What's the difference between acrylic, plexiglass, or fiberglass?

What's the difference between acrylic, plexiglass, or fiberglass? Hi,

I have been looking into making my own sump out of acrylic, plexiglass or fiberglass but I don't know what the difference between these materials are. If someone could help me out with this that would be very helpful. Also, does the construction of the sump change depending on which type of plastic I use? I also have no idea where I would buy a sheet of acrylic plexiglass or fiberglass. Would Home Depot carry them or would I need to order them online? Thanks a lot!

Kevin Plexiglass and acrylic are one in the same. Fiberglass is basically a cloth made of thin strands of glass. The cloth is laid over a mold and coated with an epoxy resin.

For building a sump, acrylic is the way to go. HD acrylic is not really suitable for the type of project that you're talking about. Checkout www.tapplastics.com. You can also find some really good information there. __________________
Doug - v2.0.4

Nuclear winter solves global warming. Can you buy sheets of acrylic from tapplastics.com? I looked there and found lot of stuff they were selling but I couldn't find sheets of acrylic. Also, wouldn't it cost a lot of money to ship large acrylic sheets? Why is HD acrylic not suitable? Thanks.

Kevin __________________
Menue item at the Jakarta airport lounge: "Chicken Mouse in Tartlet" I think tapplastics does sell acrylic but it is quite expensive. HD acrylic is extruded usually and the type of acrylic that you want to build any type of tank out of is cell cast acrylic. Check your local phone book for plastic suppliers, look for a laird or ge polymers or what not and call them up and ask if they sell to the public and if they have cell cast sheets of acrylic. IMO this is the best way to get acrylic. __________________
Randy I think GE Polymershapes is not a drop-in shop where you can just go and buy acrylic. Not sure though. Tap Plastics is different, you go in there and they'll cut a piece you want...they are more "custom building" type of people. Probably more expensive than GE if you can get them to sell you stuff.

V __________________
Quality friendship ... at rock bottom prices! What is the differnce between cell-cast acrylic and extruded acrylic? About how much would I expect to pay for let's say a 4' by 2' piece that's 3/8" thick? Thanks __________________
Menue item at the Jakarta airport lounge: "Chicken Mouse in Tartlet" Don't buy the "plexiglass" or "Lucite" from Home Depot. It has a special coating to make it a little more scratch resistant and stonger, unfortunately it also makes it very difficult to weld.
You have to sand off the layer to get down to the actual acrylic.
The weld-on cement won't be able to melt the acrylic to make a strong enough bond.
Look under "Plastics-Fabricating, Finishing & Decorating" in the yellow pages. There should be someone locally that you can buy it from.
And they usually will cut it to size for you, for FREE. __________________
Hey! I can build my own acrylic tank!
ummmm where's all that water coming from???? local glass shop....definitely the way to go...just ask if you can rummage through their scraps...usually they're more than happy to dump that crap. This way you can also get colored stuff (black to inhibit algae growth) for CHEAP! HTH __________________
THE only way to be successful in reefkeeping....Philippians 4:6-7!