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Skyetone 
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 Topic: My acrylic tank bows
Posted: June 27 2004 at 9:18am |
I just put together my 55 gallon headboard yesterday. I noticed that in the middle of the tank on the front and back that the acrylic bows outward about an inch in the middle.  is this normal? What about when you get bigger tanks like bananatropics 90 cube? does it bow also? what are the posibilitys of this this blowing out?
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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Weimers
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Posted: June 27 2004 at 10:18am |
Hi,
It's normal. Ours is 225g, and I haven't had the nerve to try to figure out how much it bows. If I knew, it would worry me.
Renee
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Skyetone
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Posted: June 27 2004 at 9:26pm |
 makes me conciter buying thicker than needed acrylic if I am building my own tank....
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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chrisslc
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Posted: June 27 2004 at 9:39pm |
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or brace the top somehow.
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Murray, Utah just north of the park.
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ssilcox
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Posted: June 27 2004 at 11:16pm |
Ditto on Chrisslc's post. Any acrylic tank that is of decent size will have (or at least should have  ) some sort of bracing in the top.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: June 28 2004 at 7:25am |
Funny that this should come up.  At about 9PM last night, an acrylic box that we had professionally made for a sump/refugium just blew a corner seam! It has a top brace across the middle, but there was no corner reinforcing. The repair will involve a bead of thick acrylic for reinforcement in all corners and bottom!  Adam suggests a triangle brace on top of each corner as well. He feels that a bead of #16 and a top brace is stronger than square rod. Any other suggestions from anyone? Please call my hotline, if possible. It's the back right corner that split.  
Edited by Mark Peterson
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Jake Pehrson
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Posted: June 28 2004 at 10:29am |
Mark,
I think a triangle brace is a good idea for the top (a small lip around the whole top is a better idea).
I think a bead of #16 will be sufficient to strengthen the bottom seams, but not quite as strong as using square rod.
Skyetone,
All acrylic bows under pressure, but your tank should not be bowing a lot. If it is very noticeable then you have a problem IMO.
What kind and thickness of acrylic did you use? How tall is the tank?
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: June 29 2004 at 2:44am |
Well, A $15, 30 gal plastic tub is now the refugia for this 180. As I looked at the acrylic box after removal, I can see an additional problem developing along the back bottom seam.  The entire seam is cloudy rather than clear. I have decided to sell it and leave the repair to someone else. The two sons-in-law wanted to be helpful by removing the sand and taking the sump out that night. That was a nice gesture. Unfortunately, they also used a metal scraper to remove the coralline algae, the feather duster tubes and calciums deposits. Thanks so much for the "help". I despise acrylic!
Edited by Mark Peterson
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Skyetone
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Posted: June 29 2004 at 6:58am |
the tank I have does have a full lip on the top of the tank for sapport. It is a typical 55 gallon setup. what 48x12x24? x 1/4inch I think. I was at pets and such this weekend and saw there acrylic salt tanks... 48x48x12-18? was easy 3/8" thick. Does that help out with bowing? I would figure that bowing acrylic would be a problem like marks. But I wonder if thicker bows less that it would make everthing more stable......
Mark hasn't had glass sylicone go to pot lately has he.....
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: June 29 2004 at 11:51am |
 Skyetone wrote:
Mark hasn't had glass sylicone go to pot lately has he..... |
I once bought a used glass tank that had a leak so I fixed it with silicone. I have worked with about 25 of my own personal tanks over the years, some new but most used, and have seen 100's of tanks because of my activity in the WMAS. In my experience, acrylic tanks have problems of one sort or another at least 10 times as much as glass tanks. And the problems are even more likely with inexperienced hobbyists. They may be lightweight and they may seem easy to work with, but in the long run they are not worth the added cost. In fact, to me, they are worth less than glass tanks!  Just my experience and opinion.
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jfinch
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Posted: June 29 2004 at 11:56am |
In fact, to me, they are worth less than glass tanks!
Amen.
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Skyetone
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Posted: June 29 2004 at 4:35pm |
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yea but it is hard to build custom glass tanks...
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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jfinch
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Posted: June 29 2004 at 6:02pm |
yea but it is hard to build custom glass tanks...
Amen.
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Skyetone
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Posted: June 29 2004 at 7:08pm |
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we could all be the same .......... that would be fun...
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I will just give my warning that your system will flood, bulbs will burn out, and things will take continuous maintenance... get over it.
Magna
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Adam Blundell
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Posted: June 29 2004 at 9:00pm |
I love glass tanks. Much more than acrylic. But when I build my next big tank, or really nice display tank...... well it will be acrylic. Dang it!
Adam
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