my DIY acrylic tank

[^GeNoME^]

after 2 years of researching on www.reefcentral.com. i finally embarked on my journey to make my own acrylic tank.. just to share..

I tried various shortcut in the past to prep the edges till the point where i finally decided to do it the "right" way/... and that is to build a router table!

followed by trimming of the edges by routering 1mm away at each side at a time until all edges were smooth and straight..

this is the saw cut edge..

after routering..

preparing the acrylic for glueing..

my glueing rig.. essential for supporting the vertical pc and making sure that it is at a right angle..

i am using 25G needle to space the acrylics apart so that my glue can melt the surfaces before joining..

I am using weldon 4 for this application..

applying the glue..

slight overhanging end is needed to facilitate glueing.. after while it can be router away to make it flush..

[^GeNoME^]

i waited for 4hrs before moving the jig and proceed to the other side.. after 2 days.. got all sides to stick!

router the overhanging ends away before glueing the top the bottom pcs..

I need to make proper top out of a whole pc of acrylic with curved ends so that it will be the strongest..

should have made a template instead of cutting it 1 side at a time.. this process nearly killed me..

finaly product..

glueing the top the bottom on using the same pin method..

water testing!

take a look at the seams! it needs to be completely transparent so that it will be the strongest..

this is an example of a glue edge with edges not routered.. full of bubbles.. truely unsightly

[^GeNoME^]

more pics of the seams...

made a acrylic stand for this stand as well!

with my DIY led light..

tats all for now.. will upload more pics when i decided on the kind of overflow sys..

[reefer guy]

nice project..... but bro your acrylic stand looks scary.

[peacemaker]

Yes, I was admiring the photos of the tank till I got to the acrylic stand. So much effort put into it, best to get a reliable cabinet.

[^GeNoME^]

actually cast acrylic has got a compression force of 1ton per cm^2 so it is really strong if u engineered and made it well. nothing to worry about. just that normal people perception abt plastic is weak!

[Jameshong]

actually cast acrylic has got a compression force of 1ton per cm^2 so it is really strong if u engineered and made it well. nothing to worry about. just that normal people perception abt plastic is weak!

Yes, it's true but if you are the first timer to engineer your own acrylic stand, then I would advice you to think twice. The weight of the water and LR is no joke, so better to be safe than sorry .

Btw, nice tank !

[Ah-lim]

Nice tank!! may i know what type of glue is used to melt the acylic together? any important things to note?

[oceanviper]

Hi bro...

May i know where you get the router bits and what is the price?

Thks,

[megacue]

kudos to this project. As i have worked with 3mm acrylic and invest in some equipment namely dremel, accessories like bit and etc. I only use cut and snap method for the 3mm acrylic, and find it difficult to achieve a true straight edge. Looking at the thickness, minimium should be 6mm if not more, whole lot of other equipments come in play like the saw with special saw blades, router and bits, working bench and etc...

u can start taking order for acrylic tank and accessories, haha.....

The equipments invested is certainly more than buying the tank itself BUT the satisfaction probably is priceless.

[cdckjn]

The acrylic stand DO looks weak. I really think you need more reinforcement. Better do reinforcement now, then later when tank is up, then realise that problems with stand starts.

[flamey]

Well done.. Very well made.. I'm sure the satisfaction of making your own tank is priceless!

[^GeNoME^]

Well done.. Very well made.. I'm sure the satisfaction of making your own tank is priceless!

The stand is alright n fully functional.. juz bcos it is made of plastic n pple perception is so negative..felt so demoralised.. if u take a took at those normal wooden stand.. barely few pc of wood supporting n it is already strong.. chingchaigot a nano tank with stand made fr acrylic.. pls take a look as well

Thx for the few positive comments.. the satisfaction is certainly much more than ordering it ready made..nthis tank is 10mm all rounded

[peacemaker]

Bro, I think you misunderstood our intentions. Most of us have safety in mind, and we tend to swing to the "better be safe than sorry" side. If you are really confident that it is strong, durable, and can take not just vertical, but horizontal displacement, go for it! All da best!

[yoolei]

looks like your project is looking pretty good! i do hope that i would get the courage and skill to make my own tank myself,. hoping to get some ideas here so i went throuhg this post. i reckon thatt the information here may also be helpful when i start on my own project although i still have a lot of reseasrching to do hopefully i will be able to get some good materials as well and be able to save up that buy the already made ones.

[cjh]

any more update on this DIY? kinda interesting...

[yifen]

innovative man

[josephogk]

bravo.. lots of effort there. but just bring curious, in what way is an acrylic tank better as compared to a glass one?

[tropic]

I believe it's the Colour of the inhabitants and the tank..much better. But more likely to have more scratch than glass.

[qingwen]

wow. planning to DIY a sump as well?

[Florakid]

wah. not easy to DIY. thanks for sharing.

[Aldrick]

Great job done Bro,Hope to see the tank start up soon.

[vipul]

dude may i know where you got your acrylic from and for how much? and also what glue you use? for my acrylic tank i used WELDON 3, wondering what you used. I have a new project in mind again!

[lincolngoh]

Woo nice. Perfection. But won't the sand scratch the tank, esp during cleaning?

[n2711]

nice ...