45g DIY Cube Documentation

[latazyo]

Milleme

first of all - it appears that your handiwork is very good

since it appears that you have not filled your tank yet I HIGHLY recommend that you at least fit and build a eurobrace in case you need it

why do I think you'll need it? because here is my 24x18x18 made out of 1/2" cast acrylic



that took about 4 months to develop, I had to drain the tank and put stuff in a holding tank...it was a huge pain in the ***

if you at least build the eurobrace now you will be able to just glue it on in case yours does the same thing mine did and you wont have to drain everything and move everything (including your sandbed)

it was my 24" span that bowed, so I am very concerned about you having 4-24" spans

[surfnvb7]

wow! oh yeah, i'd definitely put in a eurobrace.....about 3" would be best. you could get away with 3/8" thick acrylic to save some money.

[latazyo]

that happened months ago, I already E-braced it

I jsut dont want it to happen to him since he's using the same acrylic

[Milleme]

DP




























if my friends read they would laugh.

[Milleme]

Originally posted by newreef8584
Save yourself a little money. If you have an old magfloat laying around, cut a small piece of felt and place it between the cleaner side and the acrylic. Clean up the tank and then dispose of the fabric. Local fabric shops sell felt by the yard for very cheap.

But as stated by others be mindful of the sand...

Hey thats a great idea man, thanx! You will probably see me post pics of something similar to what you described down the road, so check back to see your idea in use.




Latazyo, YIKES! Dang bro thanx for the warning I was getting very close to filling the system with water also. One sec, let me go check if I have enough acrylic for a euro brace.....

Okay I got the following size pieces of 1/2" acrylic in my garage
-16x18
-14x16
-5x18
-6x24

So the first option would be to strip the 6x24 piece down the middle. Then use each of those to support two of the four sides. Although this would leave me with the other two sides unbraced.
Second available option would be to cut squares or triangles to use as wedges for support on all four corners. My last option is of course to go to the store and buy acrylic for the eurobrace.

Any one with experience bracing acrylic tanks let me know what option would be the best or if there any better ways of doing so.

[snulma1]

Hey Milleme! Nice build so far! I woke up this morning and actually said to my GF lets think about building a cube tank, and we said the exact same dimensions as you!

Great build, and im def with you on figuring out the eurobracing. IF you go to www.GARF.org there is a link for tank building and I believe it will tell you the best way to brace it. Good luck!

[Milleme]

Thanx for the link man! Its definately a cool size for a tank, I can't wait to get it running now that its all coming together after this whole summer.

PICS of the aquarium on the stand in my room.

[Milleme]

Hey Kentanner, did you mean Kilz when you typed "Kiltz"? I was just rereading a section and noticed this. Wanted to make sure I got the right stuff......... thanx/

Originally posted by Kentanner11
Kiltz is water resistant, Its really cool, cauz we spilled some and let it dry and it came up like a sheet of laytex, very stretchy and I doubt any water could get through.

[Kentanner11]

/\ yea I thoght it was kiltz, wierd lol!

[Milleme]

hahaha, thanx bro, just makin sure..........

[sanosuke]

You've inspired me to start on my build soon? What did you cut the acrylic with?

[newreef8584]

Latazyo, YIKES! Dang bro thanx for the warning I was getting very close to filling the system with water also. One sec, let me go check if I have enough acrylic for a euro brace.....

Okay I got the following size pieces of 1/2" acrylic in my garage
-16x18
-14x16
-5x18
-6x24

So the first option would be to strip the 6x24 piece down the middle. Then use each of those to support two of the four sides. Although this would leave me with the other two sides unbraced.
Second available option would be to cut squares or triangles to use as wedges for support on all four corners. My last option is of course to go to the store and buy acrylic for the eurobrace.

