Acrylic tank to thin?

HarlequinTuskReef

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So I've had a 220 gallon tank setup for about 8 months now. Dimensions are 5ft x 2ft wide x 3 ft tall. I bought this used from a guy who had it setup for quite a while. Well lately I have been seeing a lot of posts on fb about failed tanks. Well I decided to dig into my tank stats and now I'm woried I might have a problem. The sides of the tank are 3/4" but the front panel is only 5/8 (appears to be 3/4 at bottom of panel but top of panel looks like 5/8 or 21/32). I put a T square on the top in the middle of the tank and it's bowing by 1/2 inch. I'm now a bit paranoid..... the top brace is really robust though at the top are fairly small. Anybody have any advice on what I should do? I already tried the " well I just need a bigger tank" routine on my wife with no luck

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Let's see if we can get someone in here who knows a thing or two about acrylic @cromag27
 
I think you answered your own question. 1/2" deflection in the panel is indicating a problem. Not saying the tank is going to blow any minute but the stress is visible. Stresses and Strains 5th edition would recommend at least 1.25" for all panel surfaces. You can save alot of money by lowering the water level to meet the maximum height for your current thickness. Your new maximum water height would be 22" for your indicated panel thickness.

Most people will not pay for the correct acrylic thickness in my 30 years plus experiance with acrylic tanks. So most tanks are made with much thinner acrylic. Acrylic is about 6 times stonger than glass for impact resistance but it does absorb some water which makes the panel bow at higher pressures. The industry gets away with thinner glass and acrylic because we know the average user will break down the tank before two years of use and sell it in a garage sale. Just the inside industry facts. Most people give up on aquariums before two years are up. But then you have all the others like us reef keepers. We tend to stay in for the long haul. So we should be willing to purchase higher quality tanks for long life.

The most important question at this point is how do the seams look? If they are water clear and bubble free you might be okay. If the show some white sections in the seam the seam is starting to fail. Is the entire bottom of the tank supported? If not that is the first priority. An acrylic tank should be supported along the entire bottom with no gaps between supports unlike glass tanks with mold injected frames. It is good idea to use a thin layer of foam under the tank to make sure it is contacting the stand completely due to possible racking of the tank stand.

Wish you well and may all your tanks hold water!
 
1st, I'm a glass kind of a guy... never owned a plastic tank. But. I've got a bunch of friends that do, or have.

Properly bonded acrylic is STRONG. Stronger than silicone sealed glass. One of the things that make it strong is that it is flexible. A 1/2" bow over a large acrylic panel would not scare me. That euro bracing you've got, once again, provided it's properly bonded, adds TONS of rigidity to the tank. Nothing you've shown or said would bother me in the least. Friend of mine has a 250g acrylic system, it's thinner than yours, and bows a good bit more. No problem.

Splitting, cracking, crazing, seams coming loose... get it empty now. But a bit of a bow? No problem. Same 1/2" bow on a glass tank? I'd be worried as hell!

Now... that advice and the guarantee that comes along with it is worth just exactly what you paid for it. Nothing.

Here's an absolutely solid fact for you: Your tank will fail. They all do... eventually. Our tanks are either glass sealed with silicone, which breaks down over time, or cast acrylic bonded with resin, which also breaks down over time. How much time? Depends... on far too many variables for anyone around here to give an accurate estimate.

Setting a large container full of salt water in your living room is a risk. Don't believe me? Ask your insurance agent what they'll pay for damage caused by that tank failing. The usual answer is the same as I'm going to send you if your tank breaks immediately after I told you not to worry about it. If you choose to pursue this hobby, long term, you are almost certain to have a tank failure causing some amount of water damage eventually. All you can do is try and minimize the risk. Pay attention to the tank, seal condition, stand condition, plumbing, overflow, sump, ATO system... anything that could make a real mess should be inspected regularly.
 
Thanks for your time. I agree that every tank is a risk for water damage. As long as the tank does not catastrophically fail then I should be able to take care of things as I have a 300 gallon sump in the basement. At some time I want to build a 600 gallon plywood tank but that's quite awhile in the future. I will just keep watching the tank for signs of stress.
 

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