Help with Acrylic window for DIY tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
DFishFox said:
I remember hearing that acrylic is stronger than glass.. But how could that be if I'd need 2" thick if acrylic and 3/4" if glass. I thought the weaker material needs more of it...
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well chances are you dont need 2" acrylic...
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...0-5-000-gallon-Arapaima-Gigas-Tank-by-JohnPTC

thats 5000 gallons and the main window is 120"x60"x2" (10'x5'x2") acrylic.... so 2" is going to be way overkill for a 5.5'x4' window. you could probably use 1.5" or even 1.25"
 
if im not mistaken, acrylic is stronger, but flexes more, hence the need for thicker acrylic under the same conditions... a thinner acrylic could hold up but there would be a lot of flexing. and it would put a lot of stress on the silicone seal which could lead to failure of the seal. and i wouldn't want to take that risk with a couple hundred gallons of water in my house
 
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A vague vision...
 
that tank is much bigger than the tank dimesnions you gave in your first post... about 3 1/3 times bigger

JohnPTC: 12'x10'x6' = roughly 5,000 gallons

DFishFox: 10'x6'x4' = roughly 1500 gallons


have you decided on the final dimensions of your tank? remember that the taller you go the more expensive its going to be... glass or acrylic has to be thicker
 
wcc963 said:
that tank is much bigger than the tank dimesnions you gave in your first post... about 3 1/3 times bigger

JohnPTC: 12'x10'x6' = roughly 5,000 gallons

DFishFox: 10'x6'x4' = roughly 1500 gallons


have you decided on the final dimensions of your tank? remember that the taller you go the more expensive its going to be... glass or acrylic has to be thicker
Click to expand...

Yes, what I want.. Only their's is bigger. I considered the height factor which is why I was thinking 4 ft initially. I'm leaning towards 5 ft out of ambition. But we'll see what the difference is in pressure demands. My dad (who is an engineer) responded much more enthusiastic than anticipated when I brought this up. Even added a couple ideas.
But just as he mentioned.. the 5000 gallon showed iron re-bar reinforcement.This too I would apparently need, but we'll see how much when The Engineer heh looks over some plans.
 
wcc963 said:
that tank is much bigger than the tank dimesnions you gave in your first post... about 3 1/3 times bigger

JohnPTC: 12'x10'x6' = roughly 5,000 gallons

DFishFox: 10'x6'x4' = roughly 1500 gallons


have you decided on the final dimensions of your tank? remember that the taller you go the more expensive its going to be... glass or acrylic has to be thicker
Click to expand...

Yes I was saying it is kinda how I envisioned mine, but that one is bigger.
 
ahh ok, got it... it would be a good design to draw ideas from and copy some of the things he did... very sturdy build
 
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