# 1/4" acrylic or glass for a 24x24x24 cube tank?



## psychedelicwonders (Oct 15, 2008)

Alright I originally wanted to use acrylic to have my tank made to keep it light, but I have read a couple of tanks' doors warp from too much heat.

Is this something they did wrong?

Not having enough ventilation maybe?

i plan on having a tank built by this guy... and he cuts tiny slits in the acryilc with lasers, small enough that even fruit flies cant get out, but yet allows for gas exchange.

Would I have issues of warping with 1/4" if I he puts all of these ventilation holes in mine?

How thick would I need to go to make sure it wont warp? (I hope I wouldnt have to go 1/2'?!)

Should I go with glass? (I really dont want to)


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

i have had this happen, when the tanks are not well build, Mark Pepper has soem great tanks and i have had some for well over 5 years and they have not warped, while others have, but unfortunately he doesn't ship to the us anymore.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

In general acrylic will warp when used for a front door, even 1/4" acrylic.

What about using acrylic for the main part of the tank and using glass for the front door?


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## psychedelicwonders (Oct 15, 2008)

Sorry forgot the link to the guy I was talking about...

First Class Aquatics LLC

See the laser cut holes?

Very nice.

What if we designed it with 2 smaller doors instead of 1 big one?

Would that stop the warping issue?

How can you tell if a door was built properly or not so it wont warp?

What if we went to 3/8" acrylic?


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## andre2000lb (Dec 30, 2007)

psychedelicwonders said:


> Sorry forgot the link to the guy I was talking about...
> 
> First Class Aquatics LLC
> 
> ...


A few months back a I built a 24" cube out of acrylic and used a single 1/4" piece for the front. In the door, I put a small door for feeding. Unfortunately, it warped after 3 days. I then used 2 1/4" pieces of acrylic. those warped as well, but not as bad as the first piece. I ended up replacing the acrylic with two pieces of glass with polished edges and haven't had any problems. As for first class aquatic tanks, when I was reading the independent reviews off there website, I believe I read that they did experience some warping although it wasn't too bad. I tried re-reading the reviews off there website, but the link wasn't working. I believe it was a db thread, so you can probably search for it.


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## gary1218 (Dec 31, 2005)

andre2000lb said:


> I ended up replacing the acrylic with two pieces of glass with polished edges and haven't had any problems.


Hmmmmmmmmm...................I think I read that recommendation somewhere else


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## tkromer (Dec 20, 2007)

For the door, build "struts", 1/2" wide pieces of the same acrylic glued perpendicular to the other surface. Usually two struts will keep the entire door from bowing.


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## RPN (Mar 25, 2007)

With close to 100 tanks in circulation from myself and 30 in my personal collection. I can tell you all acylic warps.
Acrylic has a water absorption of .2 % at 24 hrs @ 73 degrees F. 
No matter what you do, Acrylic will warp. Even 1" and above will warp over time.
Methods can work with or against you on any build. Doors normally warp to your advantage on this style of tank. 
When latches opened the door springs open, no need for a handle.
Adding supports and braces will work for a period of time.
Hope this helps some.


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## psychedelicwonders (Oct 15, 2008)

andre2000lb said:


> A few months back a I built a 24" cube out of acrylic and used a single 1/4" piece for the front. In the door, I put a small door for feeding. Unfortunately, it warped after 3 days. I then used 2 1/4" pieces of acrylic. those warped as well, but not as bad as the first piece. I ended up replacing the acrylic with two pieces of glass with polished edges and haven't had any problems. As for first class aquatic tanks, when I was reading the independent reviews off there website, I believe I read that they did experience some warping although it wasn't too bad. I tried re-reading the reviews off there website, but the link wasn't working. I believe it was a db thread, so you can probably search for it.


First off, very nice landscaping. i really really like it.

What door warped? The big one, or the small feeding one?

So you basically doubled it up so it was 1/2" or did you use strips as braces?

I dont think FCA manufactures them inproperly that they bow, obviously acrylic itself just bows.

Now let me ask you guys this, does the entire tank bow at some point, or just the door?

I'd really prefer to make as much of it out of acrylic for a couple of reasons:

1) Its lighter
2) You are able to get it laser cut, to keep ventilation holes small so fruit flies cant get out, yet enough gas exchange occurs.

