acrylic type

[meathelmet75]

i am planning on building a 300g acrylic tank. I have never built a tank out of acrylic before, and I am wondering if there are differnt types to use or are they all the same?
Also are there any unexpected suprises that come along with building an acrylic tank. rather than glass? i have built a 55g glass tank before with no problems, but now i want to go bigger.

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
Two main types of acrylic is extruded and casted. For aquarium, use cell-casted acrylic becaused it is stronger.

Before doing a 300 gal, you may want to make a 120 gal first. The toxicity and special handling of the solvent used in acrylic work, and the weight of the panel for a 300 gal tank make it more difficult if you want to make one the very first time.

 

[meathelmet75]

thanks i was thinking of making a smaller one to see what i was getting into. thanks for your help.

 

[O P Ing]

hi.
When you done with your smaller tank, I am more than willing to "test" it for you if you ship it to me :wink:

 

[meathelmet75]

ill think abiut it where are you located? ive been doing research on types of glass, and found a substance called PETG glass it is supposed to be stronger,clearer more scratch resistant and easier to form, than cast acrylic its chaeper too has anyone ever heard of it before?

 

[danmhippo]

He is kidding. If you actually decided to shipped it to him, kiss your $$ goodbye.....

 

[O P Ing]

...PETG glass it is supposed to be ...clearer ...than cast acrylic

hi.
Don't know about the other physical properties, but I can tell you that no silicone-based glass is clearer than clear acrylic. Where did you hear that from? Maybe they are comparing a clear PETG glass to a black piece of cast acrylic or something.

One of the least green glass is called Starphire(tm). A few people who want a large glass tank decided to use this type of expensive glass, and with good result. For 240 gal or smaller, regular glass should be fine.

Danm, do you have any bad experience with me in the past? Or heard anything bad about me thru third party? Let's take this out to The Sump! :wink:

 

[mud]

PETG is a glycolonized polyethylene product typically used in packaging and retail displays. It is less scratch resistant than cell cast acrylic, but easier to work with and more impact resistant. Whereas it is quite clear, it probably does not have an application in aquariums, because it will flex more than cell cast acrylic. I built my 120 acrylic a couple years ago from cell cast acrylic. Aside from a couple minor leaks that I fixed with marine goop, it has worked well for me. I bought the acrylic from sdplastics.com. One 4x8x ft, .5 in thick, sheet cut into 3 2x4 ft and 2 23x24 in pieces and shipped to me for about 260 us$.

I also bought a 2x4 ft extruded .25 in piece from HD for the top.

mud

 

[meathelmet75]

thanks for the help, i think ill go with cell cast acrylic instead.