Lurch Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 I am looking at making a fiberglass/plywood fish tank 1600 x 600 x 600. i was wanting to put a bowed front panel in made out of perspex. Does anyone know how thick perspex needs to be for a fish tank this size? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Lurch I have never had a perspecs tank, but they have a reputation for being VERY easy to scratch. Perspecs is much clearer than glass (no tinting) but needs to be very thick compared to glass. Also you can't glue pespecs to anything other than perspecs, as you use a special bonding glue, not silicone. silicone won't stick very well to persepcs (I tried replacing a 3ft tanks front with a persepcs pannel, and it wouldn't hold). You can get bowed glass. Its fairly expenive. Port Nichloson glass in Wellington has lots of curved glass at the moment, but I think its 1200 long, but you could call Peter and find out. You won't get it cheaper anywhere else. Good luck Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Holiday Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 I'd go with pies on that one, perspex scratchs easy and starts to look undesireable over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Hi Lurch, you could also try Mark at Tropical Blues for bowed glass - I'm not sure if his sets of moulds go up to the size you're wanting though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 If you're worried about perspex or acrylic scratching from the outside you can cover it with a second thin sheed of perspex (or maybe glass?) and if that gets scratched its easily replaced. Not sure if this would work for the inside of the tank tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 Got to disagree here. Most of our tanks are acrylic and any scratches can be polished out with Brasso. The only problem would be the cost. The wider the tank is the thicker the acrylic would have to be. Also you can not use a conventional magnet to clean the front face. It would have to covered with a non-scratch pad and the magnet would have to be extremely powerful (I am talking hundreds just for the magnet). I too would get in touch with Peter as he is very reasonable and glass would be heaps cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doch Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 hollywood also have a range of bowed glass fronts dont know what cost tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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