Acrylic aquarium build L60xW60xH40 in cm

Mitsie · Nov 26, 2022

Hello all,

Probably this has been asked several times but i can't really find anything for my country the Netherlands.
Acrylic is not really a thing here. I want to build my own aquarium (rimless) from acrylic. I did some research but im struggling with a few things.
What thickness i should use for my build ? Other thing is acryfix is some kind of thick glue, but the videos i watched they did it with different glue more liquid. What is prefferable ?
Sorry if this is asked before.

Kind regards,

Mitch

FSP · Nov 26, 2022

Rimless is kind of annoying with acrylic and anything taller than a frag tank due to how easily it deflects. Off hand, I'd say 15mm. If you were willing to do a top brace, 8mm would be fine. Thicker is always fine too.

The glue difference is solvent cement (liquid) vs two part polymerizable cement (thick). Each have their ups and downs, and it comes down to preference (for the most part)

I'm biased towards solvent, but I do think it's your best option for a small build like this.

That said, cement is the easiest of your concerns. The kicker with acrylic (besides the deflection thing) is sourcing quality acrylic and machining it. I'm guessing you have access to Evonik products in the Netherlands which is fine. Machining is another bear, of which there are some good threads here and the other forum, but it will be the biggest barrier of entry if you don't already have it or access to a good shop. Then, actually putting the thing together comes with its own sets of problems and learning curve. You get the idea.

Building tanks is fun, so this isn't meant to discourage you, but you will likely pay much more compared to buying an acrylic tank (Schuran?) and much, much more than a glass tank. If diy is more important than acrylic, it would be fairly cheap (by aquarium standards

) to pick up some glass and silicone (I hear this stuff is as good as it gets in Europe https://olive-systems.com/en/product/a-01-aquarium-silicone/). 9mm glass would make the sides bombproof (rimless) but the bottom would need internal bracing.