toomanytoys
Member
has anyone ever had success with plexi glass dividers?
plexi baffels
- Thread starter toomanytoys
- Start date
ifirefight
Active Member
Originally Posted by toomanytoys
http:///forum/post/3010838
has anyone ever had success with plexi glass dividers?
I have had great success with acrylic baffels....in an acrylic tank/sump..used weldon to attach the baffles......still going strong
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=284483
http:///forum/post/3010838
has anyone ever had success with plexi glass dividers?
I have had great success with acrylic baffels....in an acrylic tank/sump..used weldon to attach the baffles......still going strong
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=284483
toomanytoys
Member
i just did a new 30 gallon fug ,menards/home depot only had 3/32 glass i didnt think that would hold so i got 1/4 plexi. with water on both sides how much can it really flex?
W
winstew
Guest
I have never had a problem with Plexi baffles... just make sure you get the thicker stiffer plexi and leave room in between the glass tank and the plexi otherwise the plexi will expand and blow the side of your glass tank apart.
Normally there should be pretty equal pressure on both sides, but when I do a water change and empty one side before the other, I get some flex but not enough to damage the silicone... Going strong for 3 years now and I have done plenty of others for friends tanks
Normally there should be pretty equal pressure on both sides, but when I do a water change and empty one side before the other, I get some flex but not enough to damage the silicone... Going strong for 3 years now and I have done plenty of others for friends tanks
posiden
Active Member
toomanytoys;
Depends on flow, how much sand, how much LR that is stacked up against the baffle......
Winstew; Great point about the plexi expanding. I forgot about that. In fact after I posted in here I left this site and went to another and commented on someones tank that had this happen to it. They turned a tank into an AIO and a couple of months later, they came home to an empty tank and a nasty crack. They used plexi in a glass tank and didn't cut it small enough.
Depends on flow, how much sand, how much LR that is stacked up against the baffle......
Winstew; Great point about the plexi expanding. I forgot about that. In fact after I posted in here I left this site and went to another and commented on someones tank that had this happen to it. They turned a tank into an AIO and a couple of months later, they came home to an empty tank and a nasty crack. They used plexi in a glass tank and didn't cut it small enough.
toomanytoys
Member
how much room are you supposed to leave for expansion?
spaced evenly or to 1 side?
spaced evenly or to 1 side?
posiden
Active Member
Sorry,
I have been busy. I use glass for glass tanks. I am not sure just how much room you need to leave. I would think 3/8" short would be good. I would center it giving you 3/16" on each side. It seems like a lot but the silicone will harden to some extent as well. You don't want an excessively big gap, however too small a gap and the silicone will run out of cush and become a hard object as well.
Maybe someone else with more experience will chime in for you.
I have been busy. I use glass for glass tanks. I am not sure just how much room you need to leave. I would think 3/8" short would be good. I would center it giving you 3/16" on each side. It seems like a lot but the silicone will harden to some extent as well. You don't want an excessively big gap, however too small a gap and the silicone will run out of cush and become a hard object as well.
Maybe someone else with more experience will chime in for you.
posiden
Active Member
After a quick read off of google, it states that with a +or- 20 degrees temp swing it will expand and contract 1/32" per foot in length. So if I read it right it would expand and contract .047 of an inch over an 18" wide piece. Now that is not quite a 1/16" of an inch but that still seems like a lot. So I would just assume a 16th on an inch for an 18" piece.
So with a 1/16" to just expansion and another 1/8" for silicone(1/16 on each side) and another 1/16" just for good measure, that makes a 1/4". Right. So I would say to cut acrylic baffles 1/4" short for any tank up to 18" wide.
What do you think?
So with a 1/16" to just expansion and another 1/8" for silicone(1/16 on each side) and another 1/16" just for good measure, that makes a 1/4". Right. So I would say to cut acrylic baffles 1/4" short for any tank up to 18" wide.
What do you think?
toomanytoys
Member
i should be safe then cause ive got a strong 1/8th on each side and it is only a 12" wide tank
i used all glass aquariums black silicone to hold them in it seems to get a lot stiffer than the clear stuff
i also sanded all the siliconed edges to help adhesion
after 24 hrs i can press pretty hard probably more pressure than the water will put on it and the baffels will only flex about 3/16 either way
its going in tomorrow morning so ill let you know how it flows out
thanks for the help!! Tim
i used all glass aquariums black silicone to hold them in it seems to get a lot stiffer than the clear stuff
i also sanded all the siliconed edges to help adhesion
after 24 hrs i can press pretty hard probably more pressure than the water will put on it and the baffels will only flex about 3/16 either way
its going in tomorrow morning so ill let you know how it flows out
thanks for the help!! Tim
toomanytoys
Member
so how many have built sumps and on the day of install figured out that there was no possible way it was going through the original opening?
well im one of them had to bust out the cordless cutting apparatuses and make BIG hole!!
its all in and the octo is already pulling dirty stuff after only 8 hrs, cant wait for it to really pull the ugly stuff cause i know it is in there the tunze was not working that well for about the last 1n1/2 months!
well im one of them had to bust out the cordless cutting apparatuses and make BIG hole!!
its all in and the octo is already pulling dirty stuff after only 8 hrs, cant wait for it to really pull the ugly stuff cause i know it is in there the tunze was not working that well for about the last 1n1/2 months!