Any one with experience bracing acrylic tanks let me know what option would be the best or if there any better ways of doing so. [/B]

If at all possible I would get a new piece of acrylic big enough to cut a 1 piece Euro Brace. You don't need 1/2" either. You could get 3/8 or even 1/4" The brace doesn't need to be super thick. I use a 1/4" brace on mine and it was wet tested for a few weeks with approx 1/32" of flew at the centre. Just looking at the quality of the workmanship on your tank I shudder at the thought of you topping it off with a multi piece brace. JMO

[Milleme]

Sanosuke, Thanx a bunch! It feels good and means a lot to know what I've done has impacted someone else. I cut the acrylic with a standard table saw. Just make sure to use a blade with small teeth, I think they make them specifically for acrylic but the ones made to cut plywood worked for me. Also be sure to use a jointer for the edges, the smoother the sides are the better the seam will turn out. If you start a thread pm or post the link so I can follow.

Newreef8584, thanks. That is my plan for today. I am goning to go see if the acrylic store has any scraps big enough. I will check back if I get some before I start building it.

On the eurobrace I was thinking of glueing the brace on the inside of the tank with about 1/2" gap from the top of the tank to the brace so that I could lay a screen down so keep fish from surfing. Has any one done it this way? I will post a diagram of the above to help clarify.....

[latazyo]

Milleme, when I built my eurobrace I didnt realize that I didnt need 1/2" acrylic, even so my 24x18" piece of 1/2" to be used for the brace was only $30....definitely worth NOT patching a brace with your scraps...it would totally ruin your tank

a thinner 24x24" piece will probably be similarly priced or less

the brace isnt as bad as it seems at first
as you can see on mine its only about 1 1/2 - 2" on the sides


and it totally cures the bow

[Milleme]

Latazyo, that brace looks nice, thanx for the pics. I am sold on the eurobrace, Iwill be picking up acrylic later on today (havent decided on thickness yet, waiting to see what is available).


One other thing I need to fix with the tank is the overflow cut. It is only 1" deep from the top of the tank. I have a feeling this isnt going to work (I wasnt thinking when I did this). Is 2" deep enough? I will have about 700/800 gph going over the 12" linear overflow.

[latazyo]

why wont that work?

the RC calculator says 12" for 800gph

I think an inch will be ok...you dont want too much dead space at the top

[Milleme]

It just looked way to close to the top of the tank, I was scared about splashing from water flow etc. I just got the router and trimmed it down to 1.5" so there would be a little extra space. I can also adjust this with the black piece of acrylic I have in the box behind the overflow. If it looks funny with the water level that low I can just cut a new peice of black acrylic to slide in there. Its more of a just in case feature.

Anyways I got the acrylic for the brace, cut out the center and have begun glueing it. Me and my dad were to lazy to get out the router so we cut the middle out with the table saw, it turned out a little more sketchy than i would have liked but it does look nice. I actually almost like the look with the brace more. The brace also gave me a place to put a bulkhead for the return from the fuge. Latazyo thanx again for recomending that, I would've been in big trouble.

Will post pics when finished.

[latazyo]

sounds good

waiting for the pics

[Milleme]

Heres another view


Now if i could only figure out how to apply the black viynl from petsmart. Anyone got a hint.

[BruiseAndy]

Originally posted by Milleme
Now if i could only figure out how to apply the black viynl from petsmart. Anyone got a hint. [/B]

Have you ever tried the paint on black latex...wait wrong forum.

[marioensf]

Hi !

I've been reading on this posting/thread, today I went to Home Depot looking for some adhesive for plexi but don't know what brand/kind to buy, last thing I want to do is poisoning a tank I'm working on. Plexi to join is 1/4 inch; I'm installing or building an internal filter on an Oceanic 40G cube, something similar to the Nano or Bio-cubes

[Milleme]

I have only worked with acrylic, I use a solvent called weld on #4. I am not sure if this is the same stuff you use for plexi or not. Maybe someone with more experience in other products will chime in. Sorry I couldnt be more help.

[BruiseAndy]

look under plastics in the yellow pages should be quite a few places you can buy it from in there.

[newreef8584]

if it is the same as the adheasive window vinyl I used, wet the section to be covered with soapy water then peel and stick the vinyl and squeegy out the bubbles with a plastic scraper or credit card.

[latazyo]

brace looks good