Best place to purchase acrylic

[rcombs]

Where is the best place to purchase acrylic. Also thickness suggestions.

Thinking of doing a DIY out of a 4'x8'

120 gal. 4x2x2. what would be thickness requirements. I read somewhere that it depends on the height of the tank.

16"= 6mm, 20"= 10 mm, 24"= 12 mm.

Anyone? 

[four_by_ken]

Curious... that's a standard size tank.  Why not just buy one?

[rcombs]

cheaper to build? the experience. Also want to make it like the saltwater frag tank we bring to the swap to sell corals in. A build in filter in the back of the tank with maybe some k1 kaldness ect. Just something to try.

Maybe check with local glass store for extras to practice welding. maybe make a model tank with any scrap I can get for cheap. Its winter, and I am bored. lol.

[danielratti]

Might be cheaper to build but if its your first tank with acrylic you might want to start smaller to practice. You get bubbles in the seam you are risking a 120 gallons of water all over your floor.

[rcombs]

Might be cheaper to build but if its your first tank with acrylic you might want to start smaller to practice. You get bubbles in the seam you are risking a 120 gallons of water all over your floor.

Great advice. Think I am going to practice on scrap.

[Arturtle]

The GARF calculator is generally a good starting point for thickness, etc.

http://www.garf.org/tank/buildtank.asp

I have been thinking about trying to build a tank myself, but I'm not sure I have anything to accurately cut up a 4x8' sheet of acrylic.  If I was going to do it, I would probably buy a sheet of 1/4" and make a few 20-30 gallon tanks for practice.  Keep us posted if you build any.

[Ron]

120 gal. 4x2x2. what would be thickness requirements. I read somewhere that it depends on the height of the tank.

The pressure of the water on the sides increases with depth. The thickness is going up based on height to reduce deflection due to the pressure. The span may also have some influence, but I think 4' is short enough that it shouldn't be a concern, especially with bracing across the top as well. The GARF link provided is a good one.

I have been thinking about trying to build a tank myself, but I'm not sure I have anything to accurately cut up a 4x8' sheet of acrylic. 

I spent sometime thinking about a large DIY tank and that was the sticking point for me as well. My impression is that the companies who do large tank have a CNC setup for cutting. A DIY CNC isn't out of the question as well, but one large enough for such a big cut is.

[danielratti]

3 people and a table saw works pretty well.

[rcombs]

Read online that some places will cut the sheets for you for free or little charge. All you have to do is provide a cut sheet. hmmmmm 

[four_by_ken]

That's what I was going to recommend.

That's what I do with steel.

[Michael Zebrowski]

I have built both 4'x2'x2' and 8'x2'x2' tanks using 3/4" marine plywood for the bottom, sides, back, and front frame and 1/2" acrylic for the fronts.  the 4' tanks had a center brace, the 8' tanks had 3 braces spaced every 2'.

They lasted for many, many years.

[Bremmon]

Wesco sign supply sells cast acrylic up to 1/2" much, much cheaper than you will find just about anywhere else... 3/8" runs about 180$ for a 51x100 sheet 1/2" runs $250 for a 51x100 sheet. They will also cut it very precisely for 5$ per cut..