3ft tall Aquarium?

[patsan19]

yeah.. I guess a snorkel kit would be required. LOL

Glass does sound more interesting now...

 

[JPG@CFI]

We have build both 48" tall. and 60" tall tanks in the past 12 months. The thickness required depends on the length of the tank. For example. a 24x24x60" tall tank doesnt require the same thickness as a 96x24x60" does. Feel free to give us a call if you want to talk more in depth about tall tanks. Jason

 

[Spinner]

Hello,

I had a 8' long x 3' deep x 4' tall reef tank set up for 3.5 years and would never go over 30" again. Once a week i would put on a full wet suit head to toe to get in and clean the tank.......That got old real fast

If you don't have deep pockets with money to burn i would think long and hard before going down the extra big tank road. Fish only maybe....reef no way

Best of luck to you!!!

 

[blk822822]

You will have a hard time reaching the bottom of the tank to place corals and clean. A 24" deep tank can be hard sometimes.

 

[Pip Tazo]

What kind of lighting have you considered?

 

[stylaster]

Just as an fyi i just got done setting up my 312g tank 5'x5'x20" deep and all said and done easily over 12 grand. So just be prepared for a huge cost

 

[Red C Aquarium]

I'm doing a 5.5 foot tall acrylic bowfront with AGE in texas ,Vega Style baby!!

I would do your 6x6x3 in waterjetted starfire 1/2inch tempered glass with a waterjetted one piece tempered top .

Either way acrylic or glass is going to be pricey .

Awesome size. FYI we have a 36inch tall acrylic tank here bowing like a mother.

Red C

 

[Naso2]

I just traded my 450 that was 30" tall for a 375 that's 25" tall. It was a pain reaching the bottom. I can't immagine a 48" tall.

 

[tricksterya]

Anyone build a u shapped one. Think it would be kinda cool but pricey.

 

[phixer]

Please allow me to interject some logic here. I build custom tanks for a living and nothing under 500g these days. Glass and acrylic and must say most of what is written is done so by hacks who have never built an aquarium in their life but rather regurgitated nonsense read elsewhere and plagiarized / posted as their own work. Disregard what anyone tells you about the thickness being determined by any other factor than height, especially length, total rubbish. One could hold back the entire Pacific ocean with an inch of glass were it only an inch deep. This is based on the hydrostatic pressure which is a function of height, atmospheric pressure and the density of the liquid contained.

"Waterjetted" :doh: WTF? when you hear churched up slang terms like this they are often used by hacks to impress people who build bird houses out of a tool shed and try to pass them off as aquariums. The term waterjetted probably refers to the method in which the glass or acrylic is cut i.e waterjet cutter. That or a "water pick" used to clean ones teeth. :bounce: And if the glass is tempered it is never cut with a waterjet cutter. Excuse me while I laugh a minute... And if a 36" tall tank bows like a "Mother" :bounce: I would have her checked for scoliosis. Professionals take their vocation seriously and understand the proper way of machining, annealing and bonding. You do not want to use tempered glass for the top either. The stresses are different, tempered glass if used at all should be used for the base only, which is normally thicker in a glass tank. (PVC base tanks excluded). It's 5-7 times stronger but fractures catastrophically rather than a cracking. This gives little to no time to salvage what you can if a crack occurs.

Most of the tanks I build now days are constructed with acrylic because of the safety factor. Many of them are exposed to the public and I dont want some kid hitting it with a chair and having it burst open. 3ft tall = 1.25" , 4ft tall = min of 2" . Polycast GP or Reynolds R Cast are the best in the industry because they are US made and have fewer inclusions, better uniformity, UV inhibitors and better quality control. The rest, Plexi, Acrylite and a few others are made outside the US.

Forget solvent cements for thickness over 1" due to uniform coverage. Solvent i.e WO #3, #4, &16 or McBond (methylene chloride and glacial acetic acid to slow down evap rate) I mix my own now. 2 part polymerizable cements such as PS30 or WO 40/42 work better and are what is used in the trade when constructing professional grade tanks of this size. Not mass produced inferior grade junk that will craze and turn yellow under UV , warp under MH lamps and bow like the bags fish come in.

A quality tank is like handcrafted hardwood furniture, (compare Stickley to sawdust and glue). Many MFGs skimp on the thickness in order to save a few bucks but for longevity and structural integrity these are the minimum thickness. The math also supports this but that would drag this post out. Much more goes into it. Just wanted to dispell some of the nonesense out there.

Building yourself if you havent done so is a great way to go about it. Not as hard as people make it out to be. One mans opinion/experience only.

