View Full Version : Do you like your 1 inch thick acrylic tank?
sugartooth
09/28/2007, 08:13 PM
I am planning a 10 ft. x 4 ft. x 28" high tank and was thinking of going with 1" thickness all the way around.
Should be okay right?
Does it distort over time? Is it still clear years later?
Otherwise, what would you rather do instead if you did not like it?
Thanks in advance for your input
Gary Majchrzak
09/28/2007, 08:20 PM
is this for a reef aquarium that someday might contain urchins, snails or encrusting marine organisms such as coralline algae?
sugartooth
09/28/2007, 08:34 PM
No, I do not plan to put any urchins. Possibly snails, and may someday turn into a full blown reef.
For now, the plan is deep water reef.
I just want this to last a long time, and flexible enough to change it if I want.
stlouisguy
09/28/2007, 10:03 PM
no, but I really like my 1 1/4" think acrylic :D
sugartooth
09/28/2007, 10:12 PM
no, but I really like my 1 1/4" think acrylic
:eek2:
Would you recommend going that thick, or you just wanted to be safer? Is it still clear or do you think it's somewhat distorts the viewing?
How long have you had it?
mattyice
09/28/2007, 10:31 PM
im going with 1" thick on my 240G cube, from what i was told by James at Envision Acrylics that 1" will be perfect i am also going with only a 3" eurobrace so i needed to go that thick
stlouisguy
09/28/2007, 11:36 PM
Tank is 4+ years old and I am the second owner. James at Envision made it. It is 1 1/4" bulletproof acrylic eurobraced. There is no distortion at all, and I sleep very well at night. Solid as a rock
You will never kick yourself for being safe over sorry.
KEEPERZ
09/29/2007, 12:15 AM
My 108" x 48" x 32" is one inch thick all the way around with top and bottom 3/4"- no problems or deflection
marlin_dory
09/29/2007, 07:44 AM
just go to garf.org and enter in your dimension and it will tell you how thick to go i think u only need 1/2 inch thick im getting a 7'x 5'x 3' and im getting 3/4 for that with eurobrace
mrpet
09/29/2007, 10:57 AM
mine is 72"x"48"x25" 1" thick its super clear no water in it yet though.... lol
Chris Witort
09/29/2007, 01:12 PM
A 10' long tank that is 1" material should have cross bracing. It would bow at the center without it. It probably wouldn't fail but it would look bad! With cross bracing I don't think you would have any visible bowing. I am building a 6' X 6' x 32" tank using 1" but it will be euro braced with a 10" wide brace around the perimeter. I expect little to no visible bowing.
Johnsteph10
09/29/2007, 03:55 PM
My 72x48x30 is 1 inch acrylic eurobraced by James at Envision - it is beautiful and about 2.5 years old.
Hi,
I have an 8' L x 2' T x 3' T tank made by Clarity Plus that I'm getting ready to replace. It was purchased new in 1996. The tank is made from 3/4". It has had no problems over the years except scratching. You really need to determine what type of fish you’re going to keep. There are numerous toothy fish that can scratch the acrylic. About 5 years ago I placed a 5" Clown Trigger in my tank that has grown considerably and his teeth can scratch it. When scrubbing coralline algae or any algae these tanks can and will become scratched. Coralline algae can be like sand when you start to scrape it off. I'm going back to glass. Glass is much harder to scratch. Prior to this tank I had numerous glass tanks without these issues. I will not even begin to clean algae off the surface without changing my magnet pads out each time. I use the white acrylic cleaning pads and a new piece of sticky back velvet on my magnet each time I clean the surface. I also clean the exterior with cotton t-shirt material and fresh water prior to using the magnet each time. I've even found that a little water drops on the exterior surface that contain salt will scratch the surface if you wipe them hard. These methods have made my tank last 10 + years but now the time has come to spend a few thousand to replace it. I will not use acrylic again. Yes glass can scratch but not nearly as easily. The acrylic is clear and beautiful but longevity is just not like glass.
sugartooth
09/29/2007, 07:17 PM
Wow, thanks everyone for the input.
I would feel that glass would be more worrisome in the long run with so much water. Also, the weight of the glass is what is turning me on to acrylic.
One more question, for a thicker acrylic, do the same types of scratches show up more or less than 1/2 or 3/4 inch?
Thanks again.
Acrylics
09/29/2007, 07:25 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10870340#post10870340 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sugartooth
One more question, for a thicker acrylic, do the same types of scratches show up more or less than 1/2 or 3/4 inch? As flat sheet goes, should not scratch any easier/harder than thinner material but when built - can be different: If the tank is engineered well, there shouldn't be much deflection which will help a good deal in keeping the scratching to a minimum. Less deflection = flat material = smooth plane for the scraper to move on = less scratching IME.
Hope this makes sense,
James
vapormd
09/29/2007, 09:51 PM
One potential downside of 1" thick acrylic, that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that there really aren't any magnetic holders for things like Tunzes or other powerheads, that will really hold securely through 1" material. The vortech is supposed to someday come out with a model for 1" material, but isn't available yet.
That's my only gripe about my 1" thick tank - also built by James from Envision Acrylics - beautiful tank and workmanship! - Thanks James (aka Acrylics)!
stlouisguy
09/29/2007, 11:10 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10871210#post10871210 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by vapormd
One potential downside of 1" thick acrylic, that I haven't seen mentioned yet is that there really aren't any magnetic holders for things like Tunzes or other powerheads, that will really hold securely through 1" material. The vortech is supposed to someday come out with a model for 1" material, but isn't available yet.
That's my only gripe about my 1" thick tank - also built by James from Envision Acrylics - beautiful tank and workmanship! - Thanks James (aka Acrylics)!
