# Acrylic tank design, Critiques please! **Updated design*****



## Schism (Nov 12, 2004)

I am having an acrylic tank built for me.The plan is for this to be a false bottom, drilled and will have a small sump in the stand. The tank will probably have about 1-2" of water in the bottom depending upon the bulkhead. I plan on lighting the tank with VHO lights, daylights taken from a reeftank I'm taking down. 
The tank volume will be around 90 gallons or so. It will be made out of 1/4" acrylic so it will be plenty strong for its purpose. 
I will probably plumb an ultrosonic humidifier in via a bulkhead. I am also going to have 4 nozzles hooked up to a mister. 
Here is the diagram I put together... Please let me know where I've gone wrong!!!
Thanks


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

You're going to need some type of support on the bottom - or you'll never be able to move it (with contents in it anyhow).

s


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## bradadams (Jun 3, 2004)

I think you would be alot better off making it front opening. It would be alot easier to furnish and maintenance. Also since the tank is 48" long it would be perfect for a couple of shoplight type fixtures. Your doing the right thing though, asking questions before you set it up. One more thing, I would add two more vents to the left and right of the one you have already planned.


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## troy b (Mar 8, 2004)

hi,
acrilic is a good product for smaller size cages. i don't recommend it for a cage of your size. all my cages are out of acrilc, and i do have some warpage. 90 gallon is a good sized cage, and i would say that if you want that big explore glass. the biggest cage i have is 16" x 17" x 19" tall.
thanks
troy


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## Schism (Nov 12, 2004)

Scott said:


> You're going to need some type of support on the bottom - or you'll never be able to move it (with contents in it anyhow).
> 
> s


I plan to drain it so it would not have too much weight if ever moved. It would only have the false bottom and the soil on top of that that would be supported by the bottom. 
Would 1/4" acrylic really not be able to hold that 30lbs or less, even distributed???


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## Schism (Nov 12, 2004)

bradadams said:


> I think you would be alot better off making it front opening. It would be alot easier to furnish and maintenance. Also since the tank is 48" long it would be perfect for a couple of shoplight type fixtures. Your doing the right thing though, asking questions before you set it up. One more thing, I would add two more vents to the left and right of the one you have already planned.


I have considered that. 
I am thinking that I should have enough room to get in and build everything I need. I do know that some of it won't be easy, but I only have to do it once, at least for anything too major. 
I am worried that if I put the door(s) in front the hinging and seams would just be too distracting. 
Is having the doors on the sides really a bad idea, will I hate it?


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## Schism (Nov 12, 2004)

troy b said:


> hi,
> acrilic is a good product for smaller size cages. i don't recommend it for a cage of your size. all my cages are out of acrilc, and i do have some warpage. 90 gallon is a good sized cage, and i would say that if you want that big explore glass. the biggest cage i have is 16" x 17" x 19" tall.
> thanks
> troy


Thanks for the suggestion.
I have really contimplated going glass or acrylic and I am pretty well aware of both downfalls, but the way I see it, is that there are just so many advantages to acrylic I just can't go glass. The clarity, weight, and options of building in all doors, etc is just too great. Glass is sturdy, doesn't scratch as easily, but I'd love to never have to reach in from a stepstool again (I have a reeftank this size)


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

It's going to flex at that size whether it has *anything* in it at all.

Any extra weight will just add to the flexing.

s


Schism said:


> I plan to drain it so it would not have too much weight if ever moved. It would only have the false bottom and the soil on top of that that would be supported by the bottom.
> Would 1/4" acrylic really not be able to hold that 30lbs or less, even distributed???


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## Schism (Nov 12, 2004)

Scott said:


> It's going to flex at that size whether it has *anything* in it at all.
> 
> Any extra weight will just add to the flexing.
> 
> ...


How thick would I need to go on the bottom so that I didnt have to worry about that? 
BTW How thick would a tank this size be for a fish tank in acrylic?


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## Scott (Feb 17, 2004)

A fish tank would have a "one piece" wall. So it would be much less likely to flex. I don't know how thick it would be.

I can tell you I have acrylic tanks that are 33" long and 16" deep and tall.

I really wouldn't recommend a whole lot more than that.

What you *could* do though, to give it the support it needs, is cut a piece of plywood and use it underneath the tank. A whole lot more support that way.

s


Schism said:


> How thick would I need to go on the bottom so that I didnt have to worry about that?
> BTW How thick would a tank this size be for a fish tank in acrylic?


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## Schism (Nov 12, 2004)

Thats a good idea, think I'll have that ready for the the moving times comes....


Scott said:


> A fish tank would have a "one piece" wall. So it would be much less likely to flex. I don't know how thick it would be.
> 
> I can tell you I have acrylic tanks that are 33" long and 16" deep and tall.
> 
> ...


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## FCA (Oct 7, 2004)

I wouldn't build a 75G tank that will hold water out of anything under .750", but in your app I would go with .375" at a minimum just to add structural integrity to the tank since both ends are going to have doors and can be considered "open". With only 1" around the doors and the same on both ends, the tank is going to flex to the front and rear if you stick with the 1/4". Using a thicker sheet will help with this and make the tank more rigid.

You might also want to add more vents and make them so you can close them off. I would move them to the front of the tank instead of the rear too.


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## bluetip (May 18, 2004)

Hi,

Are your doors going to be acrylic or will it be screen? Now, I wonder if that is enough ventilation to have just a strip of 12" over a 48". Further...with the design, I'm not sure if it won't fog up in front.

