freckleface acrylics for sump?

i plan on making my own acrylic sump but 1/4" acrylic is expensive!!! i saw a site called freckleface and saw that their prices are way cheaper. is it still good? anyone have experience with them? also can anyone help me with the sump, ive never worked with acrylic before as in terms of welding and accually creating a sump. so if anyone with experiance with welding acrylic please help me on teaching me how to do it.
thanks,
Jake

 

bump.

 

For me that would be risky having never worked with acrylic before.

I bought a 40 gallon breeder tank and then installed acrylic baffles in it for my sump. That is an easier way to kinda make a DIY sump the way you want/need it.

 

+1 I did the same thing

 

Find limpet's reef DIY on youtube, and turn an existing tank into a sump. Much cheaper, and they work very well.

 

i cant use a 20 long because it wont fit, is there a tank that dimentions are close to 28"x16"x16"? thats the biggest one that i could fit.

 

Sure, 15g is 24x12x12. A 20g high will work too.

You can use Ron's advice to use on any size tank, not just a 20l.

 

If you don't have experience with working with acrylics, that's ok. BUT, what you will need is good experience with woodworking. If you have taht, you just need to know to make clean cuts on the edges that will be bonded, make sure all the joints are true 90º as well. If acrylics are cheaper than the normal price, the manufacturing process will most likely be inferior, i.e. cell casted vs. extruded. As with everything in this hobby, if you go cheap, eventually you will regret it. I've done it too, I learned the hard way.

 

for a sump thought extruded (ff) acrylic wont matter. ive seen loads of sump made of f acrylic.

 

Any extruded should not be used imo. It deteriorates quickly, turns yellow and gets brittle. Exposer to saltwater and any UV exposure only speed this up. Not to mention the fact that the way it is manufactured does not allow consistent thickness and it contains more impurities. If you are going to take the time to build something, even a sump it's my feeling you might as well do it right the first time and avoid any possible failures. Cell cast is the only acrylic that should ever be used for this type of project. My .02