acrylic aquarium size jigsaw puzzle

found a place locally that only sells 1" thick 4x8' acrylic sheets and will cut for free. in order to maximize the amount of acrylic, can anyone come up with a tank size and cutting configuration to use the most acrylic without wasting any. the tank can either be 6" eurobraced or solid top with holes. the bottom will have 6" strips along the bottom against the outer edges. the back wall of the tank is a coast to coast overflow. the external drains are with the 6" wide leftover pieces. the bottom and back is black acrylic.

the height of the tank is 24"
the width 36-48"
the length 48-72"

its a jigsaw puzzle, thanks for the help in advance

 

are you constructing your own huge 2' high tank. Is it for a display tank? About your question I can't think math this early in the morning sorry.

 

Most acrylic tanks have the front edges bent. The 4 x 8 sheets arent really long enough to make more than a 4' front with 2' sides if you bend. How many sheets are you planning on purchasing and could you provide a more specific tank size? The variables give us too much wiggle room to give an accurate puzzle guide . =)

 

Two sheets you could make a 48x48x24. If you go with 3 sheets you can double your volume. 3 sheets you could pull off a 84x48x24(i know its not on the list but this obviously means you could get a 72x48x24 also.)

Note: this is with standard style bracing without any center braces. Euro bracing (from what I understand) is basically one solid piece with holes cut out (or maybe just one big hole cut out, but it's still a solid piece.) Either way I just wanted to make it clear that these are simply 6inch strips that overlap in the corners with those sizes.

 

got it, 48"Lx36"Wx24"H

black sheet:
1-36"x48" bottom
1-24"x48" back ( coast to coast overflow )
12-6"x48" bottom along outer edges and external overflows

clear sheet:
2-24"x34" sides
1-24"x48" front
12-6"x48" eurobracing

would you use a center brace with the eurobracing or just wrap the outer edges?
3/4" or 1" ?

 

with that height tank, 1 inch is overkill. 3/4 inch is even overkill. My 120 uses less than half inch and it is 24 inches high also. 3/4 inch with eurobracing will be really strong. I hope with you making this thick/strong tank, you will have a 6-12 inch wave going back and forth (wave tanks need extra beef.)

 

1/2" bows to much at 24"

 

reef man, (or anyone else) I am going to order cut to order pieces of 1/4" thick to build a refug. Can you tell me what your recommendation would be for brand or style for cementing the pieces together. Also, is there a special bit I would need to use to drill it?

 

my 3/8's bows more than I would like at 24 inches (my tank). I agree going 3/4 is a good thing, but point was, not that much bracing will be required. I would probably only go 3 inches instead of 6.

 

1" acrylic will allow an open top without eurobracing and will not bend at a height of 24". the reason for this thread was to put the jigsaw puzzle together with the sheets of acrylic
tanks for the responses, im out of here.