My constraint is room, its between a door frame and a concrete wall. I want it to fill that out and it will... one day when I build a 480 gallon plywood tank. Until then I'm going to drop a 210 in there for 800 or 900 dollars and be done with it.
Custom aquarium recommendations
- Thread starter kamikaziechameleon
- Start date
RE: acrylic tanks, I'm in the same boat as you guys, I want the largest tank as cheap as possible. I had a few conversations with some builders and asked what's the best bang for the buck, if I don't care on size, shape, just a big box to put fish in. They told me sheets of acrylic come in certain sizes and if you can make as few cuts as possible and use up full sheets of acrylic with no waste then you can get the biggest tank possible with out getting into the "custom" price range.
10X6' foot sheets is the best bang for the buck. This sheet cut length wise gets you 10X3 sections and you get a 10X3X3' tank for the absolute cheapest "per gallon" tank.
Another common sheet size is 8X6 so you can get 8X3X3 tanks built economically. If you wanted a 7X3X3 it may cost more than the 8 footer just because of the extra cuts. The same amount of acrylic is used.
If your flexible on size you can take advantage of this.
10X6' foot sheets is the best bang for the buck. This sheet cut length wise gets you 10X3 sections and you get a 10X3X3' tank for the absolute cheapest "per gallon" tank.
Another common sheet size is 8X6 so you can get 8X3X3 tanks built economically. If you wanted a 7X3X3 it may cost more than the 8 footer just because of the extra cuts. The same amount of acrylic is used.
If your flexible on size you can take advantage of this.
Interesting. Another point for me was, when I was younger I had more stupid friends than money, so buying a 8000 pound tank and carrying it up 7 flights of stairs was cool and no big deal for all of us. At 45 though, I definitely have more money versus friends that are looking to help me carry a crazy heavy tank down into my basement and through a window. My 400 gallon in acrylic was silly heavy, I couldn't even imagine what a glass tank that size would weigh.
I don't mind the 10'x3'x3' tank its actually perfect for something I want to do but not at the moment. I have to get my basement finished first.
Never worked with acrylic before, lol I have a old hex plexi tank that weighs nothing but its not the same material really as it has browned with age new acrylic doesn't do that. I don't believe the weight per cubic inch is actually dramitcally different between plexi and glass or am I wrong? I thought it was like .1lb per square inch diff at most.
Yeah it's way different, the acrylic is lighter for sure. I moved my 450 acrylic with just one other friend 8X3X30". We are both big guys though. I just moved my all glass 210 with the same guy 7X2X2 and I think they were close to the same weight?
Its going to be 3/4" sides and top and 1/2 for the bottom
Thats some pretty good info to think about.
ROFL so true...my friend look at me funny when I start talking about large tanks. I have most of my tanks at my office up stairs around a spiral stair case. A 125 is a challenge to get up here and I have 5 lol
I just picked up a used acrylic 300 gallon over the weekend for 650 over the weekend. It needs to be buffed but I need it up for the next month as I have to fill it with fish while I move some other tanks around. At any rate it came with a nice stand and filtration setup... only draw back being it seems to not have any room for increased flow on the sump without adding more drains. When I set it up for good I'd like it to be running 1,500-2,000 GPH instead of the current 700.
Midwest Custom Aquarium did a great job with a low shipping charge. 3/4" bow front with 1" sides, and a baffled lid. They also did a superb job with the stand and canopy, and plumbed the filtration system in the stand.
yeah I hear midwest customs is great. I've seen lots of good threads with tanks from them. When I got larger I'll probably go with them.
Not going to lie though I could really go with a glass tank, I know how much they weigh but the condition you see acrylics in that are only 5 or 10 years old is very discouraging.
Not going to lie though I could really go with a glass tank, I know how much they weigh but the condition you see acrylics in that are only 5 or 10 years old is very discouraging.
