Midas Posted June 4, 2002 Report Share Posted June 4, 2002 Has anyone ever tried or investigated making acrylic tanks? I've had a look around on the net and there is a bit of info out there, just not sure how reliable it is. Also, does anyone have any idea where a good supply of clear acrylic sheet could be found in NZ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 5, 2002 Report Share Posted June 5, 2002 I think most glass places also do acrylic/perspex. At least I know that there are several glass places around here that advertise that they also do it. So, grab your phonebook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted June 5, 2002 Report Share Posted June 5, 2002 Caddilac Plastics... Auckland Clear, tube, square etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benny Posted June 5, 2002 Report Share Posted June 5, 2002 ask wet pets if they can make you a tank. what ever happened with the chromides? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted June 5, 2002 Report Share Posted June 5, 2002 Classic Plastics Napier make acrylic tanks. They made the seahorse display tanks for the National Aquarium if I remember correctly /Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted June 6, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2002 Cheers guys I'll have ring around. From what I have found on the net at overseas places, prefabricated acrylic tanks seem quite pricey. So I'll find out how much they cost to buy here (if they will make one for me) and how much it would cost to buy the plastic to make one myself (if I trust my DIY abilities that is). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted June 6, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2002 so far I have found that for a pre-fabricated 8'x3'x2'H tank it will cost about $5000 ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Posted June 6, 2002 Report Share Posted June 6, 2002 Expensive arent they :lol: Who was that price from??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted June 6, 2002 Report Share Posted June 6, 2002 You said you were after a TANK, not a Swimming Pool :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted June 6, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2002 that was from the place that Bruce mentioned, Classique Plastics in Napier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted June 7, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2002 For those that are interested, I have discovered that for enough 10mm acrylic to construct an 8'x3'x2'H tank will cost around $1500-2000. To make the same tank out of 10mm glass (which I think is a tad on the thin side) the same place quoted me $500, by using off cuts etc (would be closer to $1500 using 'fresh' glass). I have also been told that to get 12mm glass to build it would cost about $3000!, as it is not commonly used and they would have to get some in especially. Does this sound reasonable? Still investigating other options such as using something else other than new glass for the base (2nd hand glass, or some other material?). and I guess theres always the wooden tank option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted June 7, 2002 Report Share Posted June 7, 2002 Hi Midas, To date the cheapest option I've found to make med-large tanks is fibreglass over ply. I have a tank the size you mentioned 8'x3'x2' and its made from mainly 10mm glass. The bottom is toughened 10mm and the back is 15mm blue glass. The bottom piece is one of the old BNZ doors from Rotorua. The Back blue glass came from a church in Taupo. The rest was just found as second hand. The 10mm glass front has a safety margin of 2.0. Its a lot less than it should be but it seems to be ok. The tank is also 15 years old! Making the same tank using 12mm glass would give a safety margin of 3.0 Acrylic tanks do cost more. The panels also bend a lot. The edges have to be very accurately cut and be perfectly square. The glue has to be as thin as possible. I've talked a lot to Classique Plastics here in Napier about acrylic tanks, - they are difficult to build (large tanks) and require jigs to hold everything in place while the glue cures. I purchased one of their prototype tanks a couple of years ago. It is 900mm Diameter and 1000mm tall. It was designed to be a reef pinnacle tank. I'm currently using it for freshwater but plan to change it over to a coldwater marine tank. For my new big tank I decided to use glass for the front window and fibreglass over ply everywhere else. Because of the size and the number of earthquakes we get, I decided to use a welded metal frame also. The main reason was cost. I picked up 12 sheets of 19mm ply for free. I got most of the steel for the frame for virtually nothing. So far the only real cost was the front glass. This is 2900mm x 950mm and 19mm thick. I got lucky as there was an offcut from a big job in Auckland that was just about this size. It got trimmed up a bit and sent down to me for $1000.00 inc GST and freight. It was a good deal as the cheapest quote for cutting a piece specially was $1685.00 plus GST and freight. Was I glad this 'offcut' just happened to become available! It weighs in at 125kg. This sized panel only has a safety margin of 2.2, but it is a risk I'm willing to take. To get the proper safety margin of 3.8 it needed to be 25mm laminated glass (outside my budget). I've got a friend who can fibreglass and gelcoat the whole tank for $500. It should be possible to make an all-glass tanks using 10mm for under $1000 (including about $150 for the silicone). The glass should cost about $850.00 You will need to get lots of extra bracing pieces cut also. I normally double but every join on a tank this size. This give you a 20mm wide glue connection instead of only 10mm. It allows a lot more safety margin with the gluing. Use the Fosroc RTV silicone, not the Dow Corning. I've never had good long term success with the Dow Corning brand. Every tank I've ever used this stuff on has fallen apart. The Fosroc brand gets a 100% good tank rating to date. I have not tried Bostik yet. If you want a second hand tank, ring Rudi on 025 210 0297. He may still have some big tanks left to sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted June 8, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2002 Thanks Warren When you say you double butt the glue join, how do you do that? Does it involve having an extra strip of glass running along the join? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegasus Posted June 10, 2002 Report Share Posted June 10, 2002 The costs might be way out of line with your thoughts, but have a look at some of these designs...... Pretty choice eh. http://www.acrylicaquariums.com Bill (Pegasus) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted June 10, 2002 Report Share Posted June 10, 2002 Take the front corner of the aquarium where the side is butted up to the front glass as an example. Get a long narrow peice of 10mm glass 50mm wide and the full height of the inside of the aquarium. Cover one wide side and one narrow side with silicone (after cleaning it) and push into the corner. Move the glass up and down 1-2mm until all the air bubbles squish out. Now you have a double-butt, - over twice as strong as the original. Why twice do you ask. The tensile strength of silicone reduces as it is stretched. With twice the contact area the silicone does not stretch as much + there is twice as much silicone to start with. It usually pays to tape the glass in place while the glue cures. It will take at least 1 week for the glue to cure. You finish the aquarium first, making it the way you would normally. You go round afterwards adding these extra strips of glass to double-up all the joins. This is only a security measure however. There are very few tanks out there made this way. All I can say is; Most of my tanks are double butted. The only tanks I've never had trouble with are the double butted ones. I've had trouble with every single standard tank I've got! I only have the trouble once now however, as any new leaky or broken tanks end up double butted when fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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