Acrylic Pico/ Nano Tank Help

[thedistance]

I am looking to build a small pico/nano tank out of acrylic. It will not be any larger than 12” high or 12” long (inspiration http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1585239). I have built a sump out of Acrylite GP in the past while I lived in Ohio but I cant find it anywhere around me now (I am in Punta Gorda Florida) or Polycast, and Plexi-Glass G. A place near me (Acme Plastics, Fort Myers FL) said they have Acrylite GP but I would have to buy a 48” x 96” sheet for $160 (I obviously don’t need that much). They also said they have Lucite L. I don’t have any experience with Lucite L. Any suggestions? (If you didn’t notice I apparently like to use parentheses a lot)

[troylee]

Ask them if they have a scrap bin most plastic shops do and they sell there scraps for like a dollar a pound....its worth a shot...or get a couple friends in on it and. Build a few of them...

[thedistance]

They dont have scraps of Acrylite GP. They make you buy the whole sheet.

[redfishsc]

If you want to try something really oddball, take a look at my thread (the red house) and see the acrylic material I used for my 10g. It's the stuff they make kitchen counters out of, is 1/2" acrylic, and cuts on the tablesaw just fine (wear face shield).

The only real caveat for Corian/Hi-macs (other than you have to ask around for sink cutout pieces) is that you are limited in glues. They make a good epoxy specifically for this stuff but it would cost you $50 or more. I just used the Lock-Tite Marine Epoxy from Lowes BUT ALSO used a very specific type of lock-shoulder joint to hold it together (kinda like dovetails).


If I had time to do it over again, I would, but I would wait for more scraps from my buddy at the corian shop so I could have made the tank taller.

[Tron87]

I am planning a similarly sized tank (12x16x10) and had the worst time looking around at big plastics places. After banging my head on the wall for about a day i found somethin that made me feel stupid.

Home depot has 20"x32"x1/4" sheets of Optix Acrylic for like $12
Lowes has 18"x24"x1/4" sheets of Optix Acrylic for $13.50.


Moral of the story: For something small keep it simple and close to home.

[RussM]

Optix is low-grade extruded crap. It is thermoforms & bends OK, but is a PITA to get clean cuts & routes; it also crazes badly IME. Find good cell-cast acrylic instead.

[thedistance]

any advice on Lucite L?

[thedistance]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15018755#post15018755 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by redfishsc
If you want to try something really oddball, take a look at my thread (the red house) and see the acrylic material I used for my 10g. It's the stuff they make kitchen counters out of, is 1/2" acrylic, and cuts on the tablesaw just fine (wear face shield).

The only real caveat for Corian/Hi-macs (other than you have to ask around for sink cutout pieces) is that you are limited in glues. They make a good epoxy specifically for this stuff but it would cost you $50 or more. I just used the Lock-Tite Marine Epoxy from Lowes BUT ALSO used a very specific type of lock-shoulder joint to hold it together (kinda like dovetails).


If I had time to do it over again, I would, but I would wait for more scraps from my buddy at the corian shop so I could have made the tank taller.

Thanks for the info but I don't have a table saw or any saw for that matter.

[troylee]

well if you were planning on a score and snap method to build a display good luck with that.......you cant use solvent unless you have a nice smooth and flat edge to begin with.....

[redfishsc]

Troylee is right, I seriously doubt you will be able to build an acrylic tank without something to cut it nice and clean. You could easily buy a trim router for ~$70, which is cheaper than a tablesaw, but you could buy that same tank worth of nice 1/4" glass (maybe even starfire or another low-iron glass) already cut for that kind of money.

[Acrylics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15019719#post15019719 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thedistance
any advice on Lucite L? It's pretty good stuff and one I might recommend more if it was more common. It used to be very common but the mfr of it is more into tub and spa material than acrylic sheet. It's continuous cast material, kinduva "tweener" between extruded and cell cast. Easy to work with, easy to glue comparatively speaking, won't craze nearly as bad as extruded but slightly more than cell cast. But you really do have try to craze it or be really sloppy.

FWIW, if you're not real experienced working with acrylic and it won't be placed under high amounts of stress, this is the ideal material IMO. The only tanks I've ever made from 1/4" was this material and those tanks are still doing well in a retail shop 12-13 years later.

HTH,
James

[thedistance]

I agree with both troylee and redfishsc I definitely do not think I would be able to build a tank with the score and snap method. However the shop will cut the sheets to size, and I do have a router.

Acrylics thanks for answering the question. What would you consider to be “high amounts of stress”? Ideally the tank will hold a fish and some rock with a pump… nothing crazy.

[redfishsc]

Excellent.

The difficulty you will have, however, using the router is keeping all the pieces to the right tolerance. Being a cabinet maker, I am accustomed to having all my pieces consistent because my table saw fence is well adjusted, so that the first cut at 10" is still 10" after 20 cuts.

You might be able to get the acrylic supplier to cut these with clean edges already to the right size.... that would be real nice!

[Acrylics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15022168#post15022168 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thedistance

Acrylics thanks for answering the question. What would you consider to be “high amounts of stress”? Ideally the tank will hold a fish and some rock with a pump… nothing crazy. Making a 55 (48 x 13 x 20") out of 1/4" would be borderline "high stress", anything smaller would be fine provided you hold up your end of the bargain :)

HTH,
James

[thedistance]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15023892#post15023892 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Acrylics
Making a 55 (48 x 13 x 20") out of 1/4" would be borderline "high stress", anything smaller would be fine provided you hold up your end of the bargain :)



So to clarify Lucite L would be ok to build a small tank? Do I need to talk any extra precautions working with it or should I just do the same thing that I would do with Acrylite GP or any other reputable brand? The guy at Acme plastics said he could get me 12” x 12” sheets for $5 each. That is why I am skeptical. That seams cheep.

[Acrylics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15024083#post15024083 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by thedistance
So to clarify Lucite L would be ok to build a small tank? Do I need to talk any extra precautions working with it or should I just do the same thing that I would do with Acrylite GP or any other reputable brand? The guy at Acme plastics said he could get me 12” x 12” sheets for $5 each. That is why I am skeptical. That seams cheep. If it's 6mm, should be fine. I built a bunch of tanks 48 x 24 x 12" from this material 10-12 years ago and they're still holding up just fine :)

HTH,
James