DIY Cold Water Reef Tank

[Dwarf Seahorses]

I have never done a DIY acrylic tank before, but I now I got one daunting project! After seeing Steve Weast's jaw-dropping cold water reef I have my heart set on a cold water reef. Problem with doing a DIY cold water tank is that the acrylic must be 1" thick as anything less won't insulate the temperature properly and sweating (condensation) will build up on the outside of the tank.

Is it any harder to build a DIY acrylic tank with 1" acrylic compared to "regular" sized acrylic? What type of tools do you need to drill a bulkhead? All you need is clamps and silicone right?

[jgarrison]

If you live close to Canada Quebec city has a large cold water aquarium

[Dwarf Seahorses]

So does every other public aquarium lol

[Acrylics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9637570#post9637570 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dwarf Seahorses
Is it any harder to build a DIY acrylic tank with 1" acrylic compared to "regular" sized acrylic? What type of tools do you need to drill a bulkhead? All you need is clamps and silicone right?
1" is a bit harder and obviously much heavier than say 1/4". The techniques are relatively similar but the tooling must be much stronger than for 1/4". Instead of 1hp router with 1/4" shank router bits, use 2.5+hp router with 1/2" shank router bits. The thinner cutters just flex too much to be effective with 1" material. Router table is a definite must IMO.
Have the plastic shop cut the material for you, a 4 x 8' sheet of 1" weighs about 200lbs, more than most should tackle even with a good table saw.
Definitely have help with it. It's not at all uncommon for tanks using such material to weigh 500lbs and then some. Considering you'll have to flip the tank a few times during fabrication, a pair of helping hands (or 2 pair) is essential.
Bulkheads can be done with a hole saw cutting from both sides (each about halfway). A router is preferable but hole saw will work.
The only clamps you should need to build a tank like Steve's are spring clamps, no others should be used or required.
No silicone, just acrylic solvent.
Practice on smaller stuff first is my advice, if you can get everything right with 1/4" material, move on up to trying 1/2" material, if everything goes well - then try your hand at 1". At $500+ for a sheet of 1" acrylic, lessons become rather expensive.

HTH?
James

[Dwarf Seahorses]

Thanks Acrylic!

The dimensions I want for this tank (36x18x24) are standard sizes where most places sell acrylic sheets, do I still need the router?

[Acrylics]

IMO, yes. Most plastics distributors do not have the ability to properly machine the edges to a "glue ready" condition so you should have the ability to do that yourself. You'll also want it to make the cutout in the top, to trim edges after gluing, and do any chamfering. If you have a good fabricator in your area, you may be able to toss them a coupla bux to take care of some of this for you, thus foregoing the cost. That said, a router table is one of the versatile tools you can have as a DIYer so may be worthwhile anyway.
FWIW, go ahead and make it 36 x 24 x 24" so you won't be wasting any of the sheet. The 36 x 24 x 24" yields perfectly out of a 4 x 8'.

HTH,
James

[Dwarf Seahorses]

Thanks. If I could make it 36"x24"x24" I would, but I can't upgrade the chiller size (too much money) to compensate for the extra water volume.

However, estreetplastics.com sells 36"x18" as one of their standard sizes (http://www.estreetplastics.com/category_s/31.htm) so i wouldn't be wasting any material.

[woz9683]

Buying those pieces pre-cut like that puts you over $500 already. Plus you'll have to pay shipping for it like that. You really should consider buying one full sheet locally and going with the dimensions Acrylics mentioned. The exrta 6" of depth only adds 22 more gallons of water. Is that really going to cause you to have to upgrade your chiller?

[Dwarf Seahorses]

Yes, that would cause me to upgrade the chiller. I'm pushing it as it is with a 1/4 HP chiller, 22 extra gallons would definitely push me over.

[BruiseAndy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9648794#post9648794 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dwarf Seahorses
Yes, that would cause me to upgrade the chiller. I'm pushing it as it is with a 1/4 HP chiller, 22 extra gallons would definitely push me over.
Factored in the extra insulation 1" material will give you? If everything else is kept the same (lights, pumps, anything using watts) the extra 22gallons wont hurt.

[woz9683]

I just looked at a 1/5hp chiller that said it could pull 90 gallons (36" x 24" x 24") down 27 degrees from an ambient room temp of 86 degrees. I guess it depends on your chiller's efficiency though.

[Dwarf Seahorses]

I will also have a 30 gallon sump to add to the water load. The problem with chillers for cold water tanks is that even though a 1/5 HP claims it can drop a 90 gallon tank 27 degrees you can't have your chiller working that hard all the time, it won't last long. Plus the electricity being used by being on most of the time will be quite high.

A 75 gallon tank (1/2" acrylic, no sump, just a wet/dry filter) uses a 1/4 HP PCI chiller to maintain it at 53 degrees (should be slightly lower though) and thats about maximum. Three sides of that tank were insulated with something as well.

Compare that to 120 gallons at 48-50 degrees, just won't work.

[Dwarf Seahorses]

Forgot to mention, what would I look under the in phone book to find local places that sell acrylic?

[dogstar74]

Could you use 1" in the front and then 1/4 all the way around and then adhear 1" insulation foam sheeting to the outside, after you spraypainted the surface blue?

Then you would only need to cut out the foam where you wanted to place bulkheads, and overflows and such, and the tank would be tons lighter and not cost nearly as much!

Whatever you do, good luck.

[woz9683]

My yellow pages heading is Plastics-rods, tubes, sheets, etc. That's where I found some suppliers. You could also look for a GE Polymershapes directly, they put the nearest one in my phone book even though it's 3 hours away. Luckily my parents live where it's located. Good excuse to take a trip home every once in a while.

I know that temp drop isn't practical, it was just a spec number the website gave. But, once you get it down there maintaining it isn't as bad. Still, you're probably right. You shouldn't stretch it. But, for the price you might as well still get the full sheet of material. You could use the extra for paperweights:D

[dogstar74]

What do you think about my Idea with gluing Insulation to the outside of smaller stock?