Glass/Acrylic Alternative? Please Help

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
If you can't afford it don't do it plain and simple. That marine vinyl is only .04 thick that's a little more than a 32nd. That would not hold the psi of a tank
 
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The canoe people say to use 1/16 inch. I guess I put in the wrong link. If its strong enough for a canoe, would it be good for a tank? displacement = supported weight should mean a boat with 3' draft should have as much stress as a 3' high tank. Plus, canoes hit rocks and stuff
 
J. H. said:
The canoe people say to use 1/16 inch. I guess I put in the wrong link. If its strong enough for a canoe, would it be good for a tank? displacement = supported weight should mean a boat with 3' draft should have as much stress as a 3' high tank. Plus, canoes hit rocks and stuff
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A canoe doesn't have thousands of pounds pushing on it either. Water is very destructive. A tank that big with just a 1/6th thick panel is like filling a trash bag with sand and hoping it wont rip when u carry it.
 
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Oh well, I guess I will have to build a smaller tank. I want Malawi Trout or Jumbo Cyps and wanted to build a tank big enough for them, but $1000+ is far beyond my budget for a good few years. I'll have to find a new fish that I really want.
 
J. H. said:
Oh well, I guess I will have to build a smaller tank. I want Malawi Trout or Jumbo Cyps and wanted to build a tank big enough for them, but $1000+ is far beyond my budget for a good few years. I'll have to find a new fish that I really want.
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Just build a plywood tank
 
What I can't afford is the 1 - 1.5 inch thick 36x144 inch veiwing plate. The rest would be plywood of course. I just had a flash of inspiration, however. What if I made it only 24" high, and made the top 12" an "upside down fish tank"? the stress on the acrylic would only be that of a 12" high tank! I have an endless supply of 1/4" acrylic because my uncle works somewhere that they let him take home sheets of it. All I would have to do is weld 2 or 3 peices together to make a 12' peice!brainstorm.png
 
J. H. said:
What I can't afford is the 1 - 1.5 inch thick 36x144 inch veiwing plate. The rest would be plywood of course. I just had a flash of inspiration, however. What if I made it only 24" high, and made the top 12" an "upside down fish tank"? the stress on the acrylic would only be that of a 12" high tank! I have an endless supply of 1/4" acrylic because my uncle works somewhere that they let him take home sheets of it. All I would have to do is weld 2 or 3 peices together to make a 12' peice!View attachment 1235746
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1/4" isn't thick enough for 24" looking at 1/2"
 
M@T!@$ said:
1/4" isn't thick enough for 24" looking at 1/2"
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the whole trick is that it becomes two 12 inch fish tanks. The top 12" of water is in suspended by a vacuum, so no part of the tank has to support more than 12" of water. It's like having two tanks rolled into one. Does anyone get what I am trying to do? does it not make sense?
 
I'm still trying to wrap my head around how a 24 in column of water could only produce 12 inches worth of pressure. Maybe on the one plate, are you sure that's how it works?
 
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