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6 Responses to “how to plug hole in bottom of acrylic fish tank?”
You don’t. You either replace the entire bottom of the tank with a new piece of acrylic or you use the holes for the purpose they are there for currently and plum your equipment thru the bottom of the tank.
You are very lucky. I’m currently drilling holes into the bottom and sides of my aquairums to make water changes easier. Go to a saltwater specialty store and talk to them. They’ll have the parts to install in these holes and then you can use these holes for your filtration. You don’t mention the size of the aquarium so I can’t give much more advice on filtration, etc. If you really want to eliminate these holes just get 2 square pieces of acrylic at least as wide as the thickness of the acrylic that makes up the bottom. Make sure the pieces are about 2″ wider than the hole in all areas. Take some clear aquairum silicone and put a bead all around the hole then place the square over it and put some weight on it. Hold it there for 2 minutes or so and put a bead carefully around the square just like the corners of the aquairum and put some weight that will stay on this back on it. Some books and a brick, whatever. After at least 24 hours flip the aquarium over and do the same thing on the other side. Wait at least 72 hours then you are ready to use the aquaium. I would rinse this area that is on the inside of the aquarium just to get any residual chemicals out of there and I would do the part that will eventually touch water first. After stating all of this trust me you are way ahead of the game by using these holes to your advantage. Home depot stores sell pvc so get some and use the tubes for water changes, etc. Buy the valves that have unions on both sides so it’s easy for disconnect if and when needed.
You can do 1 of 2 things Just depends how much you want to spend.
You can find an acyrlic shop in your area and get 2 pieces of scrap acrylic and some acrylic glue called weld on. This should cost about 20 bucks. Or you can go a plumbing supply place and get bulk heads and ball valves. Even though the hole is 1.25 inches it will most likely take a 3/4 inch bulkhead.. put the bulkheads in and attach the shut offs , close the shut offs. This will cost about 48 bucks , but will be the easiest I think. Here is a link to the plumbing if you want to order it. ~.html
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I think I would use some silicon sealer with acrylic patches that are slightly larger than the holes. Be sure the bottom of the tank and the patches are clean before you start.
December 26th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Lydia Amick
You don’t. You either replace the entire bottom of the tank with a new piece of acrylic or you use the holes for the purpose they are there for currently and plum your equipment thru the bottom of the tank.
December 29th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Debra George
get some small pieces of glass cut, about 1 inch all around larger then the holes
use epoxy resin to glue them down
January 1st, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Evelyn Handy
You are very lucky. I’m currently drilling holes into the bottom and sides of my aquairums to make water changes easier. Go to a saltwater specialty store and talk to them. They’ll have the parts to install in these holes and then you can use these holes for your filtration. You don’t mention the size of the aquarium so I can’t give much more advice on filtration, etc. If you really want to eliminate these holes just get 2 square pieces of acrylic at least as wide as the thickness of the acrylic that makes up the bottom. Make sure the pieces are about 2″ wider than the hole in all areas. Take some clear aquairum silicone and put a bead all around the hole then place the square over it and put some weight on it. Hold it there for 2 minutes or so and put a bead carefully around the square just like the corners of the aquairum and put some weight that will stay on this back on it. Some books and a brick, whatever. After at least 24 hours flip the aquarium over and do the same thing on the other side. Wait at least 72 hours then you are ready to use the aquaium. I would rinse this area that is on the inside of the aquarium just to get any residual chemicals out of there and I would do the part that will eventually touch water first. After stating all of this trust me you are way ahead of the game by using these holes to your advantage. Home depot stores sell pvc so get some and use the tubes for water changes, etc. Buy the valves that have unions on both sides so it’s easy for disconnect if and when needed.
January 1st, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Joseph Lanning
You can do 1 of 2 things Just depends how much you want to spend.
You can find an acyrlic shop in your area and get 2 pieces of scrap acrylic and some acrylic glue called weld on. This should cost about 20 bucks. Or you can go a plumbing supply place and get bulk heads and ball valves. Even though the hole is 1.25 inches it will most likely take a 3/4 inch bulkhead.. put the bulkheads in and attach the shut offs , close the shut offs. This will cost about 48 bucks , but will be the easiest I think. Here is a link to the plumbing if you want to order it. ~.html
~.html
January 4th, 2010 at 11:14 am
Rachel Abercrombie
I think I would use some silicon sealer with acrylic patches that are slightly larger than the holes. Be sure the bottom of the tank and the patches are clean before you start.
January 7th, 2010 at 9:57 am
David Houghton
thiers a silent you can use about 10 bucks it’ll seal up the hole i forgot whats its called but you should live it out for a week to dry