Help With Building A Tank???
- Thread starter logan15
- Start date
nyfisherman
Member
SORRY TO BE NEGATIVE BUT DON'T DO IT! I RECENTLY THOUGHT THE SAME THING BUT I ENDED UP BUILDING A REFUGE AND SUMP INSTEAD. GLASS MIGHT BE EASIER IN TERMS OF PUTTING IT TOGETHER WITH SILICONE, ACRYLIC IS LIGHTER BUT IF YOU ASK ME IS A PAIN TO WORK WITH. I HAD TROUBLE WITH GETTING THE JOINTS BUBBLE FREE. YOU NEED SPECIAL ACRYLIC GLUE (WELD ON) WHICH BASICALLY MELTS THE ACRYLIC TO ITS SELF. IF YOUR GOING TO DO IT ANY WAYS START WITH A TWENY GAL LEARN THE PROCESS THEN GO BIGGER.
grimm reef
Member
Originally posted by logan15
I wanted to build my own 75 Gallon Acrylic Tank What size thickness do i need and what kind of silicone would i need?would it be cheaper to build a 75 Gall Glass or acrylic Tank?
Please Help,
Logan
3/4 inch thickness would be the lowest thickness you can use, as far as what's cheaper to use Acrylic is cheaper cost wise than glass as well as easier to work with and lighter, but will scratch if not careful. Weldon 40 is what I use
nyfisherman
Member
Grimm Reef: DID YOU HAVE THE ACRYLIC PRECUT OR DO YOU CUT IT YOURSELF? I WAS USING WELD ON #4 AND CUTTING IT (1/4 INCH) MYSELF WITH AN ACRYLIC CUTTING TOOL. IWOULD END UP WITH ALL THESE AIR BUBBLES NO MATTER WHAT I DID. IS WELD ON # 40 BETTER TO WORK WITH?
broncofish
Active Member
I've built about 15 refugiums, 10 sumps, and 2 tanks to date. All out of acrylic, all cut my self, and a few tanks, and am currently designing a 90g bowfront acrylic. Don't use weld-on 40 IMO unless going huge. Use #4 and # 16 to fill in the cracks. Thickness is built on height, and I've yet to use anything thicker than 1/2". Basicaly can go up to 30" with 1/2" as long as you use a brace either around the top, or a couple braces across the top. I use medical syringes to apply my weld on. Any other questions let me know I'm happy to help.
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randy 12
Guest
My husband posted a reply to someone about polishing acrylic. He built a 180 gal acrylic. He had to use 3/4" but if he would have gone any taller, he would have used 1". He used Weld-On #40. You can use #4 if you're working with the thinner acrylic but you have to use #40 if you're going with thick acrylic. The #4 just doesn't work on the thin stuff. In fact, #40 is what the acrylic aquarium manufacturers use. But the others are right. You need to experiment with others first. I'll try to insert the photo but I've never done it before so if it doesn't work, you'll have to wait until my husband gets home.
Looks like it worked but sorry it's so big. This is before the overflow pipes were put in.
Looks like it worked but sorry it's so big. This is before the overflow pipes were put in.
broncofish
Active Member
Dang Randy how tall is that tank.
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randy 12
Guest
L 48 W 24 H 36
The hardest part was scraping and buffing off the excess glue. The Weld-On #40 is thick so when you put the two pieces together you get seepage. But you can't put it on too thin or you get gaps and bubbles. Plus at this thickness and size the acrylic is bowed and a little thicker at one end than the other.
The hardest part was scraping and buffing off the excess glue. The Weld-On #40 is thick so when you put the two pieces together you get seepage. But you can't put it on too thin or you get gaps and bubbles. Plus at this thickness and size the acrylic is bowed and a little thicker at one end than the other.
broncofish
Active Member
Yeah I just started practicing with the #40, and it is thick. I talked to my acrylic supplier, and he claims he can get me non warped, same thickness acrylic. At this point I have to believe him, he's supplied a bunch of acrylic to the monterey bay aquarium.
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randy 12
Guest
What are you paying for your acrylic? There is a gun you can get to help dispense the #40 but it's pretty expensive. You'll get a lot of seepage with that #40 but I know of no other glue to use. The #4 is too thin. We experimented with it and it just won't work on 3/4" acrylic. It probably took more time to sand and buff the excess glue off than it did to put the tank together. It took at least two of us to put it together. THat #40 hardens pretty quick, plus we needed two of us to lift the acrylic and place it where it needed to go.
