My 185 acrylic (48x30x30) build

[Boostin S14]

Well I came across an acrylic 185 48x30x30 with a euro-brace and thought I would share my progress with it. I am going to warn everyone that this might be a slow build due to money constraints, but it will get done none the less.

I will get pics up shortly

 

[Boostin S14]

Here is when I first got the tank

Size comparison pic (I really just wanted a reason to sit in it lol)

Here it is sitting in its final resting place on the stand that I made which has yet to be finished.

I know the bulkhead holes are on the wrong side, we will be turning it around once I get it painted and the fittings in place.

 

[Boostin S14]

Also, that is NOT the light that is gonna be on there lol.....I just know someone would say something about that!

 

[Boostin S14]

first question. I am going to paint the back and maybe the side that will be against the other wall black, should I scuff up the acrylic first or is there a type of paint that will stick to the smooth acrylic?

 

[the_rider]

you can paint directly on smooth acrylic, just make sure that you paint in really thin layer to avoid paint running. The first couple of layer (3-4) won't cover it all but it would create a good base to others layer to stick on the surface. If you put heavy layer, it won't stick.

Thin layer should only be a little mist of paint really really light. The first and second layer should be practically invisible, it should look like your tank is dirty. You can wait 10 min between each layer if they are thin then after all layer are applied, wait at least 1 day before handling it. Also use water + vinegar to remove any oil that could be on the surface from handling.

 

[troylee]

use some black or what ever color vynil you like it will save the tank when you go to sell it down the road just peel it off......what thickness is on the top of that tank it looks like 3/8th kinda skimpy imo. was this tank set up before or did someone just build it???? i personally would have liked to have seen a thicker material used on that tank it's really border line for 1/2" thick sides i personally would have used 3/4".......have you done a leak test yet and seen if it bows or not????

 

[Boostin S14]

I think I am going to go with vinyl for selling purposes. The tank was built in January and leak tested then, nothing but water was ever put in it. I paid only $500 for it and we leak tested it on the spot and no bowing so I couldnt pass up the deal.

 

[plainrt]

If it ever goes for sale let me know lol.


Nice tank and good luck with build

 

[Pike614]

saw that on Craigslist ! How thick is the acrylic on it?

 

[troylee]

It might not have bowed on the spot but acrylic has a saturation point meaning it does absorb water.......after about 2 weeks aprox. It will have settled in.....so keep a eye on it......it might start bowing a couple weeks down the road.... good luck.......

 

[Boostin S14]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15122264#post15122264 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pike614
saw that on Craigslist ! How thick is the acrylic on it?

1/2 inch. I think it should be fine........fingers crossed

 

[troylee]

It will hold water without a doubt but it might become very unsightly down the road.....so no worries on a disaster... unless the person who built it didn't know what they were doing.....the seams looked good from what I could see in the pics so I wouldn't sweat it.....the worst case scenario it will bow down the road.....

 

[Sardaukar]

Cool tank. Is it me or does the stand seem a little low? It looks significantly shorter than the 30" height - is there a reason you did that? I remember having a freshwater 55g back in highschool that was on a 2 foot high chest. I got tired of bending down to look at my tank I don't think I'd build a stand now less than about 40 inches

 

[Boostin S14]

The stand is 28". With how tall the tank is I didnt want to go much higher than that. I got the holes re-drilled tonight and the bulkheads are in. I drilled the holes to 1 3/4" for 1" bulkheads, but my dumb @$$ grabbed 3/4" bulkheads. Should I just use the ones I bought or get 1" ones instead? Do you think 4 x 3/4" bulkheads will be enough for the drain lines?

Ill post more pics in a little bit

 

[Boostin S14]

Any one think this will fall through my floor? lol I sure hope not. I have it running perpendicular to the floor joists so it should be good huh? Plus the wall behind the tank.....right under that in the basement is concrete bricks all the way up so the joists are supported in the middle of the house...... does that make sense?

 

[Pike614]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15123421#post15123421 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by troylee
It will hold water without a doubt but it might become very unsightly down the road.....so no worries on a disaster... unless the person who built it didn't know what they were doing.....the seams looked good from what I could see in the pics so I wouldn't sweat it.....the worst case scenario it will bow down the road.....

I agree on this. I just had a custom Acrylic built for me, I had Tennecor quote me and also Midwest Custom Aquariums. Tennecor said 30" tall or less was a minimum of 5/8"thickness, Midwest said 3/4"thick, anything over 30" would need to be 1" thick.
I would really be concerned about the bowing, and potential failure of the tank itself. Have you filled it with water yet?

 

[Boostin S14]

it was filled once to leak test. I have about 30 gallons in it now and I am going to try and fill it completely tonight and get the cycle started so I can swap my livestock over as soon as possible.

 

[STsONpERs]

Looks like it will be a nice setup.

A LFS near me has a 48"x30"x27.5" Glass with Euro brace. This will not have any problems with bending and bowing correct?

I am subscribing to this one...Should turn out very nice!

Gl with the water test

 

[Bax]

Nice size tank, I like the dims.

 

[Boostin S14]

Thanks for all the input. I initially drilled the bulkhead holes at 1" for 1" bulkheads (not realizing that I would need 1 3/4 holes) so I re-drilled the holes the other night and got my slip/slip bulkheads last night so I will be putting those in tonight along with some of the other plumbing. I will post pics after I get those in. with the Euro brace being 3" all the way around, I am not too worried about the bowing. My next question though: I built the stand with 4x4 braces to hold the tank up, but did not put plywood over top of the braces, will that pose a potential problem in between the supports on the bottom of the tank? the supports are about 13" on center so there is only 9" of open space in between each brace. Does that make sense?

Thanks