DIY tank question

[R_sustaita]

some people use a router to do the cuts. and a router to clean the edges. and give it a nicer looking edge.

i have a piece of acrylic which i want to use for my small tanks. its been on the garage to long and i think way to scrached but i dont care.

[HERM]

Have you seen the vid on fire edgeing the acrylic ? It makes the ends clear .

[Totenkampf]

i think that i would overcut the pieces by an 1/8" or so per edge and then sneak back up on the right dimension with the fluted router bit like they discuss in the linked article above. thats what i would do if it were a wood project. i have to admit fire edging sounds cool to. clear sides and fire. whats not to like?

***goes to look up video***

the first thing i see is "do not flame polish an edge to be bonded, this is for exposed edges only."

[ometh]

i think that i would overcut the pieces by an 1/8" or so per edge and then sneak back up on the right dimension with the fluted router bit like they discuss in the linked article above. thats what i would do if it were a wood project. i have to admit fire edging sounds cool to. clear sides and fire. whats not to like?

***goes to look up video***

the first thing i see is "do not flame polish an edge to be bonded, this is for exposed edges only."

Lol it does sound cool but, I wouldn't wanna dabble in that till I get my actual first couple tanks down.

[R_sustaita]

yeah that is to make the edges clear. and you can flame the whole panel to give it a nice look.

[Totenkampf]

what?

[flipside]

Yes, you can flame polish an acrylic tank, and it'll shine up nicely. Only thing is, if you let the flame get too "out of control," you will have a dark, burned spot on your tank. Then... well... it's a sump. LOL!

I wouldn't recommend doing this, ometh. Maybe start off with some sumps, baffles, overflows, etc... Going straight for the juggler on acrylic work is just not a good idea. I've done skimmers, sumps, overflows, volutes, etc... it's all tedious, and mistakes cost a lot of money. My buddy did a couple of DT's, and they were okay, but had more than a few imperfections. And he's "very good" at acrylic work.

The only thing you should ever use on any of these tanks is Weld-On 4. That's the easy part, but you can screw that up too. I keep Weld-On 16 for anything that happens to the stuff build for my tanks/skimmers. Like stress cracks in old skimmers... Weld-On 16 takes care of that. Clean look, strong weld, Weld-On 4 all the way.

You can pick up a cheap dewalt blade at home depot. I believe it has 70 teeth... I can find out if you're really interested in doing this. You should always go back and clean your edges after ripping through the acrylic, though. Only use a router with a guide to do this. That'll give you the clean finish you need to weld.

Seriously... start off with a small sump, or something, then tackle these bigger show tanks. I'd even just do 2 40g breeders to do the reef and planted tank you want. Drill the back, add a bean overflow for the reef, build a sump, call it done.

Acrylic scratches really easy, too. You cannot beat the clarity, though. Even Starphire is nothing compared to an acrylic tank.

You can figure on the acrylic to do these builds: about 300-400 for the smaller tanks, and 800-900 for the large one. Not to mention the cost of tools and materials to get you started.

[R_sustaita]

i been thinking of building a freaking 12 shelf for a long time now. and i am just scare i will have a leak or just not cut straight. but i will help ya all the way man. i got lots of tools at my dad house.

[ometh]

Yes, you can flame polish an acrylic tank, and it'll shine up nicely. Only thing is, if you let the flame get too "out of control," you will have a dark, burned spot on your tank. Then... well... it's a sump. LOL!

I wouldn't recommend doing this, ometh. Maybe start off with some sumps, baffles, overflows, etc... Going straight for the juggler on acrylic work is just not a good idea. I've done skimmers, sumps, overflows, volutes, etc... it's all tedious, and mistakes cost a lot of money. My buddy did a couple of DT's, and they were okay, but had more than a few imperfections. And he's "very good" at acrylic work.

The only thing you should ever use on any of these tanks is Weld-On 4. That's the easy part, but you can screw that up too. I keep Weld-On 16 for anything that happens to the stuff build for my tanks/skimmers. Like stress cracks in old skimmers... Weld-On 16 takes care of that. Clean look, strong weld, Weld-On 4 all the way.

You can pick up a cheap dewalt blade at home depot. I believe it has 70 teeth... I can find out if you're really interested in doing this. You should always go back and clean your edges after ripping through the acrylic, though. Only use a router with a guide to do this. That'll give you the clean finish you need to weld.

Seriously... start off with a small sump, or something, then tackle these bigger show tanks. I'd even just do 2 40g breeders to do the reef and planted tank you want. Drill the back, add a bean overflow for the reef, build a sump, call it done.

Acrylic scratches really easy, too. You cannot beat the clarity, though. Even Starphire is nothing compared to an acrylic tank.

You can figure on the acrylic to do these builds: about 300-400 for the smaller tanks, and 800-900 for the large one. Not to mention the cost of tools and materials to get you started.

I have built a small wet dry sump that I'm running on my tropheus tank and its doing nicely. I do have some weld on 4 from that Project still and I figured I'd give it a go on something like a custom tank. I'm pretty set on this because I have 2 cabinets sitting in my garage that my fiancé doesn't want to get rid of so I negotiated with her and she said just build tanks for them both. Itll be a good chunk of cash but hey it'll pay off in the long run.