I agree with some of the post that having the doors on the sides may be a bit hard to maintain...just imagine...if you had a frog stuck right in the middle, behind all of the plants, it may be a bit hard to get to it.

Maybe you can consider a top to bottom sliding front instead of the side doors? Put a 5" bank in front and put sliding lips on the sides. In that case, when you intend to maintain it, you can easily just take out the entire front which gives you better access? 

goodluck! It's all fun doing a "project"...

regards,

bluetip


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## StevenBonheim (Feb 22, 2004)

Since you are getting this custom made, I would consider different dimensions. Your design is not very deep (front to back) and in my experience, the deeper the better. I know for fish tanks, it is best to have a tank that keeps the fish up front but for frog tanks, it is much nicer and easier to work with a tank that has depth. 
Also if you decide to put the doors on the sides, this will interfere with the way you can plant your tank. Everything will have to be away from the sides and it will be clumped in the middle. 
If the tank is 4 feet long, I hope you can access the tank from more than just the sides! When you put in a back ground, plant it, or do any maintenance it will be extremely awkward to work with!
These are just things I would change with this design if it were my own. Maybe you have already thought around these problems.


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## Schism (Nov 12, 2004)

Alright I'm convinced... I'll put the door(s) in front.
Bluetip I really like the sliding door idea, but don't know how to go about designing that.
I am worried that if I use anything that slides with acrylic everything will get so scratched to fast it would look like crap. In order to keep it close enough to prevent escape it would have to have little or no space between the two pieces, allowing them to touch in a slide. 
How would this work preventing scratching?





StevenBonheim said:


> Since you are getting this custom made, I would consider different dimensions. Your design is not very deep (front to back) and in my experience, the deeper the better. I know for fish tanks, it is best to have a tank that keeps the fish up front but for frog tanks, it is much nicer and easier to work with a tank that has depth.
> Also if you decide to put the doors on the sides, this will interfere with the way you can plant your tank. Everything will have to be away from the sides and it will be clumped in the middle.
> If the tank is 4 feet long, I hope you can access the tank from more than just the sides! When you put in a back ground, plant it, or do any maintenance it will be extremely awkward to work with!
> These are just things I would change with this design if it were my own. Maybe you have already thought around these problems.


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## bluetip (May 18, 2004)

Hi schism,

check this images out. This was a tank I built just recently.

The dimensions of my tank are 36" x 18" x 30".

Notice on the left side there's an L-slot. This is what I use to hold the glass. It works perfectly for me because glass is heavy and very rigid.

I had to intentionally put the 5 inch piece of glass from the top because glass is heavy. I don't think you have to worry about weight with acrylic. 

Also, if you check out my gallery, you will see that there is a gap from the top piece and the detachable piece. I had intentionally put that there, but if you have your viv done custom built, make sure to have your builder seal it close (that is if you intend to follow my design). 











Here is the planted tank. You will see that i had also used glass to hold the detachable piece. As you can see it is not completely all the way down. The reason for this is that I follewed a design where air can get in from the bottom This prevents's fogging of the front. It's about 4" high from the bottom. Yes, glass can be a delicate but if you have the edges sanded and with good construction, you shouldn't worry about it. But then again, you will be using acrylic, so that is not an issue. I also agree with the previous post of making it deeper. The only reason why I made it 18" deep is because I wanted to use aquarium standard built stands.











regards,

bluetip


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## Schism (Nov 12, 2004)

I saw yours in your other project thread. I think I will do something somewhat similar. 
I think I will do two doors that meet in the middle. It shouldn't be too tough to get something working well. I guess this will require a trip to the hardware store and see what they have for tracks...


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## bluetip (May 18, 2004)

I guess we have pretty much the same idea on making sure that the front to be clear of obstruction. The only reason I used a detachable piece is bec with glass, I needed to put an aluminum slide which I didn't want as it would create obstruction...

enjoy!


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## Schism (Nov 12, 2004)

I am thinking that I should just go with some hinging doors. I believe I can find some acrylic hinges somewhere, so they would look better, plus I don't have to worry as much about scratching and it will be easier to put something to easily seal so I won't have ay escapees....


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## Guest (Nov 13, 2004)

You can get clear acrylic hinges. I use them all the time.


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## Marty (Feb 27, 2004)

*Re: Acrylic tank design, Critiques please! **Updated design**

That vent on top will not do anything for you unless you have another vent near the bottom for the air to pass through. You could put some fans in your 2 round openings - that would probably make the air moving for you, otherwise you'll have a nice tank and the front will always be fogged up with condensation. Check out the "Rack setup - work in progress" post. IMHO the european style ventialtion system I used in my tanks is the best one around. I'm able to keep humidity in the 90%+ and still have 100% of the clear view, even with the misters going off. If you haven't ordered the tanks you might want to consider changing your ventilation design. 

btw, why are you going only 15" deep :shock: ... there will be no room once you do a nice background. :? 





Schism said:


> I am having an acrylic tank built for me.The plan is for this to be a false bottom, drilled and will have a small sump in the stand. The tank will probably have about 1-2" of water in the bottom depending upon the bulkhead. I plan on lighting the tank with VHO lights, daylights taken from a reeftank I'm taking down.
> The tank volume will be around 90 gallons or so. It will be made out of 1/4" acrylic so it will be plenty strong for its purpose.
> I will probably plumb an ultrosonic humidifier in via a bulkhead. I am also going to have 4 nozzles hooked up to a mister.
> Here is the diagram I put together... Please let me know where I've gone wrong!!!
> Thanks


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