Good luck!
Good luck!
broncofish
Active Member
I build so many refugiums and sumps for people that I get contractor rates on acrylic, so I don't know if you would really want to hear what I pay.
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randy 12
Guest
We got ours at contractor rates too. I own my own business (HVAC/Electrical/Plumbing/Refrigeration/Restaurant Equipment) and buy other things from them frequently so we got it pretty cheap. However, it wasn't bowless or equal thickness. I just didn't think about it. Never had a problem before when building sumps and such but then again that's a much thinner acrylic.
overanalyzer
Active Member
Randy - odd sized tank but cool!! What are you putting in it??
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randy 12
Guest
It's for a client. So far, snowflake, lion, clown trigger, picasso/huma huma trigger. Not sure what else he wants. We'll see. It's built into a wall - you can see through to the other room. The cabinet above and below haven't been finished in yet. I'll get a photo as soon as it is all finished.
broncofish
Active Member
Would be a bitchin' Seahorse Tank, it's freaking tall. Thats why I try to keep mine under 30" so I don't have to use the #40 stuff, I just hate dealing with it.
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randy 12
Guest
Pretty gooey stuff. It was built to the client's specifications.
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mirdok
Guest
Take a look here This is IPScorps Solvent Cement Selection guide. IPScorp being the makers of Weld-On. You should be using cell cast acrylic, more of a pain in the rear to work with but stronger and more durable in the long run. Even if you do end up using extruded acrylic teh glues are the same.
Anyways on the chart you can see the Cell Cast can use #4 and #40 as well as #16 to glue to itself and others. #40 comes in handy though when you need to glue the Acrylic to things such as Rigid PVC #16 will work here as well but sets quicker which can be a bit of a pain to get corectly quickly. To use the #40 there is a gun but its not necessarily needed. you can mix the two-parts together in its 20-1 ratio in a glue bottle like E on this page. #4 is nice as its not the quickest setting cement and its thin liquid state makes using a bottle with a needle on it very easy to work with. Randy is right though #4 for thin #40 for thick.
As for the other cements they mention #3 sets way too quickly and #5 sets way too slow for the purposes of tank building.
As for the big boys, the ones I know don't even use Weld-on they buy other cements that are available in only gallon containers which are not cost-effective to the average user. Weld-on on the other hand can be had in nice little pint sizes.
Anyways on the chart you can see the Cell Cast can use #4 and #40 as well as #16 to glue to itself and others. #40 comes in handy though when you need to glue the Acrylic to things such as Rigid PVC #16 will work here as well but sets quicker which can be a bit of a pain to get corectly quickly. To use the #40 there is a gun but its not necessarily needed. you can mix the two-parts together in its 20-1 ratio in a glue bottle like E on this page. #4 is nice as its not the quickest setting cement and its thin liquid state makes using a bottle with a needle on it very easy to work with. Randy is right though #4 for thin #40 for thick.
As for the other cements they mention #3 sets way too quickly and #5 sets way too slow for the purposes of tank building.
As for the big boys, the ones I know don't even use Weld-on they buy other cements that are available in only gallon containers which are not cost-effective to the average user. Weld-on on the other hand can be had in nice little pint sizes.
broncofish
Active Member
OK I feel bound by a duty here to say. IF you are a newbie never never buy the #40 it's hard to work with, and unless you are building something over 30" or using acrylic bigger than 1/2" it is complete waste of your time and money. If you have a tinkering to build a gigantic tall tank cut your teeth on a 10g, or 20g, then work your way up to the big stuff, and the bigger pain in the but of using #40. I have built some 20 odd tanks now and am just getting the hang of the #40, and in all likelihood will ended up redisigning my project so I can make a cleaner looking shorter tank with #16 and #4.
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randy 12
Guest
I agree with you both. I did use cell cast acrylic. I experimented with #4 on some extra pieces of 3/4" acrylic and it's just not possible (at least for me). The acrylic slides around way too much to use #4. The difficulties with #40 is that if you are doing a large tank you need two to three people putting down the glue, otherwise by the time you get to the third side, the glue on the first side is already starting to set. Bubbles are another problem. In order to avoid bubbles, you have to put it on pretty thick so then you get more seepage which is a real pain to get out. You also have to do it at room temperature. So you can't really do this in the garage unless it's heated/air conditioned. The only reason we built this one instead of going through Clarity or Tenecor is that he wanted it ASAP and had a budget and Clarity and Tenecor were going to be too much.