www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

Hi all I am new here and I was wondering if you could give me some advise on making a acrylic fish tank.
This is my insperation
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... genumber=2

I was wondering how hard this would be to acomplish by myself I have never had any acrylic experience before.

Can you also advise where I can get good priced acrylic sheets from or where I can get in contact with someone who would be able to make this for me ?

Can you also please advise of someone that would be able to cut the acrylic sheets to what I want ?

Hi Red Stafford,

welcome to the forum.

Making a tank like that will not be easy, unless you have specialist equipment.

You should be able to get the acrylic cut to size from www.perspexdistribution.co.uk

I think they can laser cut the acrylic for you and so the finish on the edges will be good and can then just be glued together using a specialist cement. Tensol 70 cement would probably work, but check with the acrylic supplier. Tensol cement is not easy to use as it takes hours to go of and so it cannot be moved during this time.

If you check on ebay and search for perspex there is a firm on there that makes things from perspex, they might be able to make you a tank for a reasonable price!

Cheers for that mate.

Any reason you want an acrylic tank and not a glass one.

Acrylic can scratch very easily....

Making clean bends would require a good straight heat bender, after the acrylic has been softened up without over-cooking it, you'll need a a flat surface to lay it on and a built up 45 degree angle guides, sufficient enough to cover the length of the acrylic to settle your acrylic with... but before anything would turn into a disaster... DIY acrylic projects with bending involved should be left for a professional to make, it's not only the bending that you should consider in your DIY, but the all the stress points, the amount of angle it should have, the joints, adhesives, supports, base and in your case the load or volume of water of the tank your considering to make. without experience in this field, your DIY acrylic tank, is like a bomb with a timer. and believe you me it will detonate... in time!!! So it would definitely save you $$$ if you buy one from the pet shop, and you'll get a warranty for it and most importantly piece of mind.