building an aquarium

[Cole Harlow]

This summer were planning on renovating our downstairs were the aquarium is were planning on building a wall and if we do id like to put the aquarium in do that one of the ends his in it but you can see both sides an the second end the aquarium i have right now is a little worn down and the back has been painted black so id like to bu-id a new aquarium and i have some questions, first off should i build an acrylic or glass tank, second how thick would it need to be, what would i build the overflows out or would i be able to buy a custom overflow, also i was planning on putting some vortