neurosis05
New member
what thickness should i use for my dual chamber sump? 4' long 20" deep 12" high with 10" of water? The local shop carries cast acrylic in all thicknesses except 1/4" which is extruded
Thanks
Thanks
Acrylic fabrication questions? I can help!
- Thread starter JohnL
- Start date
TriNewbie24
Member
1/4"
With baffles should be perfectly fine. I use AcryliteFF(extruded) for sumps, no problems whatsoever, still have some 4+ years in operation with no issues.
With baffles should be perfectly fine. I use AcryliteFF(extruded) for sumps, no problems whatsoever, still have some 4+ years in operation with no issues.
crashrat
New member
OK after reading as much as i could on this thread and other vids and articles I am about to make the plunge into sump and tank myself. For the display I will be going with 60x30x25, so would 1/2" be good with a top brace of 3" perimeter? Do I need a cross brace in there as well?
1/2" will be fine - will bow a little but nothing bad, if you can swing 3/4" at least for the vertical panels - won't bow much at all
yes, the cross-brace will be required unless you go 1", I always use and recommend 6" cross-braces which would yield you 2 openings measuring ~24 x 24"See if you can find 5 x 8' sheets as you'll only need to buy 2 of these rather than (4) 4 x 8' sheets, unless you want the drops to make your sump.
And as always, please use good material, will serve you well in the long run.. Polycast or Plexi-Glas G. If you get the Plex G (cheaper) make sure it has the blue writing on the masking, otherwise it's not Plex G.
Good luck on your project and hit us up with any questions
James
Steveb
Premium Member
I have an acrylic tank. The bottom is 1/2" and has 2 trapezoid overflows. Each overflow has 2 - .75" bulkheads and 1 - 1.5" bulkhead. I'm considering converting the .75" to 1" to setup a herbie style overflow and then use the 1.5" bulkhead as the return.
My question - how much risk am I taking on trying to enlarge the 4 - .75" bulkhead holes to a size large enough to accept a 1" bulkhead? What would you recommend doing it with. I was thinking a hole saw but am not sure.
Its a 400 gallon tank btw. Not sure if that makes a difference or not.
My question - how much risk am I taking on trying to enlarge the 4 - .75" bulkhead holes to a size large enough to accept a 1" bulkhead? What would you recommend doing it with. I was thinking a hole saw but am not sure.
Its a 400 gallon tank btw. Not sure if that makes a difference or not.
no a big deal really, not at all..
There are various methods for the holes.. what are the present hole sizes and what do you want them to be? not 3/4" or 1" bulkhead sizes, but the actual diameters of the holes.
The best method will be with a router and on something like this - can be one of the cheap laminate trimmers. But the easiest/safest way *how* you do it depends on the actual hole sizes.
If you can get back to me on this..try to make is as easy/safe as possible
James
crashrat
New member
Thanks James, This thread is awesome but very big to go through from start to end, are there any resources, books, vids etc that you would recommend for building an aquarium? Something that easier to read through and gets to the point step by step with caveats to watch out for.
Steveb
Premium Member
no a big deal really, not at all..
There are various methods for the holes.. what are the present hole sizes and what do you want them to be? not 3/4" or 1" bulkhead sizes, but the actual diameters of the holes.
The best method will be with a router and on something like this - can be one of the cheap laminate trimmers. But the easiest/safest way *how* you do it depends on the actual hole sizes.
If you can get back to me on this..try to make is as easy/safe as possible
James
I will have to check when I get home.. I'm going to need to pull some plumbing loose. Everything is setup already
I just don't like the bubbles/noise in the sump.Yes and no.. Hardware stores *generally* do not have cast, neither continuous nor cell.. But I do know a local HW store that carries "Lucite L" sheet, which is continuous cast (not to be confused with extruded) For sumps and stuff, this is fine material.
FWIW, do not buy cast for the sake of buying cast, either buy a *good* cast such as Polycast or Plexi-Glas G or nothing at all for display tanks. Just because it says cell cast - doesn't mean it's good for our purposes.
AFAIK, there are no "good" videos on the tube nor any good books on this subject. I've seen quite a few videos and not one was good in any way. If you wanna post some links, I'll be happy to let ya know how "real" the info is. The people that are actually good in this business generally do not give their trade secrets away, so what you see on the tube is either trying to sell you something or hobbyists who are trying to be helpful but have been misinformed - again *generally*
To my knowledge, this particular thread is the most comprehensive knowledge base available anywhere..
BTW Tap's videos = utter garbage, all of them... :headwalls:
James
Steveb
Premium Member
no a big deal really, not at all..
There are various methods for the holes.. what are the present hole sizes and what do you want them to be? not 3/4" or 1" bulkhead sizes, but the actual diameters of the holes.
