Cutting Acrylic, building sump questions.

[jesspete]

Hey all,

:help:

I bought a 30 gallon tank to setup a sump after reading melev's reef. We just hit HomeDepot and bought all of our acrylic. Was checking threads and read that stuff won't cut worth a darn with that little tool.

What should I do to cut this? I don't have a table saw or any other useful kind of saw. We bought 1/4" acrylic. Should we go with something thinner and easier to cut, try to find a friend with a saw and useful blade? If we start buying up tools, kinda begins to defeat the purpose of diy.

Some of you were also talking about acrylic and glass not binding. We had planned to use silicon on both sides of each piece to hold in place. Any particular type we should be avoiding, or will this not work?

We were all excited about coming home and getting started, but don't wanna screw up stuff I could still take back. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[seedless reefer]

I cut mine with a skil saw and a plywood blade.

Make sure you when you cut to the width of the tank you do not cut it so it is snug you want a little wiggle room.

Also, when you go to silicone you baffles you may need a long stick so you can silicone the sides where you can't reach with your hands.

 

[seedless reefer]

I don't have a clue where Milner is but you are welcome to come over here and I will cut them for you.

 

[weaglereefer]

You can use some "Mr. Sticky's Underwater Glue" to bond the acrylic to glass. I used that in my sump, then put silicone over it. Working great!

 

[jesspete]

I may take you up on it if I can't find a decent 5 1/2" blade for this borrowed saw.

 

[fener103]

Table saw works great too if you can get your hands on one!

 

[gwhiz]

I'll be happy to cut it for you on the table saw. I'm outside of Peachtree City if you get over this way...

Just use aquarium silicone on each side of the acrylic. It bonds to the glass and 'dams' the acrylic in place.

 

[kirru]

I used a table saw as well, that little tool is worthless for thick pieces, I was cutting 1/4" thick.

 

[mockery]

I'm working on this now, what type of silicone do you use?

 

[seedless reefer]

DAP Aquarium silicone

 

[mockery]

Will the stuff in the red tube from lowe's work? It says it is 100% silicone sealant.

 

[gwhiz]

Personally, I'd only use Aquarium sealant. You never know what else (anti-microbials, etc.) might be in non aquarium silicone.

 

[seedless reefer]

I used GE 100% silicone and I don't think you will have any problems with it however, it always turns yellow.

That may not matter to you since it's in a sump but I found it annoying!

 

[theplatypus]

100% silicone is 100% silicone, it doesn't matter if it comes from hd, lowes or a lfs. The problem arises when/if you use silicone that contains anti-fungal ingredients.

 

[jesspete]

Gwhiz;291178 wrote: I'll be happy to cut it for you on the table saw. I'm outside of Peachtree City if you get over this way...

Just use aquarium silicone on each side of the acrylic. It bonds to the glass and 'dams' the acrylic in place.

I'm actually headed out that way Wednesday anyway. Wanna pm me availability? You're much closer than Powder Springs.

 

[jesspete]

We got it done! Kirru was right, that little 18V circular saw didn't do crap, but Ginsu's are worth their weight in gold! J/k. We used the handheld circular saw. Gotta check on the silicon we bought. I know I avoided all the anti-microbial stuff, so we should be ok.

 

[grimreefer]

You can use GE #1 Silicone Windows and Doors, NOT GE #1 KITCHEN AND BATH. Kitchens and Bath contains mold inhibitors which will kill all corals, it will not kill fish or inverts. I speak from experience. I used GE #1 Kitchen and Bath and I killed all my corals but none of my fish or inverts were affected.

I would suggest using Aquarium Safe Silicone, not the GE stuff.

 

[kirru]

I agree, just use DAP which you know with out a doubt that it is safe for aquarium use. i should of thought bout it when i left the day we met up. had some left over from my build. guess i can find a use for it or something.

 

[jesspete]

We got "GE 100% silicone sealant for plastic sheets and other plastics".
I need to take the cutter back to the store anyhow, should I return this too? I didn't see any aquarium stuff. Would LFS have it? I only have one on the southside.



Kirru: I can't believe you had any left! I've had fun with my razor blades!

 

[grimreefer]

GE #1 Kitchen and Bath is 100% silicone but it contains mold inhibitors. Just make sure it does not contain any type of mold inhibitors. Like I said before, in my opinion, I think it would be the safest if it said on the label "Aquarium Safe". Nothing else is really worth saving $5.00 on and wiping out hundreds if not thousands of dollars in coral.