I would like for it to be acrylic as it is much stronger and about half the
weight of glass. I was thinking about building a tank about 8 feet long and
about 4 feet deep (front to back) by about 5 feet high (floor to ceiling).
This may be well beyond 300Gs, I don't know (that's why I was asking about
the thickness calcs and stuff). Basically the tank is gonna be the main
reason for a room in my house. It is being used for nothing else now so why
not up the house's value ... Thanks for the info on the sealants and
blades. Any links to thickness calcs for acrylic would be great and also
water weight calcs...I'm not having much luck myself.

Sean


"Roy" wrote in message
...
Pretty serious tank...Acrylic or glass? Neither is really hard to
work with.

There are some good online resources with glass and acrylic thickness
calculators on them to give a guide on thickness according to height
and width and such....Acrylics tend to have the top euro bracing when
they get up that large...

If dealing with glass then just some good silicone sealant is all
thats required for assembly once it cut, Acrylic is going to need what
referred to as solvent to make the joints. Weldon or IPS are two
typical manufacturers for this solvent, and what you will probably
need is Weldon (or IPS equiv) #4 and Weldon #16. Weldon #4 is a water
thin solvent that is wicked / flowed into the joints. Its necessary to
hold the panels apart with pins or other shims or wires so it can have
some setup time, then pull those pins and let it settle into the
softened acrylic. YOu also need a good way to cut the acrylic....such
as a table saw and carbide tipped blade, and also a means to smooth
the edges prior to solvent welding them, which is usually a router and
carbide cutter, or a planer will also work...Scraps of plywood or PVC
pipe and fittings are handy to make into jigs to hold panels in place
while either solvent welding or applying silicone. Any ideas on your
dimensions and choice of materials? If acrylic make sure to use cell
cast only, not extruded acrylic. If glass, have you considered low
iron glass....called Starfire.....Its clear as water..Regular glass is
not as clear as yu think it is. Acrylic is actually clearer than
standard glass, and Starfire is even clearer....May not be too much of
an issue but its still something to consider if going glass.

I made a 320 gal acrylic already, or should say started on it late
last year, but its not yet finished.....


On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 00:37:36 GMT, "Sean"
wrote:
Anyone have any tips on what one would need/do when building a custom
tank?
Materials to use and sealant advice would be great. I'm looking to
contruct
a tank that is about 300Gs...

Sean


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