Thanks Luna! I'll do my best to live up to that comparison : )

Thanks so much Jason - appreciate it!

Thanks Suresh! With the pin method, what I've found is to use more solvent (Weldon 4) than you think, and really flood the joints well, from both sides. As it evaporates, to gets sucked into the joint, and sometimes I even go back and do a second light application after about 5-10 minutes for good measure.

@@ReefEco I just want to say what you got there going for the entire fish room is mind boggling for me, I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks so much! Good luck with the sump - its all about keeping things square and edge prep : )

@@ReefEco you are the best !

That may be another way to do it for sure - I've found the chip clearance is the more important mechanism of the bit orientation...

LOL - thanks CC - and yes, definitely ate some shavings. Those things went everywhere - and I'm still finding them stuck to things even after a good shop clean! Need to work on my shop dust collection for sure...

Thanks man - appreciate the kind words!

Thanks! You should have seen the first sump I made like 15 years ago - not pretty, LOL : )

Thanks Chuck - appreciate the watch!

Hey Billy - for that size, 6mm thickness should be fine. Just make sure to add the top frame, which adds quite a bit of long term strength. Thanks, Peter

Hey there - it is a spiral up cut bit to just shave off the tiniest sliver...

Hey there, in California, I buy from either Professional Plastics, or Interstate Plastics. Eplastics or Usplastics are online vendors, but I would buy and pick up from a local supplier to you if possible, as shipping acrylic sheet can be very pricey. Thanks for the watch!

I think I used the same bit that I used in the table router - and upcut spiral bit. But, if you are not plunging into the material and drill a pilot hole first like I do in the video, you can likely use a straight bit as well. Spiral bit just give a little bit of a smoother edge. Thanks for the watch!

Hey Jeremy - yes, it is a Diablo TCG blade 10" - good eye! I think it is marketed for Non-ferrous metals and plastic. I honestly don't recall where I ordered the acupuncture needles from - I just googled it and there are lots of options. I think I'm using the .30mm width x 40mm length, but I think you are right - it probably doesn't matter all that much. I would probably err on the side of larger, rather than the .12mm as you said, since a little larger will allow more solvent to flow into the seam, which is likely better than starving the joint of glue. Any leftover solvent evaporates from the seam quickly and does no harm, whereas under-glueing the seam is harder to fix...

Thanks Shelly - I think I used a 1/8" round over bit for easing all the edges.

@@ReefEco Can you provide me a link to buy the router bit?

I don't see the bearing in the bit. How are you making sure to trim only the edges? Are you running the panel on a sledge?

@@DsilvaShelly Oh - you mean cleaning up the edges of the panels before glue up? Yes, that is a spiral down cut bit (but since it is upside down, it throws the chips up and away). I'm using the fence of the table saw as a straight edge on one side, and to keep the edges parallel as a take off just a tad. In my setup, the router is built into the right side of the table saw table, so I can use the table saw fence for routing as well. I don't remember exactly what bit I got, but I think it is basically this one: www.amazon.com/SpeTool-Downdcut-Cutting-Diameter-Carbide/dp/B07QXK88L8/ref=sr_1_8?crid=CA0R0ZYLILUR&keywords=1%2F2%22+spiral+downcut+bit+plastic&qid=1660788812&sprefix=1%2F2+spiral+downcut+bit+plastic%2Caps%2C242&sr=8-8 Hope that helps!

@@ReefEco Thanks for the response. That makes it clear.

Hey Kevin - you would need something to do the edge prep - and while you can do that by hand, the likelyhood of getting it right the first time is VERY remote. You would have to scrape it by hand, and keep the edges perfectly flat and square. As handy as I am, even I would never try this, LOL. If you don't already have the tools - table saw and router for square cuts and edge prep, you might not glean that much in cost savings. You might try something small first, to see how it goes - like a small dosing container or similar - to practice a bit first...

@@ReefEco thanks for the response, so I have a table saw for straight edges I just don’t have a router, would it still not be worth it?

