24" cube

[tommyp]

Tossing around building one out of acrylic. what thickness should I use? 1/4" too thin? Was thinking of using extruded acrylite FF. It is supposed to be the best extruded. Should I use cast instead?

Thanks

Tom

[tankgirl]

Hi Tom,
Cool news! I think 1/4" is only good for about 18" height, but am not sure.
You should be able to get the acrylic manufacturer's spec sheet and that will tell you for certain.

Here's a link on DIY acrylic tanks;
http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dyn...2Facrylic.html

HTH, tg

[tommyp]

Thanks TG!

I figured I would have to use 3/8" Not sure if I am going to build this. Trying to find a reasonable sheet of acrylic is hard for me up here. We have a local acrylic place but they charge an arm and a leg for material. I am searching for a larger distributor to buy from

Thanks

Tom

[tankgirl]

Tom, if acrylic is hard to get in your area, how about building it out of glass?

[tommyp]

I like to be able to drill it easily. Glass would be cool though. I wasn't looking in that direction but I'll check it out.

Thanks

Tom

[Maxx]

Sounds very cool! Please keep us posted on what you decide.
Nick

[johnlewis]

Glass is not difficult to drill and you can get a diamond hole saw for about $30.00 on-line. I've drilled tens of hole in glass, the key is go slow and use water to lubricate and cool. You would only need 1/4" glass

[Craig Manoukian]

I agree 3/8" acrylic or 1/4" glass. Have fun deciding!

[Brucey]

Tom, i love cube tanks ..... always look so cool ..... any chance of going bigger or is it a clam tank or something .... 3ft cubes just look awsome and hold a suprisingly large amount of water
Brucey

[Gina]

I also love cubes! Going to follow along with this one to see what you decide and how you do it!

[wooddood]

sounds nice tommy,acrylic would be nice weight wise but scatches easilly.glass is harder to drill but can be done like john said.personally i would go the glass route but thats just me.good luck on whatever you decide.

[tommyp]

Brucey et al. I sent out a quote for a 36x36x18" acrylic tank with overflow it was around $450. I am waiting to see how much more a 24" tall one would be. I think that would be ideal for what I want.

I think the three foot cube is the way I am going to go. I don't think I am going to diy because it is a lot of water and by the time I add up all of the costs it is close to what I would pay to have it built and the warranty is nice as well.

It would be neat to do in glass but I don't have a glass connection and know the price of glass plate will be prohibitive. Acrylic would be the way to go but I feel that some one with a shop that can handle sheet goods and has more experience bending is better off than me.

Thanks for all of the interests.

I will keep all posted with the progress.

Tom

[tommyp]

Here is the dream in progress so far.

36"x36"24H One quote so far $499 3/8"acrylic w/overflow, haven't priced glass yet. It will be viewed from three sides. Internal overflow on the back side.

I am thinking running one 400w 14k halide in center. To start if I need more light I will add more.

For circulation I am thinking of running an ampmaster 2100 on a closed loop. possibly sitting level with the tank and right behind it. I would make the stand go behind the tank as well as below leaving room for the pump and CL plumbing. I was thinking of running the inlet and outlet of the closed loop through the back wall intakes 4-6"off bottom returns 4-6" from the top of the waterlevel. should put 20x through the tank. Going to run bare bottom and probably cover the back wall with rock. Hiding the overflow and the CL plumbing. and giving a "low" flow place for my lps.

I would run a custom sump underneath with a asm G3 skimmer and sectioned for refugium. Return pump would be a mag5 I am shooting for 2x turnover through the sump per hour (less through the refuge) allowing for good skimming.

What cha all think?

Tom

[Maxx]

I would go w/ a 250w HQI/DE in place of the 400w set up. Samjay Joshi just posted in this month's Advanced Aquarist Online magazine that the 250w DE's put out marginally lower PAR than the 400w MH's and use ALOT less energy doing it. And an easy way to get more PAR would be to lower the lighting a few inches....
JMO...and everything else sounds great!
Nick

[tommyp]

Yeah maxx I saw that they do put out more par per watt but I bet I will get better coverage/spread of light with a single 400 watt than a 250de. and putting it closer to the tank will only decrease the radius of coverage.

If the 400 isn't enough I would run 2 250DE.

But also the 400 watter runs off a $45 ballast and I have everything else. If I went DE I would have to get a new ballast and a new fixture. The cost of efficientcy than becomes neglegable for me.

Tom