Plywood tank or DIY acrylic?

[thefatman]

someone had mentioned this in the past. i belive it was geoff's concern that the acrylic seal might not hold because it would be close to impossible to get the acrylic the exact same size as the inner dimensions of the plywood box.

however, i'm thinking that if you used thin acrylic, say like along the lines of 1/4 inch, and got it as close as possible. you could use some silicone or liquid nails or whatever to attach the acrylic to the inside of the plywood. then use weldon 16 in the corners to fill the gaps. then you arent relying on silicone to hold the acrylic seam together.

and, like you said, you would have the strength of the plywood. the weight of the acrylic front would be far less than glass (i'd recommend at least 1/2" for a front on a large tank). you wouldnt need to worry about using two part epoxy on the inside of the plywood. and it owuld be easier to clean the walls should you choose to do so, because the acrylic will be much smoother than the plywood/epoxy owuld be.

you would still have the ease of drilling through the plywood and acrylic whereever you needed. and would have the added benefit of a boatload of screws holding it together on the outside. rather than JUST weldon.

you might also be able to use weldon to glue the front to the sides and bottom, rather than simply using silicone on the front to the eopxyied plywood like most people do.

whenever i finally get around to building a big tank, thats the way i'll be doing it, unless someone convinces me otherwise.

[Buk_A_neer]

Other than the logistics of trying to get a good fit by putting in a thin acrylic liner ... another thing to consider is that you will have to be very carefull not to damage that thin acrylic ( falling rocks etc ) ... it very well could provide a waterproof interior but is it as durable as a fiberglass coating ?

Just some food for thought ... 300 Gallons or more is alot of water to take chances with IMO

[Mastino Mike]

The rubber pond liner I installed is extremely tough. You can get it thicker 65 mil. It is also puncture resitant and more so if you place padding before installing the liner. I like it for the ease of install and you wont have to worry about falling rocks and making sure the tank is coated correctly with epoxy to prevent leaks.

[Geoff]

acrylic gets pretty expensive when you get into the larger sizes. i would think that if you were going to pay for the 3/4" plywood and then the 1/4" acrylic you would be most of the way there for 1/2" acrylic.

i guess i do not see any advantages to the acrylic liner. why would you want to clean a side you can not see through? drilling for bulkheads could be tricky. acylic likes to crack. you would have to drill from the inside out to limit cracking.

i think it could work, if you can get the corners just about spot on. those joints can take some, but not a lot of flex. i do not know if adding like a foam layer between the plywood and the acrylic would help as a leveler. to keep the acrylic as flat as possible.

G~

[Minnreefer]

Thanks, good points

Jon

[Mastino Mike]

Starting to clear up. I plan on finishing all the wood moldings and everything this week.(hopefully) Its almost time to start cycling.

[Minnreefer]

Any updates?

Thanks

Jon

[Mastino Mike]

My tank is still in cycle. No leaks, Havent finished some of the wood work. Pics to come soon.

[Minnreefer]

Cool

Thanks

[Mastino Mike]

almost done

[Mastino Mike]

I still have to finish the moldings and more paneling.

[Minnreefer]

Looks very good, are you glad that you placed the tank on the floor like that?

Any changes that you would have done so far?

Thanks

Jon

[Mastino Mike]

Not really. I wish the tank wasnt so tall and it was alot deeper from front to back and placed on a stand. I only had 7 foot clearence. I needed space for the halides so I decided to put it on the floor.

[Mastino Mike]

I should have bought black pvc pipe but the white pvc will get algea on it any how. I also should have purchased a box cut liner to fit my tank specs it still looks ok with a few wrinkles. Its the first tank I ever built so Ill fine tune everything for the next one.

[tims]

if you want to bond the acrl. forever, you can use a chemical call ( i think) methlytrxate... i will check tomoorow at work. i have used it for fixing our acrlic boxes at work. it is a liq. and you need to wear gloves and a mask. it will run very fast and you do not need a lot!!!!! as long as you can clamp the pieces togeather, it will give you a bond that will not break. It basically melts the acrlic togerather causing the molecular componds to join.it will be water proof.
i would soak for a long time before using with any fish or reef. after two days and some saop and water there is no "left over" chemical or smell. i am pretty surre it is methlytraxate but i will doubt check in the morning.
sure should be able to get it from any chemical seller or even at the local high school or college lab. you should only need maybe 10 ml to do a whole house!!!