Looking for acrylic work done locally

[gbabbitt117]

I am looking at buying a 12" rimless cube and would like to have a black acrylic wall with 3 chambers built to make the tank an all-in-one. Does anybody local work with acrylic and have experience making something like this? I am also looking to have an acrylic canopy built. Your feedback is appreciated.

 

[JohnK]

Do you mean a divider to install into a glass tank?

If so, it's possible but a little tricky because acrylic will expand in water, and silicone doesn't adhere to acrylic very well. Assuming it is a glass tank, you'd be better off making the divider out of glass IMO.

 

[ShadowACE]

Exactly right on the expansion rates! However I did do this in my 20 gal long that I used to make my sump. I siliconed in a piece of acrylic as a divider for my refugium compartment. The temperature is pretty consistent between the glass and the panel. (same water).

Another issue is appeal. it takes a good radius of silicon on both sides of the acrylic to adhere to the glass. (Never perfect) In a sump, appeal may not be an issue.

for 12x12 I would build the entire box out of Acrylic. Home depot sells it. Use Weld-on #4 to bond the pieces together. order it on-line. 4 oz can outta be enough for this project. Apply it using a plastic syringe like you get from the Oral Surgeon who yanked your wiz-dome teeth.

I would not make a lid using it. The moisture will cause it sag. Create a aluminum frame and use the netting from Bulk reef Supply.
I have made several netted covers.

If you are set on glass - take the tank to a glass shop and have a piece cut and glue it in You can probably order it in the color you want.

Fun Stuff!

 

[gbabbitt117]

I'm looking to have something built like the one pictured halfway down this thread:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t266110.html

 

[JohnK]

The tank in that link almost looks like the partition and back chambers is smoehow removable? (or was that just a pic before it was installed?). Whatever the case, that's an acrylic tank not glass.

To do acrylic in acrylic you would install it with weldon if you were to install it permenantly. That could be done, but would be pretty difficult to do nicely. The best way to do it would be to scratch build the tank and install the partition section during the initial build. The hard part about installing an acrylic partition in an acrylic tank that's already built is that the fit would have to be PERFECT, and even then it would be quite tricky to properly apply the weldon #4. If there were small imperfections they could be fixed with weldon #16, but this would get messy and ugly fast. Anything more than very slight imperfections would result in a partition that would leak, and or turn into a total mess.

That's a good suggestion about building an entire box and then installing that, might allow for some more wiggle room/imperfection on the install.

Also FWIW, when acrylic expands (or covers bow) it's not due to heat, it's the acrylic actually absorbing a tiny amount of water. Fully submerged acrylic parts such as sump baffles expand evenly. Acrylic covers will absorb more water on the wet side and this is what causes them to sag. The expansion is a tiny bit, bit in some cases has been enough to crack sumps that have tightly fit baffles.

 

[gbabbitt117]

It's actually a glass tank, made by Cadlights. I went with this tank and am not moving forward with a custom cube. Thank you for your help.

 

[JohnK]

Again, your best bet would be to make your partition out of glass, then no worries or special challenges.