Acrylic Fabrication Q & A

[Nick4978]

Not a good idea moving 100lbs of water around. One wrong twist and your back is toast for a few weeks. By the way I fabricate and install stone counters so I know a thing or two about protecting your back. I also think moving a weight that sloshes around is a bad idea.

Yeah, I was thinking about that after I posted it. Maybe I'll see if I can find some kind of dolly to sit it on for if and when I need to move it to another tank.

 

[Troylee]

Same rules. But you can do 1/4" all day long for most ATOs and sumps

Not in my neck of the woods lol.. everyone wants a 3 to 4ft tall ato haha! I’ve been using 1/2” and baffling the inside since most of them are white you don’t see inside anyways.. only cost effective solution I’ve came up with! Not to mention everyone wants 20 to 50 gallon top offs now..

 

[Troylee]

I'm going to be making an ATO which is 20" tall, 12" long and 12" wide (a bit over 100 lbs. completely filled).

I want to be able to put handles on it so that it can be moved around. What would I need in order to put a pair of handles on the sides so that it could be lifted full of water without the bottom falling out or something? Or would that even be possible or feasible? Thanks!

Would not recommend that at all! If you’re gonna be moving it around I’d recommend using 1/2” acrylic and building a dolly or using a furniture dolly under it to scoot it around. My personal one is a tad bigger than what you want and I have it on drawer slides so I can pull it out and fill it and it’s a little sketch when it’s full lol..

 

[Turbo's Aquatics]

In addition to the weight thing, never move an acrylic tank of any kind that is full of water. That's just a general no-no

 

[riche]

Should have posted the question here and not a separate post

I know you can bond 2 pieces of acrylic with stuff like weldon, My question is on a acrylic tank that has a crack in the bottom panel, Is it best to apply a piece of acrylic on both the inside and outside?

 

[Lowell Lemon]

Should have posted the question here and not a separate post

I know you can bond 2 pieces of acrylic with stuff like weldon, My question is on a acrylic tank that has a crack in the bottom panel, Is it best to apply a piece of acrylic on both the inside and outside?

Inside is usually all you need.