Acrylic Aquarium is bludging.

Ravenjinn

I've never owned an acrylic aquarium before so I don't know if this is normal.

Its a 55 gal tank. 1/4 in think acrylic. it is buldging in the middle on the front and back of the tank. The sides are fine though. Is this normal for acrylic or should I be worried?

gm333

Is it brand new? My lfs has one that buldges out as well. It has been that way for three years. If it is new I would take it back.

Ravenjinn

not sure what LFS is. But the tank is not brand new either, its a few years old. I've just never owned an acrylic tank so not sure if that is normal with the thickness of the plexi glass. it is only 1/4" so it seems normal with the weight or the water that is would deflect. However if it were 1/2" it seems it would not deflect because it is stronger.

trust-e-man

LFS local fish store. and i wouldnt know about the fish tank buldging i stick with glass tanks do to brothers in the house with sharp objects. so that way they can scratch the tank since it is glass in stead of acrylic.

gm333

Older acrylic does have a tendency to bulge. Acrylic is much stronger than glass and it should hold the weight of the water. If there are stress marks in the acrylic anywhere around the edges or where the braces are I would not use the tank. Stress marks will look like white streaks in the acrylic much like human stretch marks.

ahill3780

Does the tank have a center brace connecting the front and back panes?

I have a 55 gallon glass tank that does not have a brace and it bows out in the center of the front and back panes when filled with water. It looks scary but so long as you don't try sliding or moving the tank while it's full then you shouldn't have too much issue with this.

I wouldn't lean anything heavy against the tank, including yourself, as too much force against the seams will cause the panes to crack and/or possibly shatter. Rectangular tanks are designed to contain forces that push out at right angles - front to back, left to right - and are more susceptable to breaking if a strong force is applied from irregular angles - such as pushing at the corners of the tank to try re-orienting it.

So long as you are careful around the tank it should be fine. Mine is still in use and I have not had any issues due to the bowing. By the time the water pressure is great enough to break the tank I've got a flood in my basement.

HTH,
Aaron

Ravenjinn

it has the top porsion with cut out but no other internal support for the front and the back. There are not any stress fractures either. I suppose the tank will be alright then, but the bowing does annoy me when I'm trying to look at the fish close up in the tank, kinda warps the view. I'm starting to consider switching it out for a glass tanks. Does anyone know the weight difference between a acrylic fully loaded tanks verses a glass fully loaded tank? Want to make sure the stand could support a glass tank. Thanks for all your responces.

trust-e-man

why dont you drain the tank completely and completely dry the top inside and out. then you can masure to center at the to from front to back. then go to eather ace hardware or home depot and find were they sell the acrylic and get one that is the same thickness and a half a foot wide buy that and also buy some silicon 100%. come back home see if the acrylic fits snug if so use the silicon on the edges and around the edges of the acrylic piece and attatchit to the tank in the center and alow 24 hours to dry and cure. or even better than silicon is acrylic glue its like water but it holds like @#$%. make sure its acrylic glue not super glue they are completely different wait for the glue to dry and cure after that you can fill the tank up with the water and what ever else you want to put in there. that should save money and time. hope that works so that you dont have to buy a glass tank and you dont have to worry if the tank stand will hold the wieght. hope this helps

E46er

its the water that is 99% of the weight of an aquarium a 55 g tank will weigh around 550 lbs all said and done

Phil22

I had a 55 acrylic tank a number of years ago...it bulged just as you are describing. I think it's perfectly normal.