DIY Acrylic Tank

[hankstanks]

Hey all, I found a plastic company down the road (friend works there) and I can get some cheap/free 1/2 acrylic. I was thinking about making my own Black Back aquarium to replace the one I just scratched up....

it would be a 65gl 36"18"24"

Any pros and cons of DIY? I have never done it before and fear the seams will look like holy hell..

[ManInTheJar]

Hank here is a site that will give you complete printable plans on building Acrylic tanks ,stands, and gals calculator.www.garf.com----Hope this helps .I am in the process of building a 375gal acrylic tank and 100gal sump/refugium from there plans .

[ManInTheJar]

In above post drop the ----Hope

[big t]

If you decide to build your own tank I would definately do some practice on smaller projects, I would suggest making some jigs and 90 degree angles for practice, and you can use them later for your tank build

[wanareef]

HS
As T has stated, practice on something small and not showing ie: sump / fuge http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...eadid=96763ge.

Here is a link to read if you are inclined to it's long but there are some pointers that are good. Don't clamp down the vertical pieces, use gravity, some jigs for right angles, "pins" to space pieces apart for gluing, use weldon #4 and 16 for the booboo's (spaces up to 1/8")

hth

[beach bum]

Find a local hobbyist with the know-how, that will be the best way - diy strictly from two-dimensional internet instructions will not give you a show quality tank.

you probably only need 3/8" not 1/2", there will be a very slight bow with 3/8" however. front, side, bottom and back panels can all be 3/8" the top need only be 1/4" - arguably even the bottom can be done in 1/4" without problems as long as it is supported well (in other words, full length plywood top).

Black acrylic in 1/2" is verrry expensive.

Rounded from corners can be acheived fairly simply (my friend does it anyway with little problem) and will save you 2 extra seams to try and get perfect. I don't know what he use for a heating element, I am sure you can find that out. He builds a plywood box (4 sides, the fornt of the tank, bottom and sides) then heats and bends the acrylic at the desired points and uses the boxes 90 degree angles to get a perfect angle from front wall to sides.


just some ideas to get you going.