300 gallon acrylic

[jimmyfrontosa]

Hi all,
Just filled up my newly constructed 300 for the first time. It is 3/4 inch acrylic. My question is this: Does anybody know how much the front and back should bow out? How much is too much? With a straight edge on the front it measured 3/4 inch bow. I know that it should bow out some because it is plastic, but before I bring it from the garage I would like to be sure I don't eventually turn my living room into a swamp! Tank is 96"x24"x30". Thanks for any input.

 

[fender]

I am definitely not an expert, but have heard the acryclic tanks the size you are talking about often have as much as 1 inch of bow. Acrylic will stretch along way before it breaks, as long as you have good solid joints you should be ok.
Did you build this yourself, or buy it?

 

[sonny]

You are fine. Don't worry about it!
Just so the seams are in perfect shape, you're fine. I assume you have good bracing on the top of the tank??
That's one reason I like glass tanks!
Sonny

 

[jimmyfrontosa]

Thanks fender and Sonny for your replies. It is sure reassuring to hear that. Yes fender, me and a friend built it. I have already put 3/4 by 1 1/2 inch strips around the bottom for a little extra. Tonight I am going to install 2 more braces which are 8 by 24 inches to go between the 3 access holes in the top. All the seams were done with a 2 part solvent and are flawless. Also to be installed tonight are 2 - 4 by 8 prefilters that I have hopefully designed to be both watertight and removeable. This remains to be seen though. If all works out I hope to be filling it up on Sunday night in my living room. Wish me luck. Sorry about the ramblings. Thanks again! Jim

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

Awesome Idea - Where did yo get the plans to build it and how much did it cost? I have a 55 gal and I am already pushing the filtering to the limit and I haven't even gotten anything cool in the tank yet. Looks like you have the right idea. Hook me up.
Brewski

 

[jimmyfrontosa]

Hey Bud,
Yeah I think I'm on the right track. Unfortunately I'm having problems with the prefilters leaking. Been working too much to mess with it though. Maybe this coming weekend. Didn't have any plans, just kinda went for it. Lots of reading on acrylic and an amigo that has experience working with acrylic really helps. It is much more tedious than I thought it would be. I'm not used to being as precise as you need to be. It takes a lot of time. Good luck. Jim