gluing two sheets of acrylic to make one

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R

rotccapt

Candiru
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2009
311
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oklahoma
hi all i will be rebuilding my 120 gallon plywood tank soon and will be replacing the 1/2 inch acrylic with 3/8 glass. so since i have 3 panes of acrylic i had the idea to turn it into a new sump for the tank. yes i know 1/2 inch acrylic is way overkill for a 15 inch tall sump but since i already have it why not. so i am trying to maximize the size of the sump without having to buy more material.

so i am basing my sump off the aqueon sump. using 2 filter socks on one end a bio chamber that will hold 4 gallons of bio material in the center and the pump/ equipment chamber after that.

so what im asking is would it be ok to splice two pieces of 1/2 inch acrylic together on the long sides of the tank? if i do this i can add another 4 gallons of total capacity to the sump.

the bottom pane will be solid and i am planning on splicing 9 inches to the long side panels.

the sump dimensions will be 12 inches wide, 34 inches long and 15 inches tall (external dimensions) if i use the spliced side panels, if i dont the max length that i can make is 24 inches long. also the max height that the water will be on this seam would be 9 inches. i have toyed with putting a patch of 1/8th inch acrylic over the seam but i dont think that it is really necessary

here is a pic of the design
sump.jpg

sump.jpg
 
That's not a design that I'd recommend. Are the quality and safety issues worth it? In DIY projects, when I don't feel the satisfaction of a job well done, I usually start over from scratch. So a lot of time and effort goes wasted. That said, if I were to build this, I would put a solid top on it, with cut-out holes for access. It most definitely needs bracing on the top where that joint is.
 
I have never built a sump, but from a general understanding, i would say definately brace the top where the joint will be. I once spliced 2 tanks together when i was a kid and the only way the seam worked was with a brace at the top where the seam was and with a patch over the seam on the inside much like you were thinking of doing with th 1/8" acrylic.
I know everyones probably going to say splicing= bad idea, but i had my frankenstien tank as my dad called it, running for amost 8 years before it finally gave up the ghost when i moved it too many times lol.
 
the main reason for the rebuild of the 120 is due to a house fire that forced me to drain the tank and hand it over to a cleaning company and i will need to reseal it once i get it back anyways because im sure it will leak. also the 120 needed a new back panel due to water damage from multiple revisions of the overflow. so yes i understand the dump it all and start over but there is nothing wrong with the acrylic so i dont see anything wrong with reusing the acrylic panels

what do you think of this design i added a cap to the end of the main part of the sump.
sump 2.jpg

sump 2.jpg
 
Maybe this is a stupid question, but is the seam in question going to be on the sides of the part you added the cap to? If so i think it would do fine. I would still however patch the joint on the inside with the 1/8" acrylic as you mentioned earlier, just for added peace of mind if it were my project.
 
I think that would probably work. Now that i see where the splice will be i would personally have rather seen it between 2 pieces of equal hight so that a single brace could be placed across the top of both pieces, but i think the cap on top of the shorter part, and the end piece on the taller part being joined to it will probably be sufficient.
 
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