Actually I use the tunze magents through 1 1/14 and they hold fine, also use a magnavore magnet that works great
The have the stuff for the think tanks, you just gotta look
bbrantley
09/29/2007, 11:23 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10871584#post10871584 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stlouisguy
Actually I use the tunze magents through 1 1/14 and they hold fine, also use a magnavore magnet that works great
The have the stuff for the think tanks, you just gotta look
I guess it depends on your definition of "fine." I use Tunze magnet mounts on 1-inch thick and they work very marginally. The pumps can spin themselves at times, any nudging of the power cords causes chaos to ensue, etc.
If you look in the appropriate RC forums, you'll see I have asked and followed up on 1-inch solutions with Tunze and the Vortec guys several times. They both claim that it will happen eventually. The fact is that the best bet is probably either to machine a more permanent fixed mount or to have special, stronger magnets made up for you. I'm currently pursuing the latter.
Ben
mattyice
09/29/2007, 11:38 PM
i talked to james about that and his solution was to just use a thinner piece for the back and bottom (i will be using vortechs) so i went with 1" in the front, left, and right, on the back i used 3/4", and on the bottom james recommended 1/2" with a 1" eurobrace on the top
vapormd
09/30/2007, 12:16 AM
I use two 6200.500 Tunze magnets (rated for up to 3/4") to hold a wavebox in place, and it's worked fine on my 1" thick acrylic.
However, for my 6100 streams directed at an angle, the magnets weren't able to hold them in place very securely, and it only took a few nudges to get the stream to rotate into bad tailspin. If I had the streams directed straight forward, it worked well enough.
Regardless, with the 6200.500 magnets on 1" thick acrylic, my 2 year old kid was literally able pull the back half off without much effort - that got my attention pretty quick!
Tunze has been mentioning stronger magnets for a couple of years now - I guess they're just not enough of a market to get those magnets holders made.
sugartooth
09/30/2007, 07:26 AM
That's a good point about the magnets. I am thinking about drilling holes for 8 way closed loop and hoping that I won't need powerheads in the tank.
For cleaning, TUnze has magnets for up to 1 1/2" thickness that I think would be great.
My two older tanks were acrylic and went with glass on the new one.just to give you an idea I have a 120x36x30 tank and Jeff at coral reef farm just got a 120x48x30 both in low iron glass 1/2 sides 3/4 bottom.you really cant beat the price ,scratch resistance and the thermal property ( heat dissipates easier through glass) .speaking of the weight issue It took 6 guys to move both of our tanks. I don't move my tank often so its not a big deal to me. Both glass and acrylic both work just find what makes you happy.
sugartooth
09/30/2007, 11:30 AM
nyvp- which one made you happier, acrylic or glass and why?
Did you go to glass just to experience a large tank with both materials, or something else was driving that decision?
no matter what I did acrylic gets scratched. Cost was a big one for me. The person that built my tank (karen at exoic) has the same tank up for shy of 20 years now. I paid $2800 for my 560/g and have no problems sleeping at night. in general not that many tanks glass or acrylic pop. Ive seen brand name as well as not that split in both materials.that being said when it happens its never good. What put me into a glass was having kinds now and scratches and cost mostly. The added bonus of throwing off heat because I dont use a chiller was really found out later. Both work great. find a builder you love and just "get er done".
Gary Majchrzak
09/30/2007, 04:58 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10873398#post10873398 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sugartooth
nyvp- which one made you happier, acrylic or glass and why?
Did you go to glass just to experience a large tank with both materials, or something else was driving that decision?
I strongly suggest doing some in depth research on acrylic vs. glass reef aquaria. Search up older threads.
Reach your own conclusions based on the experiences of many, not just the opinion of two or three people. You will see there is one clear choice when it comes to reef aquariums.
sugartooth
09/30/2007, 05:26 PM
Thank you all very much for the input. I will do a search to read some more to be completely confident in what I'm getting.
Thanks again!
Reefman79
07/16/2010, 08:44 PM
What power heads work on 1' thick ? Or magnet replacement magnet for what ever power head your using, i cant find anything...
jjk_reef00
07/17/2010, 12:22 AM
I strongly suggest doing some in depth research on acrylic vs. glass reef aquaria. Search up older threads.
Reach your own conclusions based on the experiences of many, not just the opinion of two or three people. You will see there is one clear choice when it comes to reef aquariums.
What is that choice? Please share your wisdom and previous research.
I know 10' long acrylic is standard. Do they make standard 10' long glass? I always though it was more if you go over 8'. When I upgrade I will definitely check out A.G.E. for a hybrid aquarium (acrylic with starphire front). Lightsluvr and pwhitby both have hybrids that look amazing!
I would also like a 10' tank but I'm hoping the 10' glass doesn't break the bank.
Keep us updated on what you decide and what your thoughts are when choosing your tank. I look forward to reading your build thread :beer:
khaosinc
07/17/2010, 12:33 AM
My 10x4 1" thick tank is only a couple inches deeper than yours and other than having a little trouble with powerhead magnets (I've had the best luck w/ Korrilla magnums) I've been quite happy with it. Having moved that tank, I can't imagine moving a glass one with only 6 people unless they were really burly. Scratches haven't been to bad, but I've had acrylic tanks for a long time and had a bit of practice. There are some already though. My 12 year old 300 is 1/2" 8x2x30" and I'd be pretty scared of that in a 10'x4' width even with its eurobracing.
sugartooth
07/17/2010, 11:08 AM
I went with Tunze 6205 and 6305. They attach well with 1" thickness.
rkaires
07/18/2010, 06:19 AM
http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=23&products_id=6148
I use these on my 1" acrylic tank.
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