acrylic thickness???
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benchen8844
New member
1'' should good enough, i have 400 gallon, it's 3/4''
A Few links (use at your own risk of course 
)
Regal Plastics
And the excellent long running Acrylics help thread
And when I plug the dimensions of This and This most excellent tanks into the above referenced calculator it comes pretty close to what they were actually built out of.
)Regal Plastics
And the excellent long running Acrylics help thread
And when I plug the dimensions of This and This most excellent tanks into the above referenced calculator it comes pretty close to what they were actually built out of.
Depends on what you want?
My tank 500 gal 8ft x 4 ft x 28 high external coast to coast overflow on the 4 ft side of the tank.Where the overflow is its more than 3/4" thick.The rest of the tank is 3/4" but I have 4 openings at the top of my tank.If I wanted two large openings they would have used a thicker brace at the top in order to compensate for 2 large openings.I would use 3/4" minimum for this size of tank. 1" is even better but I don't think its needed unless you are doing a rimless tank.If you went rimless I would go even thicker than 1"
My tank 500 gal 8ft x 4 ft x 28 high external coast to coast overflow on the 4 ft side of the tank.Where the overflow is its more than 3/4" thick.The rest of the tank is 3/4" but I have 4 openings at the top of my tank.If I wanted two large openings they would have used a thicker brace at the top in order to compensate for 2 large openings.I would use 3/4" minimum for this size of tank. 1" is even better but I don't think its needed unless you are doing a rimless tank.If you went rimless I would go even thicker than 1"
geaux xman
New member
Who built your tank? is that polycast acrylic?
okay, just skimmed your build thread. very nice tank!.. would that be tenec@r? i'm seeing it **** out.
i'm hoping to do 84x33x28" 1" acrylic in a year.
Last edited:
Reefscape Au
New member
Thickness of glass or acrylic is defined by depth and span between supports or "braces".
The finished deflection criteria also plays a large part when designing acrylic or glass tanks. Because acrylic has such a high modulus of elasticity it can bend a lot in response to load before it gives way - it is more elastic than glass. So this means that one acrylic tank can be made from thinner acrylic than another and still hold water quite safely. It would possibly be cheaper to purchase also.
What tends to happen over time however is that the panels will deform or sag. If this sagging or deflection is great enough it will effect the way light passes through the panel and deflect the light passing through it. It may distort the view when looking along the tank. A better quality tank may be made from thicker acrylic and/or be braced with less of a span between braces so over time it will not distort as much. Less distortion or deflection also tends to lead to less chance of crazing over time - another good reason to pay a little extra for the extra thickness upfront if you intend to keep your tank for many years.
So to define the most efficient way to build a good tank designer/engineers will define which panels will be a viewing panel and which will not - what the bracing requirements will be - ie where and where not we can place braces depending on the design - and calculate the thickness acording to the performance requirements we need to meet. A small tank destined for home use may only be designed with a deflection criteria of span /150-200 as it's life span is guessed at 5-10 years - where thick viewing panels found on public aquariums will be designed with a deflection criteria of span/400. All acrylic tanks may also be built with thinner sides than fronts to reduce material weight but still provide the same strength and deflection criteria... this is not uncommon or a bad thing if built correctly.
It is worth looking up if you are interested in really understanding where thickness calcs come from and also asking your tank builder to tell you what deflection criteria he is working to on your tank or what it has been designed to.
Cheers
The finished deflection criteria also plays a large part when designing acrylic or glass tanks. Because acrylic has such a high modulus of elasticity it can bend a lot in response to load before it gives way - it is more elastic than glass. So this means that one acrylic tank can be made from thinner acrylic than another and still hold water quite safely. It would possibly be cheaper to purchase also.
What tends to happen over time however is that the panels will deform or sag. If this sagging or deflection is great enough it will effect the way light passes through the panel and deflect the light passing through it. It may distort the view when looking along the tank. A better quality tank may be made from thicker acrylic and/or be braced with less of a span between braces so over time it will not distort as much. Less distortion or deflection also tends to lead to less chance of crazing over time - another good reason to pay a little extra for the extra thickness upfront if you intend to keep your tank for many years.
So to define the most efficient way to build a good tank designer/engineers will define which panels will be a viewing panel and which will not - what the bracing requirements will be - ie where and where not we can place braces depending on the design - and calculate the thickness acording to the performance requirements we need to meet. A small tank destined for home use may only be designed with a deflection criteria of span /150-200 as it's life span is guessed at 5-10 years - where thick viewing panels found on public aquariums will be designed with a deflection criteria of span/400. All acrylic tanks may also be built with thinner sides than fronts to reduce material weight but still provide the same strength and deflection criteria... this is not uncommon or a bad thing if built correctly.
It is worth looking up if you are interested in really understanding where thickness calcs come from and also asking your tank builder to tell you what deflection criteria he is working to on your tank or what it has been designed to.
Cheers
Last edited:
fsbbn@hotmail
New member
O.k. had a 1000 gal (14.5ft x 2 ft tall x 4 ft wide) tank for ten years that was only 1/2" thick acrylic. It bowed towords the middle and bottom but held together till the end when I moved. It was however glued with extra 1" pieces all around the perimeter. i now have a 2000 gal tang 18ft x 6ft x 3ft that is 1.5" thick an made by ATM (the tanked show guys). It does not bow one little bit. On the plus side I have huge waves going in this tank and don't feel scared on the other one I used to worry. On the minus side, this tank cost four times the other one and the first one was not cheap.
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