acrylic tank bowing out?

I work for an Insurace company also we are great ppl dispite what the ppl say lol that we are cheap lmao. If I could bank what i write out in checks a week. man I would cover my salary 3 times easy

 

I find it troubling that it's that long and that thin.

Acrylic has a lot of strength tho. It'll bow alot before it breaks.

 

If you just filled it up and its bowing you ain't seen nothing yet......wait till its filled for a couple weeks and plastic reaches its saturation point its really gonna bow!!!! Anything over a 1/8" is not accectable in my book....for the most part I can say it prolly won't break but it will become very unsightly....

 

Bowing is not uncommon. For a 24 inch high tank, I prefer slightly thicker acrylic but I've seen 24's with only 3/8 inch that lasted for years and years. The most important thing IMO is to make sure that there's no crazing on the seams.

 

well its going to set in the garage for a week or so full while i take the inside scratches out and if it bows anymore i think im going to trash it.

 

i had an acrylic 5' wide 2' high 18" deep tank that bowed about an inch in the center' used a 4' level placed on center to see the curve.

thats nothing:

one of my old tanks was a 150 glass 6' wide 30" high 18" deep with 1/2" glass, where the center brace was a piece of 1/2" glass sealed with silicone which is the way it came from the factory. came home one day and found the center piece on the bottom of the tank. at the top of the tank, the center was 3" wider ( 21" ) then the outer two ( 18" ) corners, and was still holding water.

i personally dont like the bow of acrylic tanks, which is why i made mine with 3/4" so it doesnt bow

 

i had a 240 gallon made with 1/2" acrylic which bowed alot and as far as i know its still holding water, i got rid of the tank about 10 years ago.