Plexi, lexan, Acrylic?

Alright gang, I hope this doesn't go down as the dumbest question ever. I have been making my own tanks just for fun the last couple months but I have been using plexi glass. It just seems to come in the right sizes at my local home depot and so far no issues. It cuts good and glues well with #4. Are these materials the same and if not whats the differance? Thanks for any input.

 

Plexiglass is definitely a different polymer than either of the other two. If you are getting the "Acrylite" type plastic at home depot this is GE Plastics version of acrylic.

Lexan is again a different matter and is a poycarbonate. Polycarbonate is more easily scratched than acrylic but is almost unbreakable and is very easy to cut with hand saws as it is not as brittle.

Acrylic is brittle is the clearest of the three but not as easy to cut or drill.

Plexiglass is cloudier, softer and not as strong as the other two. I would not use plexiglass for tanks over 14" tall because of the strength issue. You can definitely see the difference in clarity between acrylic and plexiglass when have tanks that are full of water standing next to each other.

Bonding is not a problem for any of the three if using Weldon #4.

Personnally, I use the acrylite from HD for small projects: skimmers, overflows, small tanks. and any of the number of doodads that I make for my tanks where I need sheet plastic.
I use acrylic from a plastics store for the larger projects:
large tanks; sumps; certain parts of the smaller projects.

I do not have that much experience with plexiglass but from the people I have talked to and articles I have read it is not recommended for stress related projects where water pressure or simply volume of water is a factor.

Drew

 

Thank you very much for the detailed information. As always, I'm learning more everyday because of you guys and the site. ;D

 

You're very welcome...ocean!!

 

dx7fd2

Thanks for the great info now i can start doing some more DIYing ;D

Peter

 

Ice and ocean,

Check my website for the pages on building a weir (overflow) there some pretty good info there and some links to stuff. :

http://www.podzilla.us/aquascapeDS/overflow/overflow.html

The main page is:

http://www.podzilla.us/aquascapeDS/aquascapeDS.html

The tank, skimmer, overflow and muffler pages are up. The lights, results, and sump/fuge pages aren't quite ready. I've got some coding to do for them but the pages on building a sump/fuge and aqualinks are close to being finished and should be up online soon. ;D

Also check the link to:

http://www.melevsreef.com

He's got some great pics and info on using acrylic. [smiley=2thumbsup.gif]

Drew