I have been toying with this idea for a while about building a 96x48x34 acrylic tank. Shopped around and decided that a new one is more than I am willing to spend on a fish house even though I do like the hobby much. Iv been checking out the different manufacturers of cell cast acrylic and have got prices from 340.00 to 650.00 per 3/4" sheet and all say theirs is best. I know this is a big project for some one that has never done this but I really am thinking this out and am determined to do this. I am a skilled cabinet maker and a perfectionist at it if that even matters at this project. I do understand being carefull with percise cuts and square builds. I will have to buy 5 sheets of acrylic and most likely will go with the brand that has the Plexiglass trademark and they will cost around 450.00 each or 2250.00 including cutting them to the sizes I want + or - 1/16" which I will have to clean up with a good straightedge and my router. I need some input on glueing up the tank as I will be building it on the tank stand that will of course be built first. Have any of you done this before and do you have any tips or are their some good sites out their to help a guy out like me
possible acrylic tank build
- Thread starter Deano1956
- Start date
3/4" for starters is not thick enough for an 8foot span that will hold almost 900gal of water. Just to be safe your longest walls should be 1" - 1.25" and you base/bottom should be 1.5" - 2" thick minimum.
Second, consider an acrylic weld and NOT the glue.
These are things I went over and was explained when I contracted ATM to build my 900gal aquarium (945 to be exact).
Last... You'll want some 2"x2"x1/4" steel square tubing and weld a strong frame for your tank. If you want it on the floor, then increase the bottom acrylic piece to 2" - 2.5" thick.
Second, consider an acrylic weld and NOT the glue.
These are things I went over and was explained when I contracted ATM to build my 900gal aquarium (945 to be exact).
Last... You'll want some 2"x2"x1/4" steel square tubing and weld a strong frame for your tank. If you want it on the floor, then increase the bottom acrylic piece to 2" - 2.5" thick.
The 8 foot span is not the problem with the 3/4", the problem is the height. I would not go over 30" tall with 3/4. I just built a 220 gallon out of 1/2" that is 24" tall. The biggest thing you have to do is make sure the mating suface is completely flat and smooth. If not then you will end up with a lot of bubbles once the Weld On evaporates. Building it on a stand with be almost impossible as well. You can only use weld on when the joint is horizontal. If you inject it into a vertical seam it will run out. I started with the back piece and bonded the two sides onto it, then bonded the front piece onto the sides, then set the whole thing on top of the top bracing, then finished by flipping it over onto the bottom piece and bonded it last. As far as the stand goes, you will have to have a solid top with a lot of bracing. Use 1/2" foam to set the tank on. Some builders skimp on the bottom piece and use as thin as 1/2" for the size tank you want to build because the bottom is fully supported by the stand. If you did Euro bracing then you could get by with 4 sheets to do the size tank you want. If you have to have 34" on the height then you will definetly need 1" or thicker. I used Plexiglas G for my build.