Acrylic thickness

[56longroof]

Im starting to plan my tank upgrade. Its going to be a 280 gallon that's 72"×30"×30". I've been getting quotes on glass and acrylic tanks. One vendor for custom acrylic told me they use 3/4" for the sides and 1/2" for the top bracing and bottom panel. Is 1/2" thick enough to support a 6" deep sand bed and around 250 pounds of live rock? Seems a little thin to me.

 

[Hawaiian AQ]

That’s plenty thick for the bottom. You could technically use 1/4” but since they’re making the top out of 1/2” they’ll split the sheet and use the drop for the bottom.

 

[KrisReef]

Hypothetically, if the bottom was fully supported by the stand then it can not deflect ( vectors tend to be straight down on the bottom piece) and could be made of 1/16th inch if the sidewalls were mounted on top and had enough material to bond with.

The deflection forces on the side wall is what causes the tank to bow out, and since it would distribute force on the bottom a 1/16th piece would likely fall.

 

[56longroof]

Thanks. I guess Im applying glass aquarium design to acrylic. This will be my first acrylic tank.