Help needed from fellow bros....

[rickster88888]

Hi all brothers and sisters,

This is my first post in this forum, so if i make any mistake dun flame me ok?...

I have been thinking of setting a 2 feet marine tank when my exams are over. Read up quite a bit of the older post on sgreefclub and I must say that it is really informative! Keep up the good work!!! I plan to DIY some of my stuff so as to save a bit of $$$ but I need some help as I dunno where to get some of the stuff that are required....

First of all I know that I can get chloroform from Dama, but can't find where i can get the Weld-on 16 arcylic glue. Can some one help?

Next question is for those DIY expert out there.... Were can I have my arcylic laser cut? How much does it cost?

One last question... Other than the GF valves, fittings and pipings, is there any cheaper china made variants out there? If yes where can I get them?

Hope to see the replies soon

Cheers!!!

Rick

[typrobin]

i am the second salesman of Hai Cheong after weisoon...hahaha...

get all your PVC material from there...

y do u need weld-on products?? chloroform is the best for acrylic, u can try ACRIFIX from dama as well, it works like a glue...weld-on products are used to join PVC and acrylic together...but then again, u can approach Hai Cheong to do PVC welding for u also...

y DIY?? are u confident?? dun even think about saving money...cos u won't...DIY takes a lot of RnD, and all this RnD will cost u a bomb...like i always said, my own skimmer (DIY) cost me about $1k++ b4 i finalise everything, should have just bought a H&S and forget about DIY...

dun need to go for GF fittings, unless u have lotsa spare cash...i agree that they are better, but for me cheap things are always the best...

as for laser cut pricing, it varies...from size of your material, how many pieces, how much man-hour required and also thickness of material...so unless u meet up with the boss, u won't know...and not forgetting tat u are only cutting 1 set, it will definitely cost u a bomb...

my advise, if and unless u are very familiar with all the material (which u dun seem to be), dun waste your money..this advise was told to me b4 i started DIYing my skimmer...well...i was too stubborn back then...

IMO, dun waste your time(dun mean to be rude)...get it off the self...your tank is only 2ft, so it won't cost u a lot to buy a decent skimmer...most pple DIY for specific reasons like, they want a 2m tall skimmer, they want a quad-beckett skimmer, they want a spcial skimmer, they have all the best contacts, they know where to get all the cheap material...so it's not worth it to go through all the trouble just to do a small skimmer for your small tank...

if u think otherwise, u can always try...

[weisoon]

Weld-On can get from Highland Plastics. But they sell very expensive. Try contacting thc as I passed him a huge can of weld-on 16 some time back. He may have some balance that he can sell you.

To weld acrylic properly, need some practice. You can try on some scraps and use chloroform and guage how fast it sets and how good you can achieve before starting on the actual job.

I will recommend you use something lighter instead of weld-on 16 or acrylicfix as they are very thick to do a perfect bubble free weld. Try weld-on 4 mixed with 4% volume distilled vinegar. You will have to use the pins method and get some PE bottles with needles ( like those for refill of ink cartidges for printer). A good thread to read is from reef central.

If you have the courage to try and the of course to write off any failure, then it will be good for you and that's the spirit of DIY.