Blue Acrylic to Black Acrylic background?

[SingAlongWithTsing]

Preface: Thinking of drilling a 180 gallon tank I've been given to install a FijiCube LoPro 2400 and I hate the blue background it.

Option 1: Get some 1/8" black cast acrylic panels and silicone em to the back. Kind of worry that the tank bowing will pop the panels off lol.

Option 2: Get some 1/8" black cast acrylic panels and weld em on back. My concern here is if Weld-on 4 would damage old seams. The 1-2 min working time is also a potential problem since I've never used weld on before.

Option 3: Silicone 1/8" black ABS sheets with the textured side facing the old blue background. The concern here would be the textured surface potentially causing a problem with how the bulkheads would seal.

Option 4: Get one big Kydex roll for a seamless look and silicone it to the back. I've seen some reefers mention using Kydex in their tanks (held by magnets) and swap em out for a clean one when they build up too much coraline algae on it. Problem is I can't find a seller that accepts paypal lol.

What would you guys do?

 

[wednesday13]

U can sand it down a bit and paint it with black epoxy paint… use a piece of black vinyl… or go with 1/8” black acrylic cast or extruded acrylic since its not load bearing. I recommend using weld/on #16 to adhere it tho. #4 wont work like u think it will in this scenario. Its too runny and ud need to literally pour an entire can out then stick the sheet on while the tanks on its back. Unless u know what ur doing it wont end well. With the #16 u really only need to seal up the sheet around the edges of the piece to make it water tight for ur bulkheads or drill out holes larger holes for them to fit through. I do not recommend silicone. It wont adhere for long and will end up coming off under water over time. I have also seen people use magnets, not a bad idea if u dont want to mess with glues. If u go with magnets just drill out ur bulkhead holes larger so they seal to ur original back wall and not the new piece.
Ive come across a cple tanks where people added in 1/8” sheets like ur proposing. There never sealed properly to the back wall and water ends up getting behind them so its honestly not a bad idea to leave it “temporary” with magnets if ur glue/weld on skills arent great.

 

[Backfromthedead]

I misunderstood this at first...is there no way to remove the blue and put the new background on the back?

 

[SingAlongWithTsing]

I misunderstood this at first...is there no way to remove the blue and put the new background on the back?

nope, the back was built with an acrylic blue panel. only way to remove it would be to cut the whole 72" x 24" panel out lol

 

[Backfromthedead]

nope, the back was built with an acrylic blue panel. only way to remove it would be to cut the whole 72" x 24" panel out lol

Gah...what a catastrophe.

I experimented with flexseal to coat the bottom and one wall of one of my more recent tanks. It was glass though. It actually turned out quite pleasant, gave a sort of slate-like appearance.

 

[SingAlongWithTsing]

U can sand it down a bit and paint it with black epoxy paint… use a piece of black vinyl… or go with 1/8” black acrylic cast or extruded acrylic since its not load bearing. I recommend using weld/on #16 to adhere it tho. #4 wont work like u think it will in this scenario. Its too runny and ud need to literally pour an entire can out then stick the sheet on while the tanks on its back. Unless u know what ur doing it wont end well. With the #16 u really only need to seal up the sheet around the edges of the piece to make it water tight for ur bulkheads or drill out holes larger holes for them to fit through. I do not recommend silicone. It wont adhere for long and will end up coming off under water over time. I have also seen people use magnets, not a bad idea if u dont want to mess with glues. If u go with magnets just drill out ur bulkhead holes larger so they seal to ur original back wall and not the new piece.
Ive come across a cple tanks where people added in 1/8” sheets like ur proposing. There never sealed properly to the back wall and water ends up getting behind them so its honestly not a bad idea to leave it “temporary” with magnets if ur glue/weld on skills arent great.

a concern just popped in my head this morning, do i have to worry about the black acrylic panels expanding and putting pressure on the side panels ? especially at the seam?

also, would weld on 16 make pree-existing seams weaker if it comes in contact with them?

 

[wednesday13]

a concern just popped in my head this morning, do i have to worry about the black acrylic panels expanding and putting pressure on the side panels ? especially at the seam?

also, would weld on 16 make pree-existing seams weaker if it comes in contact with them?

Good questions… No and no tho lol… acrylic does absorb water to an extent but the small amt and the sheet being 1/8” will most def. Not do anything to exert pressure on the tank. #16 is not a solvent so theres no worry of it damaging anything either. Solvent glue can be detrimental to existing seams, only if u use while a tank is full tho.

 

[SingAlongWithTsing]

If any one's wondering what I went with, I grabbed a roll of 1/16" thick 96" x 48" from amazon. the seams on the black acrylic panels would bug me too much lol

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X8SPFS5?psc=1&smid=A3U6UYHC64Y9U0&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

Dunno if I wanna use ASI Black Silicone (they claim it works on acrylics in their tech sheet) or the Weldon 16 (concerned about the 5-6 min work time). I guess if I go with the 16 I can do 24" sections or so at a time while I have a portion on the abs roll held up some how

 

[wednesday13]

If any one's wondering what I went with, I grabbed a roll of 1/16" thick 96" x 48" from amazon. the seams on the black acrylic panels would bug me too much lol

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X8SPFS5?psc=1&smid=A3U6UYHC64Y9U0&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

Dunno if I wanna use ASI Black Silicone (they claim it works on acrylics in their tech sheet) or the Weldon 16 (concerned about the 5-6 min work time). I guess if I go with the 16 I can do 24" sections or so at a time while I have a portion on the abs roll held up some how

Not sure which adhesive would be stronger on ABS… #16 is made for acrylic but will bond ABS… Silicone is for glass so same thing, it will bond but at a lower strength. Might be worth doing a test to see which one pulls off easier. Ive used multiple silicone brands on acrylic and they can all be pulled right off even sanding the acrylic for better bite.