Acrylic tank cost/size considerations

[ikkie78]

Hey everyone...I'm trying to research and plan finishing my basement and one thing I know I'm incorporating is my big dream tank. Just had some questions for those of you that have purchased acrylic aquariums. I'm looking in the 500-800 gallon range but was just wondering what the biggest factor is for cost increase...I know going taller past a certain point increases cost quite a bit as does going longer so I'm kind of looking for the most bang for my buck for lack of a better term. At what length does the price jump the most as well as height? Was looking at anything from 8-12' length with 48" wide and 24-36" high.

Hopefully this makes sense...I'm working night shift right now and sometimes the brain shuts off around this time LOL!

 

[nzafi]

Acrylic sheets are 8x4 so anything beyond that sees a jump. If you go to fishtanksdirect they list prices for all of their standard size acrylic tanks and you can see how the prices fluctuate based on length. Biggest they have listed is 10x4x3.

 

[ikkie78]

Thanks...ill check their site...appreciate the help!

 

[JK47]

The main reason pricing increases with taller tanks is due to the thickness of the material. The taller the tank is, the thicker the acrylic material wall thickness needs to be. The standard sizes of 24" are as mentioned above because a standard sheet can be cut without additional sheets needed or having to be bonded.

 

[ikkie78]

ok thanks...so basically staying at 8' long and 24" tall would probably be the most cost savings...might still go 30" high but thanks for the explanation...now that the kitchen is remodeled my wife is happy and told me to do what i want with the basement fishcave lol...she may regret saying that!

 

[JK47]

ok thanks...so basically staying at 8' long and 24" tall would probably be the most cost savings...might still go 30" high but thanks for the explanation...now that the kitchen is remodeled my wife is happy and told me to do what i want with the basement fishcave lol...she may regret saying that!

You should go 30" if you can swing the extra cost. It usually isn't significant. All of my larger tanks are 30" or taller and agree with you on that. Wife permission = buy everything hard and fast before she catches up with the cost lol

 

[ikkie78]

Lol yeah need to bank up a little bit yet...i just told her not to worry how much i spend on it and she said she didnt care I could do what I want haha!

I will most likely go 30"...possibly 36"...my plan is to have it in the wall so i can run an auto drip right into my sump pump and I would have a window in the maint. room behind it to ventilate some of humidity out...8'x4'x2.5' is what im going to shoot for as far as size...if i have the cash maybe ill look at going longer but we will see.

 

[jaws7777]

I just ordered one from midwestcustoms and originally was going with 96x24x24 but the jump to 30' wide was almost nothing as jk47 stated. I wanted 3/4 inch thick panels and the acrylic ended up being much cheaper than a glass tank at the same dimensions and still cheaper with the glass @ 5/8

 

[ikkie78]

Thanks...was debating 30" tall...the width i'm going with is 48"....my plan right now that I'm gonna try for is a 96"x48"x30" aquarium. Was thinking of going 36" high but might run into issues getting thay in the basement...I know 30" high will fit for sure so. Now just gotta save my pennies and start dreaming of my stock list!

 

[ragin_cajun]

You don't want a tank deeper than 30 inches. You think you do, but you really don't. My tank is 30 inches height, and I can juuuuust barely reach all the way to bottom in the very front to wipe algae off the inside glass. If it was 32 inches deep, I'd have to put on a snorkel every 2 weeks to get that little algae ring off the bottom of the front glass.