Any recommendations on where to buy acrylic?

MrMikeB

MrMikeB

New member
I am looking for some pretty big pieces - like 4'x8' (for budgetary purposes as of now) and was wondering where to get some. Is it cheaper/smarter to have a machine shop make my creation rather than playing with it myself? I have a bit of tools, but am admittedly inept at working with many of them. Computers and the like, that I can do like nobodies business... playing with the ShopSmith - well fun, but no guarantees.

I might be willing to contract these services out for a decent trade in equipment, corals, food, $$$, etc. (hint, hint :))

The pieces of acrylic do not necessarily need to be pretty, functional is what I am after mostly. Any ideas/thoughts would be spectacular!
 
Mike....Try interstate plastics right here in town. They have great supplies, good prices and will build your "box" for you if you need.

Good luck and get some SLEEP! :D
 
acrylic sheets

acrylic sheets

I actually looked into this at one point, if you can find someone who can build you what you want professionally is the better way to go. If you spend money on the acrylic to make your project yourself and you mess up then its a waste.
I looked into acrylic pieces at 4x8 (standard for acrylic sheets) and the price was pretty good, but I figured the labor process, and if I messed up would probably cost me more, so I got what I wanted professionally made.
Interstate Plastic is middle class in price for acrylic sheets, theres better companies with better prices. Just do a lil bit more research.;)
 
Wow... guess the whole idea of acrylic tanks is taboo in this town. Taps and Interstate will not touch my project with a 10' pole. Hmm... Any other ideas?

Basically I need some really large acrylic containers made (4'x8'x2') with cell cast acylic sheets that are 3/4" thick. Does not have to be show quality acrylic, just hold water (approx 400 gallons each). This is going to be a huge bathtub! ;)
 
I think Bryan up at CRS had his large display custom made localy. You might wan to ask him
:)

Jim
 
I called tap before and they wont do anything that holds marinelife.

I wouldn't do it myself as others said. If you mess up, its over and theres $600 Piece of junk....
 
I was just kidding about the bathtub part - they are part of the soon to be launched prop center - so rubbermaid is probably not m ideal first choice, but I do think I can use some for the live rock bins.
 
only place i could find is truvu that will make a commercial coral flat tank. the dimensions range from 48"x24"x12" to 96"x48"x12" can get quite costly in the upper range but if you are looking for something you can trust truvu might be the way to go. When doing a search on a similar type of system (12" high being ideal for prop imo) there were other companies but they didnt look too trustworthy. Anyways just check out truvu's website and look at the commercial systems link
 
Man, I am striking out here.

Glasscages - no go (they said it would be too expensive and not worth their time)
Pastic-Mart - no go there too

Still waiting back on Tru-Vu, but something tell me it will be horribly expensive or simply not available (or both).
 
I do know that Tap will cut the sections to the size you need. On my last project I let Tap do the cutting. I think that is the area with the highest potential for error on my part.

John
 
Ok, so Tap will do the cutting but will not actually build it. Hmmm... So far I have a local business to do them for 2k a piece. Wow! That is my best (well only at this point) deal thus far.

I was hoping to get something a little deeper than 1 ft. Given the cost of rack real estate, it makes sense to have at least 2 layers. So I was hoping to go 24" to allow for approx 6" of surge water and have the bottom level off the floor approx 3-4" Ed Simmons is finishing the designs now so I hope to have some pretty pics to give you a better idea.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9358008#post9358008 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MrMikeB
Man, I am striking out here.

Glasscages - no go (they said it would be too expensive and not worth their time)
Pastic-Mart - no go there too

Still waiting back on Tru-Vu, but something tell me it will be horribly expensive or simply not available (or both).
Click to expand...

Mike,

Do you want something close to what Exotic has for their frag tank? If so, maybe they can refer/direct you to whomever built theirs.

Jeff
 
Jeff,

Not sure on their dimensions, but something similar would work nicely. I need two of them, so maybe I should ask them where they get it made. Heck, I know I spent enough in there over the last 6 mos to at least get a response. :)
 
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