almost ready to give up tired of breaking tanks

i have now broke 3 fish tanks trying to build my sump. i have decided that a combination of the cheap tanks from petsmart and the very tight fit in my stand are to blame. 2 ten gallon tanks kinda have to be shoe-horned into my stand for the 55 gallon. i bought a higher quality tank but with the rim is just slightly to wide. i think the vibrations from the pump are causing the tanks to crack.

i decided i want to get an acrylic tank either made, or try to make one myself.

anyone work with acrylic before?? i am worried about spending a bunch of money on material, and making something that leaks.

i am going to get an estimate from glasscages.com anyone have experience with them???

also thought about ordering pre cut sections and using weld-on to just do the gluing myself

any thoughts appreciated

 

Sorry to here that. I tried to drill two ten's a few months back with no luck. I just purchased a 90g stand shured it up with some 2x4's and put a plywood top on it, painted it black to match and I love it. Then I made a 20g long sump/fuge.

Your right though, there is no room for descent filtration under the 55g's stand.

 

Go to Home Depot and get 2 cheap pieces of 1/8" lexan and cut them to fit inside the drilled tank that cracked, so it completely covers the crack.
Seal the crack with silicone and then also silicone the lexan to the inside of the tank.

Drill out the hole for the bulkhead thru the lexan and reassemble.
The lexan should prevent further damage.
As a further precaution you could sandwich the cracked glass between 2 pieces of lexan so it takes the pressure of the bulkhead and spreads it over a wider area of the glass.

 

The glass on the 10g tanks is really thin. I cracked one myself when drilling.

 

Try a rubbermade container instead maybe?

 

Another option is to use a siphon between the two 10g tanks. You can use a U tube meant for overflow surface skimmers. It's more risky though since if it clogs you'll have a flood.

 

I've seen a ton of rubbermade sumps it's the best solution in this case. and will save you a ton of money.
They are very easy to drill as well

J

 

The only concern I have about the rubbermaid containers is their tendency to bow which will put pressure on the sides of the 55g stand. The OP may need to use a center brace of some sort to make sure the bowing does not put pressure on the sides of the stand. Perhaps my concerns are overblow.

 

Yep, I know of only 1 guy that has successfully drilled a 10g.

That, and I hear petsmart and big box stores do use tempered glass on panels you would not expect them to. That's fine if you are not drilling them.

I agree, use a toughbox or similar container. I used a 17g toughbox on my 90g for a sump. It worked great.

 

im not sure if i can find a rubbermaid type container that will be the right size. it cant be any winder then 10 inches, or any longer then 20.

i'll wait and find out how much glasscages is going to charge me for a couple acrylic tanks. if i can get them for 100 or less ill just go that route, if not ill start exploring some other options.


thanks