my diy 480 gallon acrylic tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Great looking tank!
But 4 fx5s for filtration? WHy not a big sump and/or bead filter?
 
gangster said:
Great looking tank!
But 4 fx5s for filtration? WHy not a big sump and/or bead filter?
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I'm in an apartment, so I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. Also my stand is really short so it would have been a huge pain in the butt to access a sump. Once I have a place of my own I will definitely be using a big sump though, as I know they are far superior to canisters.
 
Athleticfisherman said:
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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You can get it at EM plastics and they are all over Canada. Maybe check to see if there is one near you. Otherwise I'm sure any local acrylic shop can order it in for you as it's really common stuff.
 
coolkeith said:
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.
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I appreciate that thanks. The top actually bonded perfectly and I also have a full sheet of acrylic for my lid.

On a side note: I put a dab of weldon 16 between two scrap pieces of acrylic and I tried my hardest to break the bond and I could not. Now I know I cant put that much pressure on the bond in comparison to the water pressure, but holy hell it was only one little dab of weldon 16! lol
 
Tank stock list:
13" black arowana
18" silver arowana
8" african arowana
Two 12" indo pacific tarpons
Two golden mahseers
Two indo dats- one 13" and one 18"
7 rays ranging from pups to adults (motoro, leo, henlei, and a couple hybrids)
15" granulosus
26" niger catfish
10" brachyplatystoma vaillantii
18" tiretrack eel
14" fire eel

WOW! I didn't realize I had that many fish..... lol
 
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