African_Fever Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Wondering what peoples thoughts are on acrylic tanks. Been thinking about a couple of different DIY projects (am in the process of a plywood/glass tank), and was looking into acrylic as well. Called a bunch of different places in Calgary to find the costs of a full sheet of acrylic (1/2" ranges by as much as $60 for a sheet), and one of the places I called said that they found acrylic didn't work well for aquariums. He felt that it absorbed too much water and warped too much to be useful for a large fish tank long term (I'd be looking at an 8' tank roughly). Has anyone done their own acrylic tanks in the past, or is anyone else currently thinking of doing one? (this could also be in the DIY folder) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seajays Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 Acrylic dose not absorb water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Chicklets Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 He felt that it absorbed too much water I wonder what he was smoking. It will deflect a bit but there are lots of acrylic tanks out there I would be more worried about the bottom if not properly suported than a bit of deflection in the sides. And make sure you use the right adhesive to glue it with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webmoose Posted January 6, 2007 Report Share Posted January 6, 2007 When I talked to acrylic places in town they were discouraging me from using it as well. They kept saying use Glass. Which I found strange as I was insisting on Acrylic... I was looking at if for doing up a much smaller tank than you are thinking of... So much for the customer being right. The acrylic that SeaClear uses to make tanks seems to be a pretty good quality to me and I've had no problems with my store built one from the States.. I love it. If I am ever in the states I might grab another Sea Clear acrylic from a PetSmart down there.. As long as you get the correct thickness I would suspect warping would be minimal??? River Front has that cool big Acrylic behind the Till... And BlkWolfe has that wicked one from the states.. I hope it works out for you. Moose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooper Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Kyle, keep doing some research on the net. I'm looking at doing some acrylic tanks as soon as I get a new garage up in the spring. If I remember correctly there is a certain type of acrylic to use, and obviously the solvents to fuse it together. Keep digging. I had this one saved in my searches, it seemed to be most helpful. http://www.melevsreef.com/tools.html And no worries about the info you got about absorbtion and deflection. Your an intelligent guy, you'll do fine with the project. Just do some research. Drop me a line sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaggle Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 you can also try this page. http://www.garf.org/tank/buildtank.asp Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arixonbarnes Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Next time you are in the Edmonton area check out Petsmart - all their tanks are acrylic. I have several of the type (like Petsmart's) that slope in from the bottom to the top (hold about 26 gal). they work fine and I store them outside on end so they won't warp from water freezing in winter. I also have a 55 gallon 2 part (2 tanks joined by 2 - 6" tubes in the middle) made of acrylic and it is excellent as well. Just have to be careful when cleaning them and there are kits for polishing out scratches. I even used some old telus phone center acrylic bins as aquariums - 15 gallon and 3 - 8 gallon and they worked well for me too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairdeal Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 When I had my big catfish and had the accident where the red tail broke the back panel with a slap of his tail I was told afterwards by 2 different people that I should have had acrylic because it will not crack the way my glass tank did. Obviously tanks can be very large made out of acrylic and they do not warp, bend or break. You have to do a lot of research as mentioned as they are not the same as glass for home projects. From what I understand they are a lot lighter than glass as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaggle Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 If you go look on reef central in the large tank section alot of the tanks are acrylic. Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklehead Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 I beleive you need to use cell-cast acrylic for tanks, cichlid-forum has some good links in the DIY section, It would be fun to try but pricey if you screw up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted January 7, 2007 Report Share Posted January 7, 2007 Go to your local Superstore....their saltwater tanks for crab and lobster are acrylic. Just was looking at them the other night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted January 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Brad - Garf has been a staple with ideas and designs for making my own tanks already. Thanks Moose, I was wondering if anyone else had looked into making their own acrylic tanks with all the info their is on the net (they seem to be easier to make than doing your own full glass tank IMO). I know there's a ton of acrylic tanks out there that look amazing, just wondering about the DIY aspect of it. What I'm almost wondering is if they guy that told me not to use acrylic for fish tanks maybe had used extruded rather than cast acrylic, and that's why he ran into the 'problems' and felt that they absorbed water and deflected too much. One of the places I contacted had made tanks before, and though they didn't have any kind of a set price, said they'd give a quote once they new the dimensions and worked things out. I think once I get some more time I'm going to try making a tank out of a single sheet (roughly 50"x100"); if it doesn't turn out to look too good, I can always use it as a sump or part of an outdoor pond. Thanks for all the help and advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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