Goobers 85 gallon diy acrylic build (big thanks to Reef Lounge)

[Goober]

Got a bit bored today so I mocked up an overflow box. I used my dull blade to make a few cuts and scraped the edges when I glued it together I had minimal bubbles so I'm pretty happy with the mock up. I get my new blade Thursday and hopefully can put together my permanent one. the size overflow I chose is 12x6x12

 

[halvc909]

looking good, keep it coming.

 

[AddictedtoSalt]

Nice job. Practice really helps

 

[Goober]

So the tank is finally ready to be glued. Mocked up the tank and all corners appear squared. No visible gaps on edges. Wish me luck

 

[Goober]

Still leaving the window open for a eurobrace not sure if I still want the eurobrace since it's 1/2" thick it shouldn't bow. But if it does the eurobrace will be the easy part

 

[halvc909]

how big is the tank going to be? looking good and good luck bro!

 

[Goober]

how big is the tank going to be? looking good and good luck bro!

Tank is 36x24x21.5. It'll be 22 high if I add the eurobrace

 

[erictorres0311]

Tagging along ... One question after your cut doesn't it get all scratched up ? How do you smooth it out back to that polish finish?

 

[AddictedtoSalt]

Tagging along ... One question after your cut doesn't it get all scratched up ? How do you smooth it out back to that polish finish?

Acrylic sheet comes with a paper backing on both sides as seen in the above pics.
You leave the backing on to mark out where your going to cut and while cutting to protect the acrylic from scratches.
You than peel up the edges on both sides where your glue joint is going to be, leaving the rest in place.

After it's all glued and ready for leak testing then the backing is removed.

As for the edges you just cut, you can use a router with an edge guide or a router table and 1/4" spiral bit to remove about 1/16" from the cut edge.
This leaves the edge perfectly smooth and flat. They also make scrapers for that, but its hard to get the edge perfect by hand, and takes forever
Hope this is helpful.

 

[Goober]

Back piece mounted. Gonna give it 20 mins till I start on the side panels

 

[AddictedtoSalt]

Sweet looks great so far. Any bubbles appearing in the seam?

 

[Goober]

Sweet looks great so far. Any bubbles appearing in the seam?

Very little. I'm satisfied with it but I know I can do better my next go around haha. The seams appear to have good connection so we'll have to see tomorrow when I leak test it

 

[AddictedtoSalt]

Awesome, Its always a great feeling when a diy project works out

 

[Goober]

Yeah the original cut actually had a big gap on the bottom seam so I had to re cut and smoothen 4 pieces. So instead of being 21.5 high it's now only 21 high but I can't complain

 

[halvc909]

You should do eurobrace...it helps with the water splash and kinda prevent the fish from jumping out...rimless looks nice but then I would never go back to it again.

 

[Goober]

You should do eurobrace...it helps with the water splash and kinda prevent the fish from jumping out...rimless looks nice but then I would never go back to it again.

I'm gonna make a mesh top. My waterline is 3" below the tank and the teeth will handle anything that gets near it. It's looking pretty good right now but I can always add a eurobrace down the line if I feel differently

 

[zigginit]

that overflow look kinda bulky... wont that make the whole tank sit off the wall a lot?

 

[Usingthejohn]

that overflow look kinda bulky... wont that make the whole tank sit off the wall a lot?

External overflows won't allow the tank to sit flush against the wall. But the benefit is you get easier access to plumbing and a bit more real estate within the tank.

 

[Zoarder]

External overflows won't allow the tank to sit flush against the wall. But the benefit is you get easier access to plumbing and a bit more real estate within the tank.

Actually you can with a peninsula style, that's how I have mine.

 

[Goober]

my external box is only 5" so it'll be sitting 5" off the wall, it holds a 1.5" drain and I didn't go pen style since I only think it looks good if its dividing a room or something so I opted for a non pen style tank