My new 20g acrylic

urchin

urchin

Member
My new tank I just built..My design uses 4 one inch tubes, 2 dropping into sump, two for return into tank..the 2 return tubes keep the surface agitated, and small power head inside should be enough motion. Live rock and sand are curing as we speak..
 
urchin

urchin

Member
Yes, I was interested in seeing how difficult it was working w/acrylic..not really that bad...(with samll tank at least) key is to get the edges as smooth as possible before gluing...also am interested to see how acrylic holds up to scratches etc.. my other tanks are glass..
 
D

daniel411

Guest
What thickness acrylic did you use? Did you order it from usplastics? Thats my winter garage project, trying to build a small acrylic tank!
Looks awesome!
 
urchin

urchin

Member
Actually, I got my supplies at www.delviesplastics.com My inspiration came from an article at www.duboisi.com under DIY section..He really lays it out pretty well... Only comment I would make is that you still have to work with the acrylic (cut it), unless you order everything specifically cut to size. I did my tank out of 1/2 acrylic (overkill), only because I didn't want to have a cross piece on top.. 3/8 would have been fine with a cross top to prevent bowing..One thing I found is that I was able to use my jointer on the edge to get a nice smooth finish. Being a woodworker has it's advantages. good luck with your project...someday (if I like the way the acrylic holds up), I may do a large tank....
 
nerdy

nerdy

Member
Sweet!!! I don't think that I have see the tube have seen the tubes up the middle before. Awesome
 
urchin

urchin

Member
My wife is not really into running water....ouch...anyway, interestingly enough I had a problem with the snails making their way down the in tubes, so I had to put screens on top..a bonus effect of this, is that the running water noise is GREATLY reduced.. guess I can keep the tank upstairs now.. :)
 
urchin

urchin

Member
Well, given that it is a small tank, I'm going to go easy and kind of experiment on how difficult it is to keep water conditions good. Now that the maintenance crew is in place, and the lights are on, I added a couple of frags from my other tanks. couple of leather coral frags, finger leather, and a handful of mushrooms..waiting to see how they acclimate..I plan to add at least six more corals, and at most 3-4 fish.. I specifically wanted to keep shrimp, (have 3 peppermint, and coral banded now..I was always unsuccessful keeping them alive in my larger tanks because of the brittle stars (they keep grabbing them up).. Also only have compact flourescents, so no halides here..
 
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