5" hole would use a 4" bulkhead schedule 80 I believe which would move around 12000gph so after all 90 degree turns or so maybe 9000gph?
911, HELP! My DIY 300 gallon Goldfish Aquarium
- Thread starter Kayte
- Start date
Kayte
Well u def. sound like ur on track... just speaking from personal experience here... will #4 work as u think it will... kind of, for how long tho is my concern. fixing it properly now while its empty is alot easier than after its been runnning after a day/month/year. The paint, is just that...paint... one flex from that acrylic and ur back to where u started even with #4... At the minium/for looks use 1/4" acrylic and #40 to put a patch on it. I recommend 3/8" as im not concerned with "aestetics" but strength/longevity. You could easily router the edges to make it not sharp and look better. Would u rather have a 6"-8" patch on ur tank... or one u painted black that held 300 gal on ur floor lol... If u do paint it, then it fails, ur in for alot more work sanding all that epoxy back off 2 glue it. Its possible to patch the bottom the same way, then fill the hole on the inside with #40 making ur tank floor level/one piece again. Youd just need to notch out ur stand accordingly "free floating" that area of the tank...
Either way will work o.p.... just have 2 deciede if u want that hole/bulkhead or not is ur debate i guess...
Invention, a large bulkhead that has two smaller bulkheads inside. Now that I would buy
Did you all even read the part of my initial post of finding a post written by the owner of Pond Shield, Butch, on this very forum. He said (and I quote):
"When Pond Shield is squeegeed on the surface area, it is like thousands of tiny fingers that grab hold. With a tensile bond strength that literally exceeds the internal strength of concrete, one would not have to worry about delaminating problems that latexes or rubbers can go through."
"Pond Shield can be flexed and can withstand a certain amount of flex all the way down to -78 degrees."
"Yes it can be used on plywood or acrylic."
So if the claim that the paint can sustain a certain amount of flex all the way down to -78 degrees how would "in one flex" would I be "back where u started from even with #4".
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not trying to be smart or cute or even confrontational. I really do want understand. I want to have my cake and eat it too. Doesn't everyone? I want a beautiful bare bottom tank to displays my fancy goldfish. New products and technology especially in the realm of plastics are developed every day. Pond Shield isn't super new but at least new enough that people either endorse the hell out of it stating that it is an awesome product and others that won't even consider let alone try it.
Kayte
"When Pond Shield is squeegeed on the surface area, it is like thousands of tiny fingers that grab hold. With a tensile bond strength that literally exceeds the internal strength of concrete, one would not have to worry about delaminating problems that latexes or rubbers can go through."
"Pond Shield can be flexed and can withstand a certain amount of flex all the way down to -78 degrees."
"Yes it can be used on plywood or acrylic."
So if the claim that the paint can sustain a certain amount of flex all the way down to -78 degrees how would "in one flex" would I be "back where u started from even with #4".
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not trying to be smart or cute or even confrontational. I really do want understand. I want to have my cake and eat it too. Doesn't everyone? I want a beautiful bare bottom tank to displays my fancy goldfish. New products and technology especially in the realm of plastics are developed every day. Pond Shield isn't super new but at least new enough that people either endorse the hell out of it stating that it is an awesome product and others that won't even consider let alone try it.
Kayte
You seem pretty set on the pond shield despite all the advice given. Is butch going to help clean your floor when the tiny fingers get tired? If you are doing sand or anything on the bottom then who cares about a patch. It's covered. Most members here know a thing or two about tank failures. I would listen to them.
Epoxy paint is not comparable to cement for strength..nor weld-on #40...Although #40 is also a 2 part epoxy its chemical properties are 98-99% the same as the acrylic itself as i stated earlier. It heats up as it cures fusing into the surface of the acrylic. only way to remove it is with a sander/grinder/saw. If pond shield/armour was so strong u wouldnt need a cement/wood structure to hold it up during tank construction. Fiberglass is also used/recommended with pond armour. I gave an example of patching the underside of the tank with the proper materials and having it be flush/smooth from the inside for looks. You can use ur paint over the #40 to hide ur work...That tank was either moved with a bulkhead in it or the bottom bowed from a poorly built stand causing the crack... Paint will not stop that pressure from happening again, its already been weakened. Your main goal is to prevent that crack from running not just reseal the tank... What does ur stand look like? how thick is the bottom piece of material? im guessing the stand is open in that area i.e. the hole...and its prob 1/2" since it cracked. IMO pond armour is a bandaid/temp fix. Ud need 2 fully support that area under the hole with plywood and or a cross brace to stop any bowing. Epoxy paint is brittle, it does not bend/bow or give. it breaks.
Okay, Okay. You all win. Butch doesn't have a clue about his own product. He obviously doesn't know that his product cannot adhere to plastics and his claim that it can flex with movement (i.e. moving ground due to freeze and thaw conditions which I do believe can be quite extreme at times...I grew up in Alaska) is quite possibly incorrect.
