Can I use acrylic for an aquarium?
The acrylic fish tank is a high-end aquarium product. In addition to its extensive use, you can even put a small ornamental acrylic fish tank in your home. You can use acrylic material to make it into any shape you need. As a fish tank, even a super thick acrylic sheet can maintain high transparency.
Of course, when contacting, understanding, and using acrylic fish tanks, you may encounter some problems, such as how to make an acrylic aquarium. How to clean an acrylic aquarium?
So let’s get started!
Acrylic Aquarium Fish Tank VS Glass
When considering glass vs. acrylic aquariums, there are pros and cons to both. Acrylic is often a popular option for manufacturers and hobbyists because it is easy to fabricate and lightweight. However, it takes a relatively extreme investment in tooling, equipment, and engineering to cut and manipulate heavy sheets of glass. This is the main reason most custom aquarium manufacturers use acrylic.
There is no doubt that glass fish tanks have become traditional fish tanks. People need to pursue a safer and greener environment, so acrylic satisfies us well. Its impact resistance is more than 16 times that of ordinary glass products, and there is almost no risk of breaking. , Whether it is a public place or a home, even if it is really broken, it will not hurt people.
Advantages of acrylic fish tank
How To Build An Acrylic Aquarium
Not only is acrylic lighter than glass and less likely to shatter, but it’s also easily molded, making it an ideal choice for a do-it-yourself aquarium project. So, if you’re planning to build your own aquarium, you need to practice the following steps.
Part 1/Choosing Acrylic Sheets
Calculate the right size of your acrylic aquarium to house your fish. The size of the fish tank is determined by many important factors, such as the shape required, the area available for placement, and even the fish to be placed in the tank.
The rule of thumb for determining proper aquarium size is to allocate 1 gallon (3.8 L) of water per 1 inch (2.5 cm) of maximum length for each fish.
Make sure you’re also able to allocate enough space for accessories for the aquarium, such as filters, tubing, and cords.
You need to buy enough acrylic plates to fit your fish tank’s size. It would be great if the shop you bought could cut the shape for you or make the shape you need according to your requirements.
Choose acrylic that’s thick enough based on the aquarium’s height. The thickness of the acrylic you’ll need to use will be directly dependent on the dimensions of the aquarium you’re building. For aquariums 1 foot (0.30 m) or less in height, use acrylic that is .25 inches (0.64 cm) thick. For every additional 6 inches (15 cm) in height, make the acrylic an additional .125 inches (0.32 cm) thicker.
Part2/Cutting and Sanding the Acrylic
It is difficult to ensure the perfect application of direct splicing for each piece of acrylic panels, so inevitably, cutting or grinding is needed. We have described how to cut acrylic sheets in detail in another post.
Part3/Assembling Your Aquarium
The final step is to assemble these acrylic panels. In addition to pasting them into a box-shaped outside the traditional sense, we may also encounter them embedded in the wall or filled in the floor waiting for a variety of other situations.
How To Remove Scratches From Acrylic Aquarium
When using acrylic fish tanks, especially in the places where people come and go in the aquarium, scratches will inevitably occur, so how to clean up these scratches?
If the outer wall is also easy to handle and scratch, or if decoration inside the aquarium hurts the fish tank, then first, you need to take good care of your fish and put them in a safe place.
Repair scratches in the process, you might need:
- Acrylic/plastic polish
- 800 and 1200 grit sandpaper
- Water for soaking the sandpaper
Instructions:
How To Clean Acrylic Aquarium
To clean the tank, first, you still have to take care of your fish, put them in a safe place, and empty the ornaments. If you have a small fish tank, you need to gently wipe clean with a soft cloth; your efforts should be light. A large fish tank can not move and can only be cleaned in situ. After wetting the cloth, wipe along a direction, not back and forth. Maybe you want to know how to clean acrylic sheets.
By the way, when it comes to the decorations in the fish tank, that is, the algae, water, and cloth are not effective, you can try to remove them gently with a plastic thread or a plastic scraper. Be careful, be gentle, but don’t scratch your fish tank.
Where To Buy Acrylic For Aquarium
I know you are considering where to buy suitable acrylic materials. After all, if the materials are not suitable, you will waste a lot of money.
If you’re wondering what it will cost if you buy directly from a manufacturer in China, you can contact us for a quick quote. UVACRYLIC is a leading manufacturer of acrylic sheets. In the meantime, we provide custom acrylic according to your requirements.
If you are not sure about the shape, quantity, or any other questions about the material you want to use, you can contact us and we will be happy to help you.