Acrylic question - attention sumphead :)

[flipz]

I did this attention sumphead because I read your sticky about making an acrylic tank, and you obviously know what you are talking about. However anyone can respond if they know!

I am building a tank that is custom to fit inside an old tv. It's only going to be about 2 gallons from what I can tell (Largest piece is 9-3/8" x 8-1/4". So it's nothing big.

I can get the glass cut for about $15 from what I've seen, but I'm considering maybe building it out of acrylic. I went to Lowe's today and they were selling something... although I can't say exactly what it was. Which is where I'm hoping for some help. It said acrylic, but said it is easily cut by scoring it 3x's with their little acrylic cutting tool. It seemed very flimsy to me (I could easily wobble it like sheet metal) and it had blue plastic as a covering. Any idea what is was, or if I could use it?

Sorry but I don't know the brand, size, or anything about it at all. I had pretty much ignored it since I assumed it was too flimsy for my use, but your post said that for smaller tanks sometimes the cheaper stuff is ok.

Is the cheap stuff normally thin enough to wobble? It was located right next to their glass cutting machine. They had it in all different pre-cut sizes, but it all seemed to be the same thickness.

Hopefully someone can help me with this, sorry to be so vague!

-brent

 

[JoeA]

Funny I was just at lowes looking for acrylic to build a DIY overflow box. The stuff you saw was probably only 1/8" which in my opinion is to thin. Even for your small tank I would look for at least 3/8 and if you wanna be real safe 1/4" would work too. I would'nt even use the 1/8" stuff for a small overflow let alone a tank. I would go with 1/4" trygoing to a glass shop...they may also custom cut acrylic for you.

Just my 2 cents

 

[jsoong]

This is my $0.02.

I wouldn't use thin (1/16 or 1/8), cheap acrylic sheets for a show tank. That stuff will flex under load & make tiny cracks at the surface. Over time, the sheet turns hazy & looks terrible. Also, I wouldn't use the scoring & break method to cut the sheets- the edges are not really clean enough to give you nice looking joints .... Plus - ragged edges = gaps = leaks!

I would suggest 1/4" cell casted acrylic for a tank. You'll have to find that at a plastics shop, but it is expensive (about twice as much as glass locally). And to get nice edges, you really need to cut on a table saw or a router. Most places will do custom cuts for a fee, however.