First acyrlic tanks. Water level?
- Thread starter Oughtsix
- Start date
I am not very good at posting from my phone. The first picture in the above post is the aquarium after all of the top spill trim was removed.
The second picture shows the trim chiseled off with very rough edges. The chiseled off pieces were VERY sharp and many hit me in the face... eye protection is a must!
I used a 1/2" flush trim bit on my router to remove the trim after chiseling the trim down. When I tried to remove the trim without chiseling it down first the bit was trying to remove too much material and the material started melting making a big mess. When I chiseled the trim (a hollow square tube) down first there was much less material to remove and the bit was able to remove it faster and cleaner. I ran the router at half speed (2 on the dial... probably about 10,000 rpm). This did a nice job of leaving a smooth flush finish without any melting.
If I were to attempt this with a router that didn't have a speed control I think I would have had to chisel off a lot more of the trim before starting or run multiple passes (used an over sized bearing on the first pass which would leave a good portion of the trim before the second pass did the flush trim).
I am very pleased with the results and it should sand out very nicely.
I like the idea of the trim to reduce drips down the side of the aquarium. Unfortunately the manufacture by selecting a hollow square tube instead of a solid square bar kind of set the aquarium up for eventual problems. The hollow trim was extremely brittle (I took many glass shard sharp pieces to my eye glasses when chiseling and routing... be careful!) from age. The trim was just begging to be bumped and chip. Another issue is the hollow trim was not sealed so there were places where algae was starting to grow inside this square tubing.
If I can find some strips of solid acrylic I would like to replace this trim because I like how it contains splashes. But everything I have found so far has cost about half of what I paid for the aquarium. I am going to be careful when sanding the top to not round over the edges which will give me the option of adding trim if I find some at a good price.
Sorry for the split pictures and post.
The second picture shows the trim chiseled off with very rough edges. The chiseled off pieces were VERY sharp and many hit me in the face... eye protection is a must!
I used a 1/2" flush trim bit on my router to remove the trim after chiseling the trim down. When I tried to remove the trim without chiseling it down first the bit was trying to remove too much material and the material started melting making a big mess. When I chiseled the trim (a hollow square tube) down first there was much less material to remove and the bit was able to remove it faster and cleaner. I ran the router at half speed (2 on the dial... probably about 10,000 rpm). This did a nice job of leaving a smooth flush finish without any melting.
If I were to attempt this with a router that didn't have a speed control I think I would have had to chisel off a lot more of the trim before starting or run multiple passes (used an over sized bearing on the first pass which would leave a good portion of the trim before the second pass did the flush trim).
I am very pleased with the results and it should sand out very nicely.
I like the idea of the trim to reduce drips down the side of the aquarium. Unfortunately the manufacture by selecting a hollow square tube instead of a solid square bar kind of set the aquarium up for eventual problems. The hollow trim was extremely brittle (I took many glass shard sharp pieces to my eye glasses when chiseling and routing... be careful!) from age. The trim was just begging to be bumped and chip. Another issue is the hollow trim was not sealed so there were places where algae was starting to grow inside this square tubing.
If I can find some strips of solid acrylic I would like to replace this trim because I like how it contains splashes. But everything I have found so far has cost about half of what I paid for the aquarium. I am going to be careful when sanding the top to not round over the edges which will give me the option of adding trim if I find some at a good price.
Sorry for the split pictures and post.
Hello Kris,
My daughter and I have been running a planted 35g hex tank for a couple years or so. She likes the fish and I like the plants. 29g is a great place to start and get your "feet wet"...
I think it is really cool that you are raising native Mollys! If I had access to native mollys I would have a tank full too. You sound like a DIYer yourself. I think building pieces for my tank makes the hobby a lot more fun.I really love sumps and even have a mini sump on our 35g hex. There is no minimum size of tank that is required to run a sump. I would probably even run a sump on a nano tank. There is nothing wrong with canisters, hang on back filters or even in tanks filters... they are very relible filters especially when you are starting out and have so many other things you are worrying about.
We had a 110g glass tank several years ago. It sprang a small leak... probably due to the lousy pet store particle board stand that came with the used tank not supporting it sufficiently. I was in the process of building a replacement stand when the leak happened. I was too anxious to get the tank up and going to finish the stand before setting up the tank. Leaking tanks are not a fun experience and not something I wish to repeat... I tend to over build pretty much everything I do. Sounds like you do too, an angle iron stand should last you MANY years without issues.
Welcome to the site and the hobby, it Is a lot of fun... with some moments of heart break thrown in to keep you on your toes.
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I am "frugal" *nice way of calling myself a resourceful cheap skate, lol*Hello Kris,
My daughter and I have been running a planted 35g hex tank for a couple years or so. She likes the fish and I like the plants. 29g is a great place to start and get your "feet wet"...
I really love sumps and even have a mini sump on our 35g hex. There is no minimum size of tank that is required to run a sump. I would probably even run a sump on a nano tank. There is nothing wrong with canisters, hang on back filters or even in tanks filters... they are very relible filters especially when you are starting out and have so many other things you are worrying about.
We had a 110g glass tank several years ago. It sprang a small leak... probably due to the lousy pet store particle board stand that came with the used tank not supporting it sufficiently. I was in the process of building a replacement stand when the leak happened. I was too anxious to get the tank up and going to finish the stand before setting up the tank. Leaking tanks are not a fun experience and not something I wish to repeat... I tend to over build pretty much everything I do. Sounds like you do too, an angle iron stand should last you MANY years without issues.
Welcome to the site and the hobby, it Is a lot of fun... with some moments of heart break thrown in to keep you on your toes.
I have been looking at setting up a sponge filter, as well. With a battery pump, as I live in hurricane country. Irma roared over my house on Sep 10th of last year, after traveling a scant 100 miles from landfall. We are now receiving lots of rain (breaking a drought and fire conditions)
They were saying it may turn into a tropical system (too damn early in the year to be hearing that kind of talk)
The day before my tank arrived, I was riding my bike to the store and looked in a dumpster (I am a hunter of fossils and even modern treasure)
It was heaven sent (the countertop, find) I did not want my tank only supported on an angle iron square.
Down the road I go, carrying this countertop on my head, in one hand.
After one cut on the length, you could not have asked a better, custom top for my stand.
Here is a pic of my custom built, recumbent bike, I made.
