Patching Acrylic

[opaleski]

I have a large tank with 1/2" acrylic on the bottom. There are
2-2.5" holes and 2-1.5" holes within 18" of each other. I don't need these openings and was wondering if I could patch them by covering them with a 3/8" sheet of acrylic? Say about 20" x 6"

[Glove]

If all these holes are on the bottom and you cover/glue a piece on top of them- I would say its risky. Might leak? Might create a weak spot?
If its possible, I would try to 'plug' the holes instead of coverng them. Holes in tanks usually mean a bulkhead was going to be installed. Is it possible to get bulkheads in the and just cap those off?
Another reason to not glue another piece of acrylic on there would be thinking down the road if you change your mind and decide you want holes for drains, returns or mybe a closed loop system.
- just something to think about before you make it permanent.

[Acrylics]

You can patch them as you describe, you can patch each hole with smaller pcs as well. However, you *may* be better off (long term) doing as Glove described if your stand will allow for it. If you're like most folks in this hobby, you're apt to change your mind down the road or if you ever sell the tank, the extra holes may be a nice feature :)

A permanent patch would be to use a solvent and patch(es). Whenever I've done this on *my* tanks though, I just gobbed a bunch o' silicone around the holes (be sure to clean thoroughy first) and lay down the patch. While silicone generally does not stick well to acrylic for structural purposes, it is more than strong enough in these cases as it only has to act as a gasket. The water pressure will keep it stuck. And the patch is semi-permanent so you *can* remove if wanted down the road. Regular ol' silicone works fine but for *best* results - use Dow Corning 795 industrial adhesive as it stick to acrylic as well or better than any other silicone adhesive yet is not absolutely permanent.

Again, Gloves tip would be the preferred IMO.

HTH,
James

[flyyyguy]

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