Making a 10g plexi-glass

[AB3]

I want a mantis tank and I cant find anywere that has a 10g around here so Could I make one out of plexiglass?? How would I do it, would it be hard?

[zero186]

i have made some small stuff out of it

and its not al that hard what you will need is
-100% silicone
-a pexiglass cutter or if you can get where you get it to cut it, or have a good table saw.
-plexiglass but you might what to check the thickness b.c i am not to sure right now.

thats all you really need to start you might want to place a border around the top and bottom which would help support it more.

[Fly Guy]

You need weld-on #4.....not silicone.....silicone wont bond acrylic together, and a good table saw. Id use 1/2" thick acrylic for a display tank that size.

[Geoff]

do not use silly cone to glue any kind of polycarbonate together. it will work for a few months, but eventually the silly cone will just release from the polycarbonate. the tank will literally just fall apart.

Weld-On #4 and #16 are the most common adhesives for bonding polycarbonates together. they actually melt the pieces together to form one very strong piece. if done right the bonded areas are stronger than the panes themselves.

on a tank of that size 1/4" acrylic/lexan/plexiglass would be fine. you may have a bit of bowing, but a simple brace at the top will fix that if it bothers you.

i have made many a tank/ tank accessory using acrylic. great material to work with. just takes some practice.

G~

[AB3]

Does it get scratched easily?? Will the mantis mess it up??

[zero186]

lol this would be why my tanks fall apart when i test them opps

[Geoff]

acrylic does scratch easily. not sure a mantis would mess with it much. it really depends on which kind of mantis you get. some are smashers, and some are spearers. the smashers are the ones that can break a tank. not sure they would break your tank unless it is a big mantis.

G~

[AB3]

I want this one from liveaquaria its a smasher. How much/how often should I feed it??
http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_...fm?pCatId=2281

[Geoff]

i have not kept one on purpose, so i can not tell you exactly how often they need to be fed.

you might want to ask this question in another one of our forums. i know several people on TRT have mantis shrimp.

G~

[AB3]

k

[Tasher80]

I just built a sump out of acylic. Here is my thread.
http://thereeftank.com/forums/showth...t=85076&page=3

[zero186]

wouldn't it to be cheaper to buy a 10g for $10, or will the glass not be thick enough for a mantis

[Geoff]

TJ- now where is the fun in that.

G~

[zero186]

hehe well i always keep price in mind but myself has been busy on a little DIY with pexi (trying to get some place to raise some hatchlings)

[Geoff]

with smaller projects it is almost always cheaper to use a store bought tank. several of my projects started out as money savers, but ended up costing a bit more than if i were to just buy it.

G~