PVC Bottom

[csiller]

has anyone ever considered using the grey pvc sheets for the base piece of their large aquariums? how does pvc compare to acrylic strength wise. any info would be appreciated. thanks and Gig'em

 

[sneeyatch]

I used 3/8" thk. gray PVC sheeting on the bottom of my 150 DD cube, but I have easy access to a lot of it at work. PVC sheeting is more dense than acrylic - to what degree, I don't know. 3/8" is overkill for my system, but we had a 4' x 4' scrap sheet laying around, so that's what I used. It's easy to cut and drill, but it's heavy.

 

[csiller]

kool, thanks. is it cheaper, stronger, or anything else worth considering about it?

 

[dogstar74]

I would think the major consideration is bonding the material to the side walls with enough confidence to fill it with water long term. AGE tanks are UV adhesive bonded PVC bottoms to Starfire glass walls. Makes it very easy to run closed loops and perforated bottoms. But not everyone has the resources to use UV bonding agents.

I don't know what bonding agent to use to bond PVC to Acrylic Long term and strongly. I would suppose Weld on 40 or 16 or something. But others would be better able to answer than I.

If you're bonding to glass, then Silicone will be worthless against PVC. So you'll need to use the acrylates and they usually needs something special to activate or bond them.

Good luck.
Aaron

 

[dogstar74]

Oh and welcome to RC!

 

[prop-frags]

I would think the major consideration is bonding the material to the side walls with enough confidence to fill it with water long term.

+1

I wouldn't dream of mixing materials without an expert weighing in on how to bond them together in a fail-safe manner.

 

[sneeyatch]

Oh - I used it as a starboard substitute - not as the actual bottom. Guess I should have read that a little better - sorry.

I've seen it done, but like prop-frags said -