Acrylic tank… questions before I buy

[Troylee]

You all don’t mean actual euro bracing right? The top should be a solid sheet of acrylic welded on to form a box with holes routed out.




Actually no, I just ordered an acrylic and only the corner edges came hand polished and it would have cost significantly more to get the bottom and top edges polished. The reasoning was that these are usually hidden. I was already into the tank at that point but was not thrilled when I learned that. They were able to polish the edges to make them gleam but they are not sanded so you can see the router marks.

Sounds like a flame polish which isn’t the best.. the heat stresses the material and will most likely cause crazing down the line.. you can hand polish to a extent over a router cut but it won’t be pretty.

 

[piranhaman00]

Sounds like a flame polish which isn’t the best.. the heat stresses the material and will most likely cause crazing down the line.. you can hand polish to a extent over a router cut but it won’t be pretty.

Not flame polished. They specifically do not flame polish for the reasons you mentioned. Ya it’s no super pretty haha, but it’s covered now. With the lights on I don’t notice it either.

 

[rexzilla_03]

You all don’t mean actual euro bracing right? The top should be a solid sheet of acrylic welded on to form a box with holes routed out.




Actually no, I just ordered an acrylic and only the corner edges came hand polished and it would have cost significantly more to get the bottom and top edges polished. The reasoning was that these are usually hidden. I was already into the tank at that point but was not thrilled when I learned that. They were able to polish the edges to make them gleam but they are not sanded so you can see the router marks.

For the euro brace, yes it’s a full sheet routed out, 3” all around perimeter is left with a single cross brace down the middle.

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

Alright everyone, officially placed my order for the 48x24x17 tank!
Long 8-12 weeks incoming then ship time, I’m excited, definitely doing it right this time around.

thanks so much @rexzilla_03

we are excited to serve you in your journey

 

[Joe Glass Cages]

Beautiful tank!
I didn’t ask, totally forgot, it’s ok tho, I can always do it if not, or if I feel I should when it’s in hand.

for sure. everything is polished. all good. Great question!

 

[rexzilla_03]

thanks so much @rexzilla_03

we are excited to serve you in your journey

No, THANK YOU
Appreciate what you do for the community, it was a no brainer.

 

[wjm6449]

Research acrylic builders and go with their recommendation on thickness. Thicker is NOT always better. I have an acrylic tank up for 15yrs. Last year I sanded and polished out 15yrs of scratches. Looks like brand new.

How bad was the yellowing?

 

[KrisReef]

How bad was the yellowing?

Older acrylic (like 40 years ago) would yellow with age (uv degradation) so newer acrylic material has uv inhibitors mixed in the plastic to prevent yellowing that used to be a problem. I have a 30 year old acrylic that still looks clear with out any discoloration or yellowing.

 

[rexzilla_03]

Letssss goooooo. Excited!
Drawing removed just in case, anyway got the blueprints!

 

[KrisReef]

Letssss goooooo. Excited!

Did you read the confidentiality notice - not to be distributed

 

[rexzilla_03]

Did you read the confidentiality notice - not to be distributed

lol who reads that stuff
I don’t think this will be a problem to share, hopefully, @Joe Glass Cages is this ok to share, if not I’ll remove

 

[Theodin]

Good luck with the new acrylic tank. Having an acrylic setup myself, you have some pros and cons to look forward to. The main con obviously being that it will scratch easily. The is mainly something to watch out for with magnetic algae scrapers. Keep them out of sight if any young kids are around. I’ve had a guests kid grab it one time and start scraping up and down the side panel with sand stuck in the scraper… .

All that being said, the bright side is they can and should be sanded down and restored. I just refinished mine recently after about 10 years of use (while converting from freshwater to marine). I’ll add the before and after photos for reference.

 

[wjm6449]

Older acrylic (like 40 years ago) would yellow with age (uv degradation) so newer acrylic material has uv inhibitors mixed in the plastic to prevent yellowing that used to be a problem. I have a 30 year old acrylic that still looks clear with out any discoloration or yellowing.

Im thinking of possibly making a tank, are scratching the surface really that bad? Like is it really that easy to screw the tank up?

 

[rexzilla_03]

Im thinking of possibly making a tank, are scratching the surface really that bad? Like is it really that easy to screw the tank up?

From everything I’ve read and seen personally, if you’re careful and use proper tools and have the mindset if you’re not careful it’ll scratch, you’ll be fine, I think it’s made out worse than it really is, you’ll get a mark or scratch at some point almost a guarantee but it’s really pretty easy to remove them, especially if you put your arm in the tank easily and don’t have to rely on magnets to do it.
I weighed this in my head for a few years before my current glass tank, wish I did it then, because not I’m replacing a tank 2 years old with a seam failing.