What if you were to make the door out of two smaller pieces and brace each piece instead of having 1 large door without bracing, or even with bracing?

Gary1218 - glass is still an option, but I would prefer to use all acrylic if I can.
how would I attach the glass doors to the acrylic tank though?

Tkromer - youre basically saying to take 1/2" pieces and build a "picture frame" and then glue that on?

the guy above said he glued 2 pieces of 1/4" acrylic and he still got bowing.

I wonder if i would buy just a single piece of 1/2" for the door? maybe it will have more strength when it is a solid piece?


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

nice frog room!!!


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## boricorso (Feb 19, 2008)

Im also trying to decide on wheather I should get a 18x18x24 exo or have FCA build me a custom viv.

Could any of you that own viv's made by FCA maybe PM me with some insight to them. Basically just want to know how they are working for you, hows the warping or scratching, etc.... any info on them would be greatly apreciated.

Maybe post some pics of your setups for us to see.

Thanks in advance.


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## psychedelicwonders (Oct 15, 2008)

Ok I have actually decided I am going to go with 1/2" acrylic for the entire tank. 

I have access to a custom acrylic builder that does the absolute best work & will basically give me it at cost + a little labor. So I would like to take the opportunity to go with 1/2" for a few reasons, warping & tank durability being the top 2. If he builds it right the first time, I wont have to worry about him trying to rebuild it again in the future. Plus the thicker the acrylic the better it looks. I just had him build me a 3/4" & 1" 24x24x20 AIO cube for my reef tank.

I'm still going to do the same 24x24x24, so I will just need to figure out how big to build the door & how to build it with struts to stop the warping.

Kind of like a Z?

But is there any way not to have the center brace of the Z for visual purposes?

Also, how can we go about having the laser cutting done ourselves? I still want the smallest slits/holes possible so I dont have to use netting, yet the FF dont get out & I dont have condensation.

I need to figure out how to incoporate a mist king system through the bottom or something to keep all pipes out of visual site - I'm going for as clean/Zen of a look that I can. Putting them in through the back kind of takes away from that. So I'm thinking of going up through the bottom with the main feed line, but then I'm always worried about it leaking. Ying/Yang.

Any suggestions?


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## psychedelicwonders (Oct 15, 2008)

Anyone have anything on my latest post?


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## Imperial_Aquatics (Aug 27, 2009)

psychedelicwonders said:


> Anyone have anything on my latest post?



Personally, I'd go with glass myself.

Acrylic does look great, but then again so does Starphire Glass. It doesn't have the green hue to it regular glass does and you don't have to go super thick to keep it from warping.


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## boogsawaste (Jun 28, 2008)

Why not get it made out of polycarbonate? I've used both acrylic and polycarbonate in the past and the poly never warped nearly as much as the acrylic.


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## Bob S (Mar 5, 2008)

I thought Paul (FCA) stopped making vivs? I have a 20x20x30 built by him and yes the door warped, but stopped. No big deal just need to snug it shut with the latches. I'll work on getting some pics for you all.


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## psychedelicwonders (Oct 15, 2008)

boogsawaste said:


> Why not get it made out of polycarbonate? I've used both acrylic and polycarbonate in the past and the poly never warped nearly as much as the acrylic.


Glass scares me for breaking, even though we're not dealing with water, I dont know I just prefer all points about acrylic.

I can do poly, the guy I work for can get & build out of anything. Poly is better because its cast right? So its stronger?

I'm still going to do 1/2" either way.

I dont know if Paul is doing them or not, but I know he was having all of his holes/slits cut in via a laser.

Does anyone have any ideas on finding a company to do this to my pieces of acrylic for my build?


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## psychedelicwonders (Oct 15, 2008)

anyone have anything on my last thread?


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## Occidentalis (Jul 11, 2009)

If it's acrylic, just cut the holes yourself. You don't really need anything special. 

I'd also recommend glass over acrylic. My first acrylic tank is starting to deteriorate after 4 years, but a few glass tanks my father used when he was young are still going strong (35 years).


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

I have to agree i would go with glass, just too many risks otherwise.

Why not try an exo terra about the size you want and much less hassle than building a hole tank.


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