@@kevinferreira3301 Tough call - trouble is that acrylic is not cheap, and if the edges aren't prepped correctly when you try to glue it up, you'll see the seems aren't good, and you can waste a lot of material. Then there goes the money you are trying to save. If you have a table saw, maybe try to make a small box or dosing container and see how it goes. There are probably some videos on KZfaq on hand prepping acrylic edges for solvent glueing too. First sump I made from acrylic 20 years ago popped a seam and leaked everywhere - and it was because the edges weren't prepped at all and the bod wasn't great...

@@ReefEco damn that’s scary to hear!! I was thinking of even taking the additional time to add the square rods to the corner just to make sure, I’ll see if I can think of something for those corners then. I’m trying to make a 29x21 sump for a Red Sea max s 500 I got for 100 bucks but I have no sump for it, I want to use up all the space I have on the right hand side of the cabinet.

@@kevinferreira3301 Yes, now you know why I add those rods to all the corners now, LOL! My edges and seams are much better now, but it is something I still do. That first sump I glued it together right off the table saw, so all the edges were total crapola. If you are looking to save money, you might not save all that much on that size of a sump - so make it because you want to and to have the satisfaction. Check out what a sheet of 1/4" cast acrylic runs in your area...

Thanks! Glad to have you along! Budgets for tanks range greatly, depending on how much a gear head you are, and how much you care about having "high end" corals. A good rule of thumb is $50-$75 per gallon. And you can certainly do it for less than that, if you DIY a lot of gear and enjoy hunting for bargain prices on corals...

@@ReefEco thank you Peter, i also am a bit of a gear junky and a bit of a handyman and also have a reef system. Nowhere near as big or sophisticated as you or yours, so i know what throwing money in the bucket is!!! LOL Btw i check every day for a new video the suspense is killing me, can't wait!!!!!!!!!!

it's like a soap opera, you can't wait to see who killed JR

@@claudiamelfi3882 I bumped up the dosing video, out tomorrow - just for you! ; )

@@ReefEco thats amazing now you got me excited.It's to bad I live in the out skirts of Montreal because i think i'd trade my best friend for you, i would always be over at your place. I would bring beer and munchies!!!!thanks again and keep keeping

Hey Suresh - I would agree that hand prepping is risky unless you are REALLY good at it, which I'm not. It would be too easy to get a dip or round off the edge I think. I've seen it done (I think there was a video by Joey/King of DIY), but I personally wouldn't try it, especially with thicker more expensive material. You could try either a woodworker shop (who might not want to work on acrylic, not sure), or try a sign shop to cut your panels on their CNC. That might eat into your budget, as I imagine having them cut the panels would add significantly to cost. BTW, I'm only using 3/8" acrylic (10mm) on my sumps, one of which is about the same dimensions as yours (even longer), so using 18mm seem like overkill unless you are not adding a top rim or any baffles or bracing to help the long span not bow. I'm all for over-building though, so thicker acrylic is better in general : ) if not cost-prohibitive. Sorry I can't be more help on the edge prep, which is even more difficult the thicker the panels - as it gets more difficult to keep the edges perfectly flat and perpendicular to the sides the thicker the panels. If you do end up having to hand prep, you might buy some material and practice before trying it on the real sheets for the aquarium...

@@ReefEco Hi firstly thanks for taking the time out to reply, Here and in R2R didn’t mean to spam but I commented here and thought why not put something there as well in the forum. I would like to ask, if laser cut from the manufacturer is any better ? That is instead of saw cuts but based on some search online it seems like laser cut acrylic when welded on with solvents instantly cracks near the seams ? If the above laser thing is true even if I scale my build down I should make sure my Acrylic for aquariums are never Laser cut right ? Thanks again.

@@sureshkumarsivasubramaniam1895 No worries! Not spamming at all. Yes, laser cutting melts the material and it can craze when solvent welded after laser cutting. I think that is why tank/sump manufacturers use router bits and CNC cutters for their parts and panels.