So I put this frag tank together with scrap acrylic lying in my basement for a number of reasons. 1) another member was looking for a frag tank, 2) I could use a small tank to house what livestock I have while working on the new build, and 3) to practice the art of making fish tanks.
I have made a number of acrylic boxes to hold water. None of which have come out prestine. The seams on this tank came out the best I have ever had, but not show tank quality.
I cut the acrylic on a table saw and then through a router to clean up the edges (which works great by the way). For the main four panels, I also sanded the edges and I think this is where I went wrong. While I didn't sand much, I believe the edges became rounded ever so slightly which created enough room to leave me air bubbles on the edge.
For the rear chamber, I didn't sand but rather scraped and I think the results turned out better. I think the routing followed by the scraping and then carefully cleaning the edges and panels (which I didnt do) will possibly give me the results I am after. I would love some additional tips from someone more advanced than me because I am very seriously contemplating using acrylic for my next tank (60 x 24 x 20).
For those curious, I used the pin method for all seems which I believe also yielded better results than doing it without pins.
Another note, hand polishing the exposed edges leaves a better finish than flame polishing IMHO.
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I have made a number of acrylic boxes to hold water. None of which have come out prestine. The seams on this tank came out the best I have ever had, but not show tank quality.
I cut the acrylic on a table saw and then through a router to clean up the edges (which works great by the way). For the main four panels, I also sanded the edges and I think this is where I went wrong. While I didn't sand much, I believe the edges became rounded ever so slightly which created enough room to leave me air bubbles on the edge.
For the rear chamber, I didn't sand but rather scraped and I think the results turned out better. I think the routing followed by the scraping and then carefully cleaning the edges and panels (which I didnt do) will possibly give me the results I am after. I would love some additional tips from someone more advanced than me because I am very seriously contemplating using acrylic for my next tank (60 x 24 x 20).
For those curious, I used the pin method for all seems which I believe also yielded better results than doing it without pins.
Another note, hand polishing the exposed edges leaves a better finish than flame polishing IMHO.