Yes... I completely mean to be sarcastic. Do give me some leeway here. It is 1 in the morning and I am really stressing over this whole aquarium refurbish. You all completely understand that this tank is in my living room and thus cannot ever leak . Trust me I thankful that you all looking out after me. This is why I came to this forum. I am a risk manager by trade and by that I don't mean just financial risks. One of the things that the previous owner did with this aquarium and stand is add an alarm to it. If one drop of water hits bottom of the stand which is lined with pond liner and can hold about 90 gallons of water, an audio alarm sounds. Now with that said, you all clearly don't understand how important the aesthetics are. I want this aquarium to be clean and beautiful and full of life mainly big beautiful fancy goldfish. Check out this youtube video to see what I mean. This aquarium is my inspiration for this project.
So now that I am off my soap box (or some might be thinking my high horse), I am switching to the acrylic sheet method of repair... I found a company online in which I can order sheets of Opaque Colored Cast Acrylic. That way I can have my black shine bottom. I think I will be able to cover the entire bottom at a reasonable cost depending on the thickness of the acrylic. So how thin can I have this acrylic sheet. The bottom is already 1/2" thick. So can I do a piece that is 1/8" which will cost $94? Or do I buy a piece that is 3/16" costing $122.69? 1/2" which is the thickest they sell this in black will cost approximately $340. That is a bit pricey for me at this time. I will have to save my pennies for the 1/2" piece.
Why do I want to do black instead of just doing clear and using substrate to cover the repair? Simple. I want a bare bottom tank for my goldfish. They are notoriously big waste producers. Being able to easily see the waste will make it easier to keep the tank clean.
So just to reiterate my question. What is the minimal thickness which will work to fortify the acrylic where the crack is on the bottom of the aquarium? 1/8" thick? 3/16" thick? 1/4" thick? 1/2" thick?
Thank you for tolerating my rant. And thank you to all in advance that answer my question about thickness.
Cheers
Kayte
Yes... I completely mean to be sarcastic. Do give me some leeway here. It is 1 in the morning and I am really stressing over this whole aquarium refurbish. You all completely understand that this tank is in my living room and thus cannot ever leak . Trust me I thankful that you all looking out after me. This is why I came to this forum. I am a risk manager by trade and by that I don't mean just financial risks. One of the things that the previous owner did with this aquarium and stand is add an alarm to it. If one drop of water hits bottom of the stand which is lined with pond liner and can hold about 90 gallons of water, an audio alarm sounds. Now with that said, you all clearly don't understand how important the aesthetics are. I want this aquarium to be clean and beautiful and full of life mainly big beautiful fancy goldfish. Check out this youtube video to see what I mean. This aquarium is my inspiration for this project.
So now that I am off my soap box (or some might be thinking my high horse), I am switching to the acrylic sheet method of repair... I found a company online in which I can order sheets of Opaque Colored Cast Acrylic. That way I can have my black shine bottom. I think I will be able to cover the entire bottom at a reasonable cost depending on the thickness of the acrylic. So how thin can I have this acrylic sheet. The bottom is already 1/2" thick. So can I do a piece that is 1/8" which will cost $94? Or do I buy a piece that is 3/16" costing $122.69? 1/2" which is the thickest they sell this in black will cost approximately $340. That is a bit pricey for me at this time. I will have to save my pennies for the 1/2" piece.
Why do I want to do black instead of just doing clear and using substrate to cover the repair? Simple. I want a bare bottom tank for my goldfish. They are notoriously big waste producers. Being able to easily see the waste will make it easier to keep the tank clean.
So just to reiterate my question. What is the minimal thickness which will work to fortify the acrylic where the crack is on the bottom of the aquarium? 1/8" thick? 3/16" thick? 1/4" thick? 1/2" thick?
Thank you for tolerating my rant. And thank you to all in advance that answer my question about thickness.
Cheers
Kayte
Seriously dude, at this point you should probably just try it and see what you get, you got advice from, in my opinion, the leading expert on acrylic repair here
wednesday13
. If you don't want to take his advice, I don't know who else can help you more on this site, it sounds to me as though you just want someone to say what you want to hear. Which is fine man, whatever, but at that point you should just do it because you need to make your own experience,
wednesday13
and others are speaking from their complete experience, the pond armor guy isn't going to publicly say his product will probably not work, he has a product to sell. In the end it's your tank, hope your experience gaining doesn't cost you here.
Lepisosteus
I think king joey did something about DIY bulkheads, I didn't watch that particular video but maybe you could make your own bulkhead that size? Or technically you could reduce threaded bulkheads through adapters, could do that with slip too just a lost messier and takes more room.
wednesday13
. If you don't want to take his advice, I don't know who else can help you more on this site, it sounds to me as though you just want someone to say what you want to hear. Which is fine man, whatever, but at that point you should just do it because you need to make your own experience,
wednesday13
and others are speaking from their complete experience, the pond armor guy isn't going to publicly say his product will probably not work, he has a product to sell. In the end it's your tank, hope your experience gaining doesn't cost you here.
Lepisosteus
I think king joey did something about DIY bulkheads, I didn't watch that particular video but maybe you could make your own bulkhead that size? Or technically you could reduce threaded bulkheads through adapters, could do that with slip too just a lost messier and takes more room.
Seriously dude, at this point you should probably just try it and see what you get, you got advice from, in my opinion, the leading expert on acrylic repair here
The OP is a female lol
Also I would do the 5" bulk head and then get a ball valve to stop the flow. Its a salt water setup so you don't really need it. You won't get any leaks and if your worried about pressure on the ball valve I would just attach a 2" PVC on the inside with an end cap for good measure.
Good luck.
