is expensive your right and the aquarium is a standard rectangle...
it will be 30 inches tall and 34 inches deep.
thanks for the reply

 

[BIG-G]

I would say if you got that kind of cash to spend go for the added strength and use 1" . And dont forget to get some pic posted. You got to do a bulid tread on this thing!

 

[jckjohn]

hey BIG-G thanks I will submit my reply the cost will be prob less than 5 grand but I might sell my 265 to pay for some of it as everyone says you can save a lot by the DIY method. I just need some good advice from some knowledgable people. I will build the stand as well to save money.
but i am single of course this is the main reason lol....

 

[Chris Witort]

As others have stated either will work and be strong enough. The bracing at the top will be critical to keeping the sides from bowing. I would recommend using weld on 42 which is the same as 40 but comes in a cartridge and uses a proprietary gun. The gun is about 140.00 but on a tank the size you are making there is no way you can mix enough weld on 40 apply it and join the seams before it starts to set. Weld on 40 is also hard to mix without getting a ton of bubbles in it. Either are tricky to work with and require a lot of practice before committing to bonding $1000.00 + panels together. The final bond strength is about double that of weld on 4.

 

[jckjohn]

thanks so much...

 

[flyyyguy]

No input from me but holly crap thats a big tank.

Good luck and try to get James(Acrylics) to see this thread. Im pretty sure he isnt going to recommend 3/4" for that size tank.

 

[Acrylics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13782039#post13782039 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flyyyguy
No input from me but holly crap thats a big tank.

Good luck and try to get James(Acrylics) to see this thread. Im pretty sure he isnt going to recommend 3/4" for that size tank.

Nope, he's gonna say 1" at a bare minimum preferably 1.25" - at least for the vertical panels, using 1" for the top & bottom is fine. And if you're gonna use RPG Asia material, WO 42 is the only way to go as solvents don't work well on that material.

HTH & JMO,
James

 

[jckjohn]

what about bowing will this tank bow and will it be noticeable - by the way it will be 1 inch and I am thinking about lowering it to 12 ft long...

thanks.

 

[kcress]

I think 12 feet makes more sense. It seems to me that once a person is up to a tank where he/she can see the small details our tanks provide, anything over about 6 feet is lost in the view, and peripheral vision. Hence a 14 is overkill. 12 is better, 8 is more bang for your buck. My tank is 12 feet and really I only see about 4 feet of it when looking at anything. I think tall is better, though that opens lots of other cans-of-worms. With tall you can achieve the feeling of "being there", instead of "looking in".

 

[Schplitter]

Not to be a party pooper but you really should let someone experienced do this for you. I have been working with acrylic for years now and I think that I would not want to take on a project like this one... 1" acrylic is no fun to work with. It's heavy, bulky and you only get one go at it. If you mess it up you just flushed several hundret dollars down the drain. The tools required will cost you a lot also. You will probably need some kind of overhead lift or rig with suction cups to handle the pieces...

JMO,

BK

 

[jckjohn]

thanks for the input I think 12 is the better way to go I also have a pro (*******) looking to build one for me I just thought it would be nice to build something for myself to keep for a while, but you might be right Schplitter I will get the quote on Monday from them with the warranty.

thanks guys.

 

[liveforphysics]

If the sheets come in 15ft, and I had the room, I would do the tank 14' 10", or whatever the material allowed me to make the tank with minimal waste.

I would personally do less height, and more width. Height never seems fun to work with, and width is always fun to play with.

You can make tanks too deep, but you can never make a tank too long IMO. It's not about trying to see the whole tank at once, it's about making your personal reef goals into reality.

 

[newreef8584]

I'm with liveforphysics. If your going 12' you may as well go 14'+. And if the sheets are still 48" wide make the tank as wide as possible. As for the height. Think of the waste you will have using 30" out of a 48" sheet. Go long wide and shallow. Less depth means more options for lighting. At over 14' you would have some very happy Tangs.

At 178" x 48" x 24" that would be over 840 Gallons with 1" acrylic. Over 7200Lbs of water. That is gonna be one hell of a stand.

At the cost of those sheets I would let someone else build it. I have made several tanks and dozens of sumps but wouldn't even dream of working with those dimensions. What do tose sheets weigh anyways?

If DIY is key for you then try your hand at some custom sumps and fuges to underneath.

Good luck and post lots of pic's!!!!!

 

[therealfatman]

It is very unlikely that you would even save money building it yourself. A custom acrylic manafacturing firm that commonly works with such thick materials has years to depreciate their equipment costs and their cost to purchase materials would likely be 50 to 60 perect of your costs (maybe less) and they could use the cutoffs for other projects. Consider your one purchase verus their annual purchases for plastic and the cost differences for materials is quite understandable. That and they must support the hiring of their regular repeat customers. Selling you plastic economically does not really benifit them in the long run. Over the years I have bought quite a few finished pieces of large custom acrylic work for less than the cost that I would have had to pay for just the materials.