 

[Ichthys]

...... I build custom tanks for a living and nothing under 500g these days. .....Forget solvent cements for thickness over 1" due to uniform coverage. Solvent i.e WO #3, #4, &16 or McBond (methylene chloride and glacial acetic acid to slow down evap rate) I mix my own now. 2 part polymerizable cements such as PS30 or WO 40/42 work better and are what is used in the trade when constructing professional grade tanks of this size. Not mass produced inferior grade junk that will craze and turn yellow under UV , warp under MH lamps and bow like the bags fish come in.

Thank you for your informative input. You certainly seem to have a thourough knowledge of working acrylic and bonding. It sounds like you have a very succesful career manufacturing large acrylic aquariums, that is evident in your understanding of the different solvents and even mixing your own, wow! Nothing beats someone who knows what they are talking about to set the record straight lol.

We used to have another user named Phixer on this forum a long time ago, pretty sure it wasnt you though, he certainly didn't write with your style...

I have some cell cast acrylic panels that are 1.25" thick. They are 10FT in length and about 36" tall. Im trying to decide which method to use to bond them. I have made lots of smaller tanks but none with material this thick or panels this long and heavy. Up to this point I have always used solvent cement, but at this thickness Im thinking Weld On #40/42 might be best. Here's where Im confused.

Will #40/42 form as strong a bond as #4 even though its not really a solvent?


Since it's #40/42 and fills gaps, should I bevel the edges of the vertical panels, creating a small gap from the outside bevel. Then fill it in with the cement using a jig to keep it perpendicular. This would create a fillet on the outside that could be routed off.

Using #4 and the pin method, if I let it soak for long enough will the solvent be completely squeezed out of the joint from the weight of the panel after I pull the pins and the panel sinks down or will a long enough set time allow the both surfaces enough time to soften so they mesh together and it wont matter what squeezes out when the piins are pulled?

Confused as to what method and type of cement should be used here.

Thank you

Anyways, thanks again for your helpful post.

 

[phixer]

Thank you for your informative input. You certainly seem to have a thourough knowledge of working acrylic and bonding. It sounds like you have a very succesful career manufacturing large acrylic aquariums, that is evident in your understanding of the different solvents and even mixing your own, wow! Nothing beats someone who knows what they are talking about to set the record straight lol.

We used to have another user named Phixer on this forum a long time ago, pretty sure it wasnt you though, he certainly didn't write with your style...


Anyways, thanks again for your helpful post.

:bounce: Thats me 7 years and about 38 tanks ago. :bounce: That 10 ft tank (585g) is still going strong, notice the thickness. It was constructed using #42 and aluminum foil tape to build the dams to cast the panels into. Panels were suspended using 4 Abaco granite slab lifters and 2 gantry cranes to create a 1/16 gap while the cement was injected into the void with the applicator gun.
It is the smallest tank I make nowdays and is actually pretty simple, I have found the 2 part stuff fairly easy to work with in comparison to solvent despite what others have experienced. It is more forgiving if the temp and humidity are kept constant during curing. I like it because it also fills small imperfections better.

The bubbles that people normally speak of with it are often caused by an exothermic reaction when too much cement is used due to the gap being too large. In other words the bubbles are created because the cement is boiling during the reaction as it cures. Those who work with this stuff will tell you how it gets pretty hot when curing. The more added the hotter it gets. Voids / creases often mistaken for bubbles are another issue, if anyone is interersted I can explain in a separate post.

Although 10ft tanks have become a lot more popular I find there to be more of a niche market in 500-5000 gallon acrylic tanks if you can build better and undercut the big boys. Several photos posted on other forums.

It would be ignorant to claim to know everything. Many others much more knowledgeable out there but also several who fabricate BS and mislead people. Eventually people move on, get out of the hobby/business etc..life happens and we dont hear from people who know and understand this craft. And it really is skill IMHO. As stated these are only my experiences/opinions. Hope they help folks to build right by dispelling much of the false information being tossed around.
Perhaps someone with some thermo-forming experience will chime in. Would like to build a prototype bull nose or oval shaped tank in the future and have a few questions.

People call much of this trade secrets. I call it advancing our hobby and am glad to share what I have learned.

Style = form + function + circumstance + wisdom / experience delivered with humility.

 

[phixer]

Thank you for your informative input. You certainly seem to have a thourough knowledge of working acrylic and bonding. It sounds like you have a very succesful career manufacturing large acrylic aquariums, that is evident in your understanding of the different solvents and even mixing your own, wow! Nothing beats someone who knows what they are talking about to set the record straight lol.

We used to have another user named Phixer on this forum a long time ago, pretty sure it wasnt you though, he certainly didn't write with your style...


Anyways, thanks again for your helpful post.

Duplicate.....