Jestersix

Help with DIY plexi sump

xcaret

xcaret

Guest
BARcard
Hi !

I've been looking for a 40 breeder for some time now (cheap, cheap one) but no luck yet, the best price is from King Aquarium in SJ but they request to pay in full and then pick up; two trips from SF makes it a little off my budget.
I have some plexiglass 3/8" given to me by my sister (large sheets) and I'm off to put one together, have never built one before, glued small plexi yes but nothing that requires to hold water.
Anyone willing to help?

Thx
 
Thanks, I have the plexi already, just don't know if I need a perfect edge for bonding them together since I would need the large sheets cut to size; I've been doing research, mainly on Melevs Reef about tank/sump construction but there's always that little thing to take the plunge. Have the Weld-On too.
I'll check your build thread.
 
Just do it.
It will work.
It's most important that your pieces and cuts are square. It glues up pretty easily.
I used tape to hold it together when I did my parts.
I also used some bar clamps to lightly clamp things together because some of my plexi was warped.
 
i did my setup from melevs reef also. mine worked out great. i installed it like a month ago. i let is sit for a week first in my garage to make sure it was water tight. i used weldon #4 and weldon #16
 
...thanks will take the plunge, I want to have three sections, Skimmer, small return area and slow flow fuge; I'll add probe ports to it and an option for an external pump.
Hope it does not take me a whole year to build it. I'm going to use a table saw but thinking the blade has to be changed for something to cut fine material, looked at a Diablo (Freud) $60 !! ...Wow!!
 
If you are good with jigsaw you can use that too. Whatever you use, the edges have to be straight and the corners have to be 90 degree (unless you are going for some funky shape :bigsmile: ) .. You can put the acrylic between the two pieces of plywood and cut. That would help with the chipping/breaking issue when cutting. Router would help smoothing out the edges.
 
The most crucial part is that the pieces are squared when cut (as mentioned by Jar). If you don't have access to a table saw with a fine/high count tooth blade, it may be a wise idea to just bring your sheets to tap plastics and have them cut it to size for you. It shouldn't be too expensive.
 
If you can get the sheets to my house we can cut em on my tablesaw then hit em with the router. I have a little project to do as well. If we do it right I think you'll like the results quite a bit. i have a bigger saw, right blades, and router.
I'm in El Cerrito if that's not too far.
Cutting/routing takes generally takes about an hour if you have your plan ready.

A few years ago I asked your same question on the BAR forum and ended up having to go in alone.
DIY 80g post microsurfacing

You an glue it up at your pad later.
 
houser said:
If you can get the sheets to my house we can cut em on my tablesaw then hit em with the router. I have a little project to do as well. If we do it right I think you'll like the results quite a bit. i have a bigger saw, right blades, and router.
I'm in El Cerrito if that's not too far.
Cutting/routing takes generally takes about an hour if you have your plan ready.

A few years ago I asked your same question on the BAR forum and ended up having to go in alone.
DIY 80g post microsurfacing

You an glue it up at your pad later.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer; I have cut the plexi using an 80T saw thin kerf with a table saw.
The plexi sheets would not fit my little mazda being long.
I'm going to venture into bonding them next week if nothing comes up.
If I screw up I'll borrow a vehicle and might take your offer if still up.

Thanks !
 
Did you glue up?
I cut the pieces for mine last week and have glued the 2 sides to the front so far. Glued one this morning, just put the second one on a few minutes ago. So far so good.

Oh yeah on the conference table here at work! It's super flat.
 
I have the plexi ready but lack of time, been busy (thank God)
Went to the meeting this past Saturday and seems piece of cake (yeah right) got a pretty good idea on the how to.
I've glued plexi before, smaller pieces and this will test my patience.
Probably next week, Monday will set the first pieces together.
 
Today's project is to start gluing in my bubble trap.
Then I need to cut some teeth for one of the other internal baffles. May get to that today, if not, then tomorrow.
I'm sort of a perfectionist so things take some time:)

Seems like we're on the same schedule. I'd like to be done in the next 10 days.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top