need advice

[sausageman]

hey all,

at the moment 29 gal is working great with 15 gal refugium, starting to get coraline growth which is awesome, i got excited for a pink circle with a 1/4" diameter :-D but anyways, currently the 29 is on the stand that i had built for a AGA 55 gallon tank that i planned to upgrade too, but i've been thinking a lot of what i really wanted to do. Seeing how i was very successful with the building of my refegium/sump, I was wanting to build the new tank instead of buying it.

I can get 4'x8' 1/4" acrylic sheets for 35 bucks at a local dealer here so i figured if i can get 2 of these sheets and make a decent tank out of it, i figured it would be cheaper then buying a AGA tank.

Current a 55 AGA tank is the only thing that will fit on the stand, the stand is 48"L x 16"W so anything more then a 55 wont do :-(

but my question is, i wanted to build a tank, with dimensions of 48"Lx15"Wx24H" roughly 75gallons?.. would 1/4" acrylic be ok? should i go for 1/2"? Also, what do you guys use for drilling holes in acrylic, i used some bits that are circular, with the inside holled out, forget what they are called, and that worked fine, except it cracked the piece of acrylic that i was drilling out, so im afraid to use these again if its going to crack my larger pieces.

thanks for advice and help..

[Doug1]

1/4 is kinda thin, tho they used to make plexi tanks out of it, with the top a whole piece glued on and small openings cut out for lights and other accessories

[Geoff]

you will definately want 1/2". that will keep the bowing down. you will also want to brace the top.

as for drilling holes i just use a hole saw. not a spade bit. you have to go slow so you do not chip or crack it. the thicker the acrylic the easier it is to drill. just take your time when you get close to drilling through.

G~

[motorslave]

Make sure its cell cast acrylic and not extruded, and do a search on the web about acrylic construction. Specificaly look for something in regards to the "pin method" I believe there is a thread or two here also on the subject. Good luck!!

Robert