740 gallon Acrylic tank poorly done seams

Drakos760

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Feb 17, 2018
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Hello. This is my first post. So please bare with me. I have a 150 gallon African cichlid glass tank now and can never be satisfied. So I went crazy and bought this 740 gallon tank on craiglist. Knowing the tank had poorly done welded seams, I bought it anyways. I am hiring a guy that fixes large tanks to install dowels in the corners. Supposedly the tank holds water well. But I don’t trust anyone. So I am taking extra procaution by hiring him to add these braces. Is this what u guys would do? Any other suggestions or different routes? It is 1 1/2”
Panels front, back and sides and 3/4” top and bottom. Thank u in advance and thanks for having me on this forum.

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wednesday13

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I recommend glueing in 1" square stock on those upright seams using weld-on #40. its a 2 part epoxy. Solvent #4 works well on new material but the #40 will give u a better bite and its 30x stronger than solvent #4. The seams are just showing age i.m.o. thats alot of pressure with 4' height and its just from all those years of the acrylic bowing. Also normal on most tanks i.m.o.... Reinforcing those uprights with #40 will give u many more yrs to enjoy that tank for maybe $100-150 in glue/material. You should be able to do it yourself also. Its benifical to sand down the areas ur glueing with 200grit to prep for the #40...wipe down clean with a nail polish remover containing acetone.... do not use pure acetone its too strong and will cause the acrylic to craze (micro fracture)...
 

Yoimbrian

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Feb 11, 2013
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Weldon 40 is not a 2 part epoxy. It contains solvent and acrylic monomer, which softens the surface of the acrylic and forms a covalent chemical bond, as if it were 1 piece all along.
 
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isde02

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Weldon 40 is not a 2 part epoxy. It contains solvent and acrylic monomer, which softens the surface of the acrylic and forms a covalent chemical bond, as if it were 1 piece all along.
Weld-on 40 is a 2 part epoxy as stated. Also referred to as an acrylic adhesive and a cement.
IMG_20180218_232950634.jpg
 
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Drakos760

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 17, 2018
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I recommend glueing in 1" square stock on those upright seams using weld-on #40. its a 2 part epoxy. Solvent #4 works well on new material but the #40 will give u a better bite and its 30x stronger than solvent #4. The seams are just showing age i.m.o. thats alot of pressure with 4' height and its just from all those years of the acrylic bowing. Also normal on most tanks i.m.o.... Reinforcing those uprights with #40 will give u many more yrs to enjoy that tank for maybe $100-150 in glue/material. You should be able to do it yourself also. Its benifical to sand down the areas ur glueing with 200grit to prep for the #40...wipe down clean with a nail polish remover containing acetone.... do not use pure acetone its too strong and will cause the acrylic to craze (micro fracture)...
Thank u very much for the detailed instructions u listed. I appreciate it. I usually do 95% of work on my house. I hate hiring people to do stuff because they either do it poorly and I can do it better or they do it and I say crap, I could of easily done that. But for some reason with tank, I want to have a professional do it. But I will be picking his brain to make sure he does as u said. Thank u once again
 
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Drakos760

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Feb 17, 2018
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And most of all keep us posted, that is going to look awesome when you finish!
I most definitely will post it all up during the process. I know it will be a tedious task but I think it will be rewarding. Thank u for your interest
 
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