Acrylic thickness for 300gal?

[nickt]

The dimensions are 96L 24W 30H. The manufacturer assures me that 1/2inch acrylic is enough. What are your thoughts? :grr:

 

[nickt]

OH................It is domestic acrylic

 

[baja_01]

1/2 is fine. There will be a fair amount of bowing though and a thicker size will help fix this.

 

[nickt]

thanks for the info!

 

[Pro_builder]

1/2" will work, but 5/8 or 3/4 will drop the bow in the front and back panel.

 

[nickt]

thanks.

 

[proud2bcanadian]

You'll want to eurobrace it for sure no matter what thickness.

 

[nickt]

what is the difference with a eurobrace?

 

[proud2bcanadian]

The eurobrace keeps the tank from bowing.

 

[baja_01]

Yes, incase you didnt know, braceing on acrylic tanks is pretty much required, unless you are using some extream thicknesses. The braceing stops the panels from bowing so much that they pull themselves apart.

You can do cross bracing of euro bracing. Euro is a normally solid piece with a hole cut in it to leave some where around 4in of rim. Cross bracing is solid strips connecting the top of the front to the top of the back.

 

[nickt]

I know all about bracing, and that its normal. What is eurobracing? Is that something special?

 

[NaH2O]

Nickt - here is a pic of my tank when it was built, and I have a Euro top. It is that top edge - no cross pieces....so it is all open.

 

[cheeks69]

I too went with euro bracing and think it's much better then the cross bracing especially if your using MH's.

As everyone knows, Metal Halide bulbs run hot. This heat can caused thermal expansion in the acrylic. Allegedly, it can also soften the acrylic also making failure more likely. Failure will typically occur as a crack radiating from a corner cut.

It is simple to avoid MH bulb induced failures: don't put a bulb over the acrylic. Put your bulbs over the cutouts. If it means less light in your tank than you wanted, live with it. Bulbs over acrylic are the single greatest cause of acrylic tank failures.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/acrylicaqrepair.htm

 

[nickt]

that's some useful info cheeks, thanks!

 

[cheeks69]

Have you decided on a thickness nickt ? Mine is a 93gal and it's 1/2 I would recommend 3/4 just for piece of mind

 

[nickt]

Not sure yet. Nah2o what size is your tank?

 

[cheeks69]

Here's a link 120 Gallon Reef Tank for NaH20

 

[NaH2O]

Thanks, Robert