Acrylic tank repair?

[Bugeater281]

So my new tank is a 135g acrylic tank. It was in rough shape. I sanded and buffed it, and now it is a presentable tank. Today I was at a local lfs that I really like. They had this acry or tank out front that needed a lot of work. While I was inside I joked with the guy that he has a project on his hands. Then I asked when he’s going to start buffing it. He then informed its headed to the dump. I asked if I could have it. He told me it more work than it’s worth. I told I’d check it out and worst case if it’s not worth repair, I will just cut it up and save the acrylic.

Now this tank is in rough shape, I cleaned it out. Dimensions are 2x6x1. Perfect frag/shallow tank. Its definitely in rough shape(they stored their live rock in it for sale).
So it’s scratch to ****, 90g. But it has potential. Everything but the bottom is 1/2in acrylic. Which leaves me plenty to sand and buff. However the euro brace was done pretty badly. And due to that there are crack on the top side. They only go about 1in down. And they start where the euro braced pieces meet.

This is a tank shape I’ve always wanted. And even though I have the ability to build an acrylic tank. I’d rather not drop the 500$ the raw acrylic would cost. So my plan is reinforcement. When this tank was going it would be stacked to the brim with rock(probably where the crack came from). My question is if anyone has experience doing this? Is it worth it? Would I be better off cutting the tank down and making a smaller tank from the acrylic? I could get some 1/2in acrylic and cut it into strips. Or even 3/8th inch. Reinforce the euro brace. Drop some glue into the cracks. And call it a day. Just curious what you guys and gals would do here?

 

[Bugeater281]

Forgot the pics of the cracks. One photo, but all four side look like this.

 

[slojim]

I had a much smaller tank with a crack on top - I used my router over several passes to trim off the top couple of inches to remove the damaged area, then re-glued the center support. So since that's what I did, I guess that's what I'd do. I suspect you could patch the crack with acrylic glue and some scrap material, but unless it was in my garage, I'd be worried about crack propagation - for an inch height, I'd remove it.
Hmm - but thinking about it, you could drill out the end of the crack to leave a smooth circle, then glue a scab over that.

 

[fishguy242]

yep,agree buff it ,support it weld it

 

[CMMorgan]

I was thinking along the lines of @slojim.
He's got the voice of experience. It would make the most sense to rip it down an inch, start fresh with new bracing.
Best of luck!

 

[mehaffydr]

I would cement the crack with the water thin acrylic glue which will wick right down in there and maybe add some braces but with that shallow of a tank the pressure on there is minimal. Then just sand and polish. Good Find!

 

[Bugeater281]

This was my though. I think the damage property came from customers picking up and dropping live rock. And also the fact there was probably 500lbs of rock in the tank at all times