Welding two tanks together

[Siddons11]

I have a ridiculous idea and I’m hoping someone here can dissuade me from attempting.
I currently own two identical 300 gallon acrylic aquariums measuring 96x24x30 tall with an overflow built into each of the back corners. I would like to join them together by cutting pockets out of the back panel of each (between the overflows) and sandwiching them together making one 96x48x30 aquarium. As an engineer this idea sounds insane, but the more I think about it, I really can’t see why it wouldn’t work if I’m able to get a good weld. Can someone help me out?
I plan to simulate this in a CAD stress analysis when I get back to work next week.
Tank is made of all 3/4” thick acrylic with a solid sheet bracing the top. Very well built tanks by clarity plus.

 

[twentyleagues]

Yes it would/could work.
You wouldnt be changing any of the working parameters like making it deeper, So all tanks thicknesses are still valid.
I would use the back cut offs as bracing though.

 

[Siddons11]

Yes it would/could work.
You wouldnt be changing any of the working parameters like making it deeper, So all tanks thicknesses are still valid.
I would use the back cut offs as bracing though.

That’s what I was thinking. Thanks for the feedback.
The more bonding surface area I have the better. So if I have 12” x 30” joined at each end and at least 2” strip joined along the bottom and 1” strip at the top with additional bracing on top of the tank I think I’d have a very strong weld.

 

[Jacob92677]

I like the idea would
Love to see it happen

 

[phreeflow]

Don’t see why it wouldn’t work...especially with that much surface area for bonding. Would just have to be sure the panels aren’t bowed so they fit flush. Test fit them back to back before cutting

 

[sikoko]

Please keep us updated as I'm interested in the results

 

[Siddons11]

Here is a screenshot of the model of two tanks welded together. The areas in blue would be the welded surfaces.

If I do decide to do this it will not happen any time soon, maybe at the end of 2020 at the soonest.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I could weld these together (fixturing, clamping, etc) and the type of weld on to use?

Thanks

 

[TheWolfman]

That makes more sense now that I see the picture. IMO I would sell both tanks and just buy the tank you want. It would be cool to see this completed, and will be following along.

 

[Siddons11]

That makes more sense now that I see the picture. IMO I would sell both tanks and just buy the tank you want. It would be cool to see this completed, and will be following along.

That's an option I suppose. The room is in the basement and I am hoping to avoid moving the two tanks out and then moving a new tank back in. All of the doorways going down into the basement are only 30" wide, making things even more difficult. Also, finding the right buyer(s) and then finding a reasonably priced, quality builder for the new tank would be a hassle and could take months. I got a really good deal on these two tanks (spent $500 for both) so I'm not risking a whole lot monetarily in doing this experiment.

After doing a little bit of research, I think I will potentially be using weld on 4 and (.020") sewing pins to space the two tanks, applying the weld on from the inside of the tank (around the perimeter of the cutouts). I don't think I will have enough time to weld everything in the 3 minute fixture time, so I'll have to do the inside sides and bottom weld first, remove the pins, and then weld from the outside sides and top. Keeping the bottom surfaces of the tank flush is critical so I think I'll have to weld the tanks upright on the stand I build and use a lot of clamps.