Acrylic Thickness for Coldwater 135 Gal Tank

[1splat4u]

We are setting up an in wall 72"X18"X24" cold water tank. We are planning on having the tank custom built. We have contacted various vendors who suggested acrylic thickness of 1.5" for maximum insulation. I am a little weary of their recommendations, since they are motivated to sell a more expensive tank. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[FragMaster]

Specialy made front viewable only with Layers of fiberglass and foam on the other 4 sides to form the walls. As is a layer of fiberglass for the inner tank wall, then foam, then fiberglass. ( I would go with the 1.5" acrylic front side , and 2.5" for the remaining sides and bottom.)
Make a vented snug fitting lid and oxygenate the water well.
I would think with a chiller you could hold steady high 50's low 60's temps all day long in the dead of june with that desing. Since it would be so well insulated It wouldnt require a big chiller either,as long as you insulate the piping, as well as the chiller housing ( Save for the heat exchanger of course LOL!!).
Hope this helps you out some.

 

[skylsdale]

I can't imagine needing it THAT thick...but you do want a decent thickness. Part of the equation also has to do a bit with the surrounding air temperature compared to the water temperature on the other side of the acrylic. Here is a Yahoo discussion group (made up mostly of people from the Pacific Northwest) who keep solely native coldwater fish/reef tanks: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coldwaterfish/

Check the archives and feel free to drop your question there--they are more than happy to help and give their experiences for people jumping into the coldwater hobby. I am getting ready to set one up myself, but I'm going with a much thinner acrylic (around 1/2" or so), but the tank will also be housed in an unheated basement, so air temps down there are always in the low-50's or mid-60's, so I am not really anticipating any sort of a problem.