Large Acrylic Tanks

C

ca1ore

Grizzled & Cynical
Good morning RC. I am contemplating a larger tank; moving to something in the 400 gallon range from my 265. This means custom, and the weight of an empty glass aquarium in that size (pushing 1,000 lbs) is putting me off a bit. Seriously evaluating an acrylic. Never had one before, so interested in insights from current owners, specifically:

1. How to best avoid scratches
2. The extend to which the long panels bow
4. Yellowing/discoloring over time

Please explain your comments if you can. 'I'll never buy an acrylic tank' is not useful without some context. Thanks in advance.

PS - I may post this in the large tank forum as well.
 
Can I ask you why you care about the weight thst size tank is going to be very heavy. Shouldn't matter if 6000 or 7000 lbs. either way you need to be on concrete or very strong 2nd floor

To answer your question about scratching. I found the best way was to clean your glass everyday. If you let it build up your more likely to scratch. As far as. Cloudiness. I had my tank 15 years ago and it did get cloudy. Maybe technology is better now but I can't help you on that question


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anthonys51 said:
Can I ask you why you care about the weight thst size tank is going to be very heavy. Shouldn't matter if 6000 or 7000 lbs. either way you need to be on concrete or very strong 2nd floor

To answer your question about scratching. I found the best way was to clean your glass everyday. If you let it build up your more likely to scratch. As far as. Cloudiness. I had my tank 15 years ago and it did get cloudy. Maybe technology is better now but I can't help you on that question


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Click to expand...

Weight matters when you're installing the tank. An acrylic tank of that size can be handled by 2-3 people. A glass tank would require professional installation or 8-10 friends.
 
ca1ore said:
Good morning RC. I am contemplating a larger tank; moving to something in the 400 gallon range from my 265. This means custom, and the weight of an empty glass aquarium in that size (pushing 1,000 lbs) is putting me off a bit. Seriously evaluating an acrylic. Never had one before, so interested in insights from current owners, specifically:

1. How to best avoid scratches
2. The extend to which the long panels bow
4. Yellowing/discoloring over time

Please explain your comments if you can. 'I'll never buy an acrylic tank' is not useful without some context. Thanks in advance.

PS - I may post this in the large tank forum as well.
Click to expand...

If you don't leave your magnet in the tank it would probably help. I usually have a magic eraser between the magnet and the acrylic which helps. If the acrylic is of proper thickness it should not bow. I have had mine for 4 years and it isn't discolored. If you do get scratches, they are pretty easy to buff out. Scott in the Large Tanks forum did an amazing job with his 15-20 year old tank a few years ago and I'm sure could answer any questions you have.
 
anbosu said:
Weight matters when you're installing the tank. An acrylic tank of that size can be handled by 2-3 people. A glass tank would require professional installation or 8-10 friends.
Click to expand...

Exactly! Having a hard time finding a moving service that will handle a 1,000 pound tank. Most of my friends my age are falling apart physically :lol:
 
ca1ore said:
Exactly! Having a hard time finding a moving service that will handle a 1,000 pound tank. Most of my friends my age are falling apart physically :lol:
Click to expand...



Good point

I have a friend who is a glass guy so he has those large suction cups. Plus I go to the gym 5 days a week. I am not Arnold. But I always have 4 -5 meatheads around when I need them. But I totally see your point.


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When I lugged in my 265 four years ago, me and three 'robust' guys were able to manage it - but it's only 400 lbs. A lightweight by comparison.
 
anthonys51 said:
Shouldn't matter if 6000 or 7000 lbs. either way you need to be on concrete or very strong 2nd floor.
Click to expand...

Figure a 400 gal glass tank is going to be 5,000 pounds nominally; an acrylic 4,300 plus or minus. You're right, probably doesn't make that much difference to the floor. It's going where my 265 currently sits (a 2nd floor) so a couple of additional jack posts are in the plan regardless.
 
ive never been a fan of acrylic because of how easy it scratches. id rather just get the 8 friends or even call two moving companies to move the tank
 
My 480 gallon main display (96x48x24 tall) is coming up on 24 years old. I have absoltely no deflection/bowing or crazing. There is no yellowing either. I have always been able to remove scratches easily. I have a thread in the DIY section document the process. My tank was built out of 1.25" acrylic and it's held up beautifully and is in excellent condition to this day. Personally, I'd never go with glass on a large display like mine assuming you have the acrylic display built right with quality material.

As for avoiding scratches, having the trim on the stand extend up above the sand line can go a long way in prevent sand from getting into the viewing pane cleaner. My tank is setup as a peninsula and is drywalled in. The edge of the drywall extends an inch or so above the inside bottom of the tank and the top of the drywall extends just below the water line. I use mighty magnet scrubbers. Also using a sleeve over the scrubber pads helps to prevent scratches by providing a small gap between the cleaning pad and the viewing pane. If a small particle of sand gets into the pad, the scubber cover provides a bit of space for the sand which helps prevent scratches. If you go bare bottom than you don't need to worry about scratches from sand. Mine is now mostly bare bottom with some sand down the center. A few years ago, I removed most of my sand. My flow is setup such that sand doesn't accumulate along the edges and detritus never has a chance to settle which is nice.
 
Thanks Scott. Would you view 3/4" as too thin for a 96x36x30 tank? Thinking I might ask them to go 1".
 
I'd probably go 1" at that height and span. You probably still won't be lifting it into place though, you'll most likely need hydraulic lifts and creativity to get it into place.

What are your access options to the 2nd floor?
 
ca1ore said:
Thanks Scott. Would you view 3/4" as too thin for a 96x36x30 tank? Thinking I might ask them to go 1".
Click to expand...

I have an acrylic tank that exact size that is 3/4", the top is one single piece of acrylic with large holes cut out, has approx. 4-5" border around the top. You can see pics in my build thread. I use the original Mr. Clean magic eraser pads to clean the panels weekly and a plastic scrapper to remove corraline algae. Its going to scratch over time, I just don't think there are ways to avoid it but as Slief mentioned he devised a way to buff those out with water in the tank. We moved the tank down stairs into my basement with only 3-4 guys. Glass would obviously been nice to reduce the scratches but I think the weight and insulating factors somewhat offset this. I have not had any bowing or yellowing and my understanding is the seams are stronger with acrylic than glass. I have been happy with my choice.
 
Was just in your shoes, almost got a glass tank instead. Decided to stick it out and rehab a used acrylic that was less than ideal shape. Cheap though.

Scratches are super easy to sand out, until you have to do the whole tank. That took two weeks. With care, my old acrylic tank had minimal scratches after 3 years.

Bowing, should be close to zero. I added extra bracing on the top, 8 ft long but only 1/2" thick. Used to be worried, but after testing and 4-5 months running good quality acrylic should exhibit minimal amounts of deflection. In my case, .5" over 8ft.

Most importantly, easy to repair, drill, fix, install overflows, etc. Making changes down the road is possible.

Weight, took only two of us to load it into the pickup and move it.

At 30" 1" would be more than enough, depending on design 3/4" should also be sufficient. More of a budget question.
 
tkeracer619 said:
I'd probably go 1" at that height and span. You probably still won't be lifting it into place though, you'll most likely need hydraulic lifts and creativity to get it into place.

What are your access options to the 2nd floor?
Click to expand...

400 gal acrylic I'm looking at is 485 lbs (as opposed to the same in glass at 1,100) so 4 people should do the trick. I can find enough folks for that. I call it 2nd floor but it's actually the ground floor over a walk out basement, so can bring the tank right through the front door, 30 feet to the spot.
 
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