Custom Acrylic tank

[ReefMP]

I'm looking for a custom tank...without the custom tank price. So, I'm thinking of building my own depending on how much I would be saving.
Some think I'm handy, hopefully enough to be able to build a tank. Over the years I've had both glass and acrylic tanks, I like the clarity of acrylic but it's so easy to scratch...but it would probably be easier to build an acrylic tank so I'm exploring this option first.

I'm thinking a ~150 (60"x24"x24"). Looking for some input from you guys that have done this before, should I go with 1/2", 3/4" or 1" sheets? Where's the best place to get acrylic sheets (possibly cut to size) in the US?

Note: I plan to euro brace the tank. Thanks for your help.

 

[tcfab]

Do you have the tools to build the tank? Table saw with acrylic blade and large router table? If you don't have the tools you are not going to save any money building your own probably more. Also you might want to take on building the sump before you build a tank that size if you haven't done a lot of acrylic work. I would look in your yellow pages for an acrylic supplier, that is going to be cheaper then having some shipped to you. Hope that helps.

 

[skulls_and_sparrows]

building an acryliv tank is faf beyond being handy, ive pretty much built houses and its not even in the same ball park.

like some else said you need a huge router table, especially the size you are thinking and a top table saw with a top blade.

if building tanks was really that easy, way more.people would be doing it.

also building something that is going to hold a 150 gallons of water and it being your first time, thats something to really think about. do this dump 1 gallon of water out on your floor look at the mess and multiple that by 150.

like someone said maybe start with a sump or even a small nano tank to get a feel for it, i dont recommend jumping in head first with the 150.

Sent from my SPH-P100 using Tapatalk

 

[ReefMP]

Thanks guys, I've built 1/4" acrylic sumps in the past which wasn't a problem at all. I do lots of wood working and have all the tools needed, the only thing I would have to pickup are some new router bits to do the top and I might also slightly route the edges, the tank would be in-wall so I'm not sure I'll need to do anything to the edges. If I do this, I'll probably have the sheets cut to size as well so I wouldn't need to use my table saw, I would just have to prep the edges for welding. I'm not too worried about not doing it right, just trying find out what size acrylic, where to get the best price and comparing the cost of DIY with having it custom built. I will also be comparing this against a glass tank before making a decision.