small tank made of plexiglass

BIGgourami

BIGgourami

One With the Fish
Apr 30, 2007
477
0
0
36
rolling meadows,IL
my friend is into building things and im into fish so this summer we were planning on making a fish tank. nothing big maybe only 30G. but i was wondering if it could be made out of plexiglass? also what is more important for glass thickness the height of a tank or the width?
 
i aint no expert but plexi breaks really easy.acrylic on the other hand is supper strong comperitivly. just my thoughts
 
plexiglass and acrylioc are absolutly not the same. i am not going to start a pissing match but you are wrong.
 
Actually plexiglass is just a brand name. It is a type of acrylic. Saying they are not the same thing is exactly like saying that a Ford is not the same thing as a vehicle.

From wikipedia:

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or poly (methyl 2-methylpropenoate) is the synthetic polymer of methyl methacrylate. This thermoplastic and transparent plastic is sold by the tradenames Plexiglas, R-Cast, Perspex, Plazcryl, Acrylite, Acrylplast, Altuglas, Polycast and Lucite and is commonly called acrylic glass or simply acrylic.
Click to expand...
 
I know they use plexi glass for the glass surrounding hockey rinks, and that look as if it has quite a bit of give to it when the players hit it... I certanitly would not want to rust it to a big load of water as I would fear it ould eventually bend all out of shape. I know tanks are made of acrylic... so I can only assume there are different grades.
 
I;ve built most of my tanks with acrylic, and I would suggest you start BIG on your first project. small acrylic tanks can be quite costly. Reason being, smaller cut acrylic sheets cost a premium over large sheets.

For $450-500, you can purchase an 8'*6' sheet of 3/8" thick acrylic from a custom acrylic dealer. A few local custom aquarium places will gladly cut the pieces for you for a small fee. as for the sides and top bracing, I find using the plexi-glass from Lowes or Home depot to be adequete.
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if you're not ready to make such a big investment, look into making numerous smaller tanks around 15 gallons.

Tap plastics sells 2'*4' sheets of (thin) acrylic and makes free cuts. A single sheet of that size costs 30-40 dollars and will provide enough acrylic for a regular 15g tank. (1'*2'*1')
 
ok where is tap plastics cause i really only intend to MAKE small tanks right now. bigger ones id' just buy (i don't really trust my handiwork for large and costly stuff)
does anyone know which is more important for determining glass thickness in a DIY tank, length or height?
 
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