The best method will be with a router and on something like this - can be one of the cheap laminate trimmers. But the easiest/safest way *how* you do it depends on the actual hole sizes.
If you can get back to me on this..try to make is as easy/safe as possible
James
Hi James! After much work this evening the best that I can tell, as it is pretty difficult to get a rule to the hole, is that the current holes for the four .75" bulkhead is about 1 3/8" diameter.
The 1" bulkheads that I have purchased look to need a hole that is 1 5/8" diameter.
I hope to be able to do something along the lines of expanding the hole in one direction vs. equidistant. See attachment at bottom.
Here are some pics of the current configuration:
It doesn't show it but there is a .75" bulkhead on each side of the 1.5" bulkhead.
Attachments
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
Are you sure that's an acrylic tank? Looks to me like the rear bottom joint in those pictures has silicone on it. Looks like glass to me.
First, double check the diameter of the bulkhead, seems a little small? measure the inside of the gasket - easiest way
For enlarging the hole; you'll need any router, the proper hole template, some double faced tape, and a pattern bit. For safest results, the template should be 1/2" or so MDF, acrylic, or similar. Flip the tank over so the bottom is facing up, double face tape the template the bottom and cut away. The bearing will ride on the template and the cutter will clear out the material.
You could do this with the tank still in operation if you have room under the tank, but really not the safest approach..
If this isn't possible and you don't want to take the tank down, double face tape a piece of acrylic or MDF to the inside of the tank and use a hole saw to cut the new hole. The pilot drill will through the MDF and the saw will cut the acrylic. You'll need to keep the saw cool and never stop it in the hole. To keep it cool, a 50:50 mix of Palmolive or Dawn dish detergent and water will help. The caveats to this; 1) you can't drill from the inside so you'll have to be *very* careful when the saw goes through the backside of the hole. 2) the template has to be taped securely enough to not move yet you'll have to be able to remove it at the end without damaging the tank.. you could also clamp the template in place through one of the other holes.
Using a router, the whole job is 10 minutes. With the hole saw - could be an hour or two to do all the holes.
From a safety perspective, it's not a good idea to use machine tools around water and on a full tank. The risk factor can be pretty high if something goes wrong, a cordless drill would definitely be in order... be careful
HTH,
James
Steveb
Premium Member
TY James. The tank is currently empty. I had filled to do leak testing on a) the aquarium itself and b) my plumbing work. While I was able to get the 1.5" drains quiet I was not able to silence the sump (due to air bubbles) and don't want to deal with the salt creep. Hence my idea to modify the layout. (Should have never gone with this drain design in the first place but it is what it is). While I hate the thought of disconnecting everything and flipping the tank on its side, I think that is the best option along with using a router. I originally thought about a hole saw but was concerned about it damaging the acrylic when it goes through.
Steveb
Premium Member
Oh one more question. Some how (i'm a clutz) I managed to put a approx. 4" scratch in the front panel on the inside. It is not deep. I already purchased a micro-mesh kit when I got the tank for just such an occasion.
My question is should I mask off around the scratch when I begin the polishing process to remove the scratch? The kit I bought starts at 1500 and goes to 12000 grit.
My question is should I mask off around the scratch when I begin the polishing process to remove the scratch? The kit I bought starts at 1500 and goes to 12000 grit.
Floyd R Turbo
Either busy or sleeping
I would definitely go router if you can - it's really slick.
On the double-stick tape - make sure your surfaces are clean before sticking, and get the template on firmly, and watch for it moving on you. It shouldn't, just be wary of it.
On the hole measurement - measuring the gasket depends on the bulkhead. BRS ABS ones have a gasket that is tight on the threads and your hole will come out too small. I would use a calipers to measure the outside thread diameter, then add a few mm to that measurement.
w/r to the scratch, you should not need to mask off the area. you want to blend as part of the sanding process, so when you remove the mask you will end up with a line at the tape.
For taking out a scratch, I think I wrote up something and posted on this thread not too long ago, you might have to go back a few months, but it's there. If you can't find it I'll re-post it.
On the double-stick tape - make sure your surfaces are clean before sticking, and get the template on firmly, and watch for it moving on you. It shouldn't, just be wary of it.
On the hole measurement - measuring the gasket depends on the bulkhead. BRS ABS ones have a gasket that is tight on the threads and your hole will come out too small. I would use a calipers to measure the outside thread diameter, then add a few mm to that measurement.
w/r to the scratch, you should not need to mask off the area. you want to blend as part of the sanding process, so when you remove the mask you will end up with a line at the tape.
For taking out a scratch, I think I wrote up something and posted on this thread not too long ago, you might have to go back a few months, but it's there. If you can't find it I'll re-post it.
absolutely
