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gsar

Acrylic thickness for diy tanks

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12 Comments
by
gsar
, 05-14-2010 at 10:39 PM (1635 Views)
Hi,

I'm starting to plan a 240 gallon tank that I want to build. 4' X 4' and 24" high. Everthing I've read suggests using 1/2" thick Acrylic for tanks that are 19" to 24" high. Not sure yet if I want to put the overflow in one of the corners or as a center column in the center of the tank. It's going in a wall which will position 1/2 half the tank in my rec room and the other half in my den/fishroom.

My question....
Can you use a thinner thickness of Acrylic for the bottom and top bracing of the tank? I'm not an structural engineer but I thought that having a well built stand with 1" thick plywood for the tank to sit on would be strong enough if I went with 3/8" Acrylic for bottom and top bracing.

Is it worth trying to save a few bucks on a sheet of Acrylic?

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‎ DIY projects

Comments

  1. joncd's Avatar
    http://www.sdplastics.com/cyro/aquarium/Aquarium.xls

    I would not use 1/2" acrylic for the sides.
  2. gsar's Avatar
    Very cool document. Much appreciated.
    Any comment on the bottom and top components?
  3. joncd's Avatar
    I think that you could go with a thinner material on the bottom provided that the bottom is fully supported. I have read of people using thinner materials for their eurobracing too. You might want to contact someone who has more experience with acrylic. Maybe PM melev?
  4. Hat39406's Avatar
    Can't help you with the contruction of the tank but the way you are designing it is very cool. Half in showroom and half in fish room, nice. Keep us posted with pics; can't wait to see how it comes out.
  5. melev's Avatar
    Yes, you can use thinner material. That being said, I wouldn't do it myself. I like to build stuff that is solid as a rock.
  6. gsar's Avatar
    Thanks to everyone for the advise. It's starting to sound like 1/2" might be a bit thin for sides. It's good to hear from others who have done already done it.
  7. melev's Avatar
    For 240g, I'd definitely go thicker. 3/4" minimum.
  8. fchidsey's Avatar
    You will never get yelled at for over building something, but go ahead and spill 240 gallons of salt water on the custom wood floor and let me know what happens please.

    I would go larger than 1/2"

    IMHO
  9. gsar's Avatar
    I'd be single again. Or at least banned from even bringing anything bigger than a betta in a plastic cup into the house.

    I haven't seen any pics of custom built Acrylic for a 4' X 4' footprint. Would standard euro bracing with just the outside top edges (3 or 4 inches i"m guessing) be enough? Or would cross bracing be required in addition.

    I've noticed that a lot of the glass tanks don't use the cross braces.
  10. melev's Avatar
    Have you talked with James (aka Acrylics on ReefCentral) yet? I would probably have a 5" flange around the entire thing, but he may even suggest four openings with a + shape cross brace to keep it square and strong.
  11. gsar's Avatar
    Nope. This the first time I've even posted a question in any forum. I usually just go and build something and ask later why it didn't work! For reasons fchidsey identified I thought it would be smart to send these questions out into space. I can't seem to find anybody locally that has built something similar to this. I'll definately send the question in Jame's direction.

    Shouldn't you not be working around this time? It's late in Texas too.
  12. melev's Avatar
    I'm working.