my diy 480 gallon acrylic tank

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davis101

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 7, 2009
667
1
18
canada
20150326_192743.jpg

8x4x2. Made out of 1/2" cast acrylic and used weldon 4 for the seams. Took me roughly a month to build and there are still a couple things/ touch ups I would like to do on it yet. Tank has been up and running for a month. Filtration is 4 fx5/6's.

20150326_192743.jpg
 
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Nice work! I want one! Might be doing a large build myself in the next few months. Time will tell.
 
Beauty tank. If you ever decide to sell it let me know. Where in Canada are you located?


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My original seams were pretty good but they weren't perfect, so I added another 1/2" acrylic rod around the inside just to be safe. That bond turned out a lot better than my original bond. I'm not too worried about it. Acrylic is insanely strong when it's bonded together. Thanks for the kind words. I still need to add a bit of corner trim, but my ambition to finish it has plummeted lol I'm just going to enjoy it for a while.
 
davis101 said:
Acrylic is insanely strong when it's bonded together.
Click to expand...


Not really. I've seen 1"+ thick acrylic panels crack because of all the stresses and stains. One reason is that acrylic absorbs trace amounts of water and will warp/expand. With tanks over 6 foot long, the bowing from that absorbtion is usually much more noticeable after a few months. Even if the tank height is in a safe water pressure range for the given thickness of acrylic, the longer the tank is, the more the acrylic will expand and bow. I'd pay special attention to the top, if anything, since it's usually the weakest part of the tank. The thing to watch for is that the top may bow upwards because of water pressure and water absorption combined. The tanks perimeter force travels "inward" into the top. The force and bowing alone won't necessarily cause crazing and cracks, but if you do large water changes on a regular basis, that may cause the tank to contract and expand repeatedly. That repeated expansion and contraction from increasing and decreasing the water pressure will eventually weaken the joints. A continuous drip water change system could help prevent that from happening.

I'd also like to say that you did an insanely beautiful job with cabinet and hood.
 
Sweet tank! I'm thinking about building one 96x30x18.
Where did you get your weld on 4 ? I'm also in canada and can't find any haha

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