 

[wjm6449]

From everything I’ve read and seen personally, if you’re careful and use proper tools and have the mindset if you’re not careful it’ll scratch, you’ll be fine, I think it’s made out worse than it really is, you’ll get a mark or scratch at some point almost a guarantee but it’s really pretty easy to remove them, especially if you put your arm in the tank easily and don’t have to rely on magnets to do it.
I weighed this in my head for a few years before my current glass tank, wish I did it then, because not I’m replacing a tank 2 years old with a seam failing.

Which do you prefer at this point?

 

[rexzilla_03]

Which do you prefer at this point?

I haven’t owned acrylic yet but I’ve seen them in person, and have talked to people and read a lot. I can already tell you the peace of mind is going to be massive. Your only downside to acrylic over glass is scratching it, but it’s only a half downside because you can fix it pretty easily, if you’re careless your glass is gonna look bad to, and you’re stuck with it. I prefer the permanent bond of acrylic over silicone 100x over. Downsides to glass is heavy, more fragile, time bomb. Lol

 

[KrisReef]

Im thinking of possibly making a tank, are scratching the surface really that bad? Like is it really that easy to screw the tank up?

I have seen what happens when a piece of sand gets stuck in a magnetic algae scraper and it can quickly inscribe some really ugly scratches without any difficulty.

If you careful and cautious (or go bare bottom) and don’t leave magnets in the tank for snails, limpets, or small children to “help out” then these risks are minimal and easily avoided. When I was younger and more careless I have scratched a few tanks before I realized what I had done. I’m older and slower and more careful now and my acrylic is beautiful. I use plastic scrapers and melamine sponges and they don’t scratch like magnets do.

If you can’t live with any scratches then perhaps glass (and seam risks) would suit you better?

I really like acrylic, I have a 200 that I use like a bucket and I can move it around empty myself. It’s currently home for some koi but that’s another story.

 

[wjm6449]

In de

I have seen what happens when a piece of sand gets stuck in a magnetic algae scraper and it can quickly inscribe some really ugly scratches without any difficulty.

If you careful and cautious (or go bare bottom) and don’t leave magnets in the tank for snails, limpets, or small children to “help out” then these risks are minimal and easily avoided. When I was younger and more careless I have scratched a few tanks before I realized what I had done. I’m older and slower and more careful now and my acrylic is beautiful. I use plastic scrapers and melamine sponges and they don’t scratch like magnets do.

If you can’t live with any scratches then perhaps glass (and seam risks) would suit you better?

I really like acrylic, I have a 200 that I use like a bucket and I can move it around empty myself. It’s currently home for some koi but that’s another sto

I’m seriously considering building a tank. A local hardware store is sell sheets of acrylic at 96”x18x1/4th for $120 a sheet, I’d need only three or four of those that’s $480 then two sides at 18x18 and I’m in for the price of a glass at like 200 gallons, and I can drill it.

 

[rexzilla_03]

In de

I’m seriously considering building a tank. A local hardware store is sell sheets of acrylic at 96”x18x1/4th for $120 a sheet, I’d need only three or four of those that’s $480 then two sides at 18x18 and I’m in for the price of a glass at like 200 gallons, and I can drill it.

1/4” ?
If I see that right you’ll want atleast 3/8th but preferably 1/2” and you’ll need another sheet for the top and cut out like a one piece euro brace.

 

[jmichaelh7]

I have seen what happens when a piece of sand gets stuck in a magnetic algae scraper and it can quickly inscribe some really ugly scratches without any difficulty.

If you careful and cautious (or go bare bottom) and don’t leave magnets in the tank for snails, limpets, or small children to “help out” then these risks are minimal and easily avoided. When I was younger and more careless I have scratched a few tanks before I realized what I had done. I’m older and slower and more careful now and my acrylic is beautiful. I use plastic scrapers and melamine sponges and they don’t scratch like magnets do.

If you can’t live with any scratches then perhaps glass (and seam risks) would suit you better?

I really like acrylic, I have a 200 that I use like a bucket and I can move it around empty myself. It’s currently home for some koi but that’s another story.

Yes don’t use magnetic cleaners but melamine sponges and do it manually


That is great to hear a lot of info on UV inhibitors in acrylic these days to prevent yellowing . It puts down a lot of the cons that people may have reserves about .

the biggest take away is LEAK FREE , CLARITY , Having a brand new tank 10 years later by a simple Sand and Polish , pretty much.

Until you have had an experience with a seam leak …. Just wait .

Older acrylic (like 40 years ago) would yellow with age (uv degradation) so newer acrylic material has uv inhibitors mixed in the plastic to prevent yellowing that used to be a problem. I have a 30 year old acrylic that still looks clear with out any discoloration or yellowing.