Acrylic Questions

[jfro]

1. How do you determine what thickness your acrylic should be for sump or aquarium fabircation?

2. Does the bottom piece need to be of the same thickness as the sides? Does the euro bracing need to be the same thickness?

3. What is the best type of acrylic for sump/aquarium fabrication; and why?

Any help, and explanations, is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[shag26272]

try this

http://www.garf.org/tank/BuildTank.asp

 

[clevername]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9243792#post9243792 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shag26272
try this

http://www.garf.org/tank/BuildTank.asp

Dang that was the most helpful link ever! Thanks mate; i am in the same boat and was just about to start searching.

No need now, thanks!

 

[shag26272]

check melevs site for more on working with acrylic , there was also a thread a few days ago with alot of info

http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

 

[lakersfan0014]

Re: Acrylic Questions

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9243612#post9243612 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jfro
1. How do you determine what thickness your acrylic should be for sump or aquarium fabircation?

2. Does the bottom piece need to be of the same thickness as the sides? Does the euro bracing need to be the same thickness?

3. What is the best type of acrylic for sump/aquarium fabrication; and why?

Any help, and explanations, is appreciated. Thanks.

1. There are many factors that will determine acrylic thickness. Dimensions, top bracing, baffle placement in sump. The garf calculator is a good start, but does not take into account all these different aspects.

2. The bottom doesn't *need* to be the same thickness, as long as the sump is fully supported. It is usually easier to make it the same thickness, as you buy acrylic in whole sheets, but many manufacturers use a thinner bottom.

3. Cell Cast acrylic is the best. Look for Spartech Polycast, Cyro Acrylite G, or Plexiglas G. These are the best brands, if it's a smaller sump you could even opt for chemcast.

Hope that helps.

 

[woz9683]

Does anyone else worry about that GARF calculator just a little bit. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go enter H=20", W=180", L=96" for an acrylic tank. The calculator will tell you that your volume is about 1,500 gallons and that you can build it with 3/8" acrylic!!! I know my size is unrealistic, but the point is the thickness calculator is just based on height. It's a little oversimplified, height is not the only factor in determining an aquarium's thickness. Just be careful trusting one source like this without backup opinions or proven results.

 

[shag26272]

yeah youre probabaly confusing it with sizes that big, I just use it as a quick reference

 

[woz9683]

yeah probably so, but you've got to admit it would be one hell of a feat to see 1,500 gallons boxed in with 3/8" acrylic

 

[Letmegrow]

I have a 96 x 48 x 16 and it is bowing a little bit with 3/8ths.

That is with a good euro brace.

 

[Acrylics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9259188#post9259188 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by woz9683
Does anyone else worry about that GARF calculator just a little bit.

Yep, I do worry about it, more than a little.

James

 

[shag26272]

this one is probably better, if you have excel, use your longest side as the length

http://www.regalplastics.net/aquarium.htm

 

[woz9683]

yeah, 96 x 48 x 16 is no where near the 1,500 gallons I was joking about. I know you can get away with a lot when you're only talking 16" deep. Anyway, I just like fooling around with these things, and thought it was funny they said that was possible. I'm just trying to make sure no one uses that thing as the law. IMO, it's nice for a volume calculation and that's the only reason I'll use it. I was trying to find that one earlier shag, I've got it downloaded, but couldn't remember exactly where it originated. I knew it was cyro, but not much else. That one's a little on the conservative side, but that's definitely the better error to make (Cyro's trying to sell material after all). Your best bet would be to plug your dimensions into both calculators, and then take the average of the two. I actually like the numbers I get that way the most. But if you want to be perfectly safe, i would trust the Cyro scale first.

 

[Acrylics]

Yeah, the Cyro one is much better but still flawed in a few ways. 'course there's no telling what deflection tolerances are. You can go to Cyro's website and download the formula. The one (major IMO) caveat is the rimless thickness is way incorrect, one should multiply by 2.5 rather than 1.5 for similar deflection rates. I've had the Cyro engineers out at the shop a coupla times to show them the inconsistencies in their formula but to no avail. That said, Cyro's is still the best free thickness calculator out their IMO.

James

 

[shag26272]

cool thanks I'll check that one out

 

[woz9683]

Shag, that's the one you listed. You've already checked it out man

 

[shag26272]

haha oh I thought he said there was another

 

[Acrylics]

Shag,
The link you gave is for the Excel spreadsheet, the Cyro site has the formula from which the spreadsheet was derived. Giving the same basic info but the formula can give results not listed in the spreadsheet, if they are necessary.

James

 

[jfro]

Thanks for the input.