The work starts here. 20ft tank!!
- Thread starter wheatgerm
- Start date
Bows just like my 230 with 3/8" acrylic lol...no worries...thats y we take the time to reinforce with weld on #40....crazy people dont use it in the first place!!!!!!
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I just wanted to check my 300g plexi. I know it bows in the front I never worried about it. I just put a straight edge on the face I can put a finger under each end on it. It is 1/2" plexi 30" tall the tanks made by TruVu its there standard 300g size they make. This tank has been running with water pretty much continually since 1997. That's 16 years with no issues
Thank you this does make me feel alot better. I'm going to keep an eye on the bow and make sure it doesn't creep out further.
Ya I know the joints should be plenty strong now... NOW I REMEMBER what it looked like all those years ago in the LFS lol its crazy that it didnt pop. I feel I've added a ton of strength to it plus its only half the length now.
I think with all this extra acrylic rodding I'm going to try and beef up the top of the tank. Because I feel this is the weakest spot and is taking the brunt of the force
Yikes. looks nuts. But is normal for acrylic. As longs as the top braces are strong enough its fine.
plenty of pics on reef forums of similar deformations.
You have to go up to like 1.5" thick acrylic to stop bowing on a 24"+/- tall tank.
I've seen plenty of 1/2" acrylic tanks 30" tall and less filled with water and still running fine I wouldn't worry about your 1/2" tank unless its super tall
Yea after seeing how much my top braces bow I figure I had better beef up the tops of these tanks with all the remaining 3/4" acrylic that I have. Im guessing it will help the bowing on the front piece as well
The top undergoes more stress than any other part of a tank...most people overlook that but its good u have some more material to put on there. Imo the top should always use the thickest piece of material which most builders skimp out on so the 3/4" u have will only work to ur advantage. Weird its bowing downward most of my tanks top braces bow upward except for this new 230 in 3/8". I wonder whats different about this size material that makes it bow down. Interesting.....
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Not sure why the tops bow downward but It makes sense to me just watching the front bow out and since I made the joint really rigid with the fillet joint means the only place the top braces could go would be down. I would have a harder time understanding why a top would bow upwards lol
Anyways the tank is still dry this morning. I gotta go back to work so I figure I may as well leave it full over the workweek. Next weekend I'll drain it, beef up the top supports, then finish building the stand in the basement and get on with setup
