WTB Acrylic frag tank

I am looking to buy an acrylic frag tank with built in overflow, prefer a black bottom, some where around 24x20x8 dimensions. If anyone knows of a used tank for sale or of a place to buy one from a known manufacturer, please let me know.
Thanks
John

John
look on ebay there are a lot of people selling them on there for some real nice prices

Thanks . already checked that out, all by the same place. Am thinking about buying from there.

Just build one John ;D

I built my glass one

or you could build one yourself. a 24 x 24 x 8 frag tank in 1/4 inch acrylic would need one black 24x24 sheet for the bottom, one 24x24 clear sheet to cut into 3 of the sides, and a 12x24 clear to cutdown to the 4th side panel, and then a 12x24 black sheet to make whatever overflow box you like. about $53 in plastic, plus shipping and about $20 more for glue. this place is in Philly.

http://everythingplastic.thomasnet.com/viewitems/sheet/sheet-cut-to-size?&bc=100|1004|1009

you can probably find acrylic locally at HD, Lowes, ACE hardware, Snears, or local glass shops. a place about a mile from me sells the glue and plexi , but only in full or half sheets. thats where i go. hey, if you were good at making model airplanes as a kid, and handy with a table saw,. theres no reason you cant build one.

1/4 inch material will be about $75 including glue. 3/8 costs about 60% more for the sheet. like from this place, but only in clear.
CLEAR PLEXIGLASS ACRYLIC SHEET CUT-TO-SIZE, ACRYLIC SHEET, PLEXIGLASS SHEET, PLEXIGLAS SHEET, CLEAR ACRYLIC SHEET
3/8 thick will cost about $85 for acrylic. so are you looking for a pretty show tank, or a pretty nice one you can make yourself? the only tricky part is getting a clear looking glued seam. ive been using a half dozen tanks ive made with sloppy , bubbled seams for about 9 years. they work fine.

thanks Ken for those links, very helpful. This is the one I like. I have never worked with acrylic before. Would not really want to spend even half the money and not be happy with finish product.

Thats a nice tank John.

Heres the one I built John. I liked the glass idea better so went with that.

Cool bill, what are the demensions of it? And if you could do it over, anything you would do differently?

48x20x8

Nothing I would do different. Like it just the way it is.

That’s pretty big. You have T5 lighting over it? And the 8 inch height is ok.
Thanks for reply Bill

It has 3 Aquatic life dual T5 HO lights over it. The lights are on a hanging system and can be raised and lowere now. I tested the par with 8 inches above the water line and par was 170 on the bottom of the tank so seem to be fine and getting growth. I still like the MH for growth better but the T5’s seem to be working. I changed couple of the stock bulbs in the fixtures to blue lines but I think I’m gonna put ATI’s in them. DPA got those in and put a couple over one tank and theres a night and day difference between the ATI and the Bluelines and the blue lines were 50-60% better then the aquatic life bulbs.

Thanks for the info Bill.

NP John

Hey Bill, what was the size of the thickness for the pieces of glass you used to build your frag tank.

I used 1/4 inch John.

Thanks Bill, did you incorporate a boxed in overflow, and if so, what did you make it out of ? Hope you don’t mind me asking all these questions . Just trying to get enough info to help me decide on which way to go with new frag tank.

if you made the tank out of glass plates, I see no reason why you can’t make an box overflow out of amber acrylic and silicone it to the glass. its much easier to cut slots in the plastic. and looks cool .

John I’ve had alot of fun drilling tanks that this one is done as well. 1 inch drain to the RDSB and then to the main sump. The feed is from a small pump in the sump up through the stand and loc line feed line. My whole system is linked together by the main sump that way the big skimmer is put to work a little better then just the tank ;D Hopefully when the new main tank comes and I hook up the new big pump it will run the return the frag tank, the feed for the recirculating skimmer and the surge tank.

Thanks,Bill

Ken, Will acrylic siliconed to glass create a good bond?

I think so. depending on the application. sticking a 3 sided box to the bottom and the endplate is a very low stress application. the water will hold it in place. should be fine. all the guys glue glass, poly or acrylic plates into 30L tanks to make sump baffles.