[Pooky125]

I picked up a freebie 18" cube several weeks ago that ultimately I'd like to use as an aquarium. I've filled it with water, and it didn't leak, but I only did it as a test to make sure the edges were water tight. In the long run, I have no idea if it would hold up. Maybe you can help me. It's, I think, acrylic (though quite possibly plexi glass) and roughly 5mm (just shy of a 1/4 of an inch) thick. Think it could stand up to the pressure?

 

[mrbelvedere]

It holds about 24 gallons of water. 1/4 sounds pretty thin. You could euro-brace it with strips of acrylic on the top.

 

[Pooky125]

It didn't bow to badly, but at any rate I think I'll fill it and leave it in the garage for a few weeks before it becomes a permanent fixture in the house.

 

[Hop]

1/4" is the industry standard for that size of tank. Was this a DIY tank, or was it purchased from a retailer. The nice thing about acrylic is that you can see the seems. A nice clear seam is a strong seam, whereas a seam with air gaps or cloudy looking seam is generally weak. Some bubbles in the seam may be OK, depending on the solvent they used to fuse the acrylic. Products like weld-on 16 shrink 30% during the curing process and can leave bubbles, but creates a very strong bond.

Generally tanks under 24" in width and less then 24" high are made with 1/4" and are fine. Some bowing is normal. I have a 450 gallon tank made with 3/4" acrylic and it bows slightly.

I was unable to decern from you post whether the tank has a top piece on it or not, but it should.

Good luck

 

[Pooky125]

It's not a true aquarium, it's just an acrylic box. It looks like it was fused with weld-on 16. There are a few air bubbles, but it's holding water great. There's a little bowing, but not enough to make me worried about it. I've had manufactured glass tanks that bow less then that. There is no top piece, looks like an acrylic ADA style tank. I might grab some acrylic and weld-on and make a rim for it, but for the most part, it looks like it will be ok. It's filled up out of the way outside now, to see how it holds up.

Thanks much the the info Hop, thats exactly what I was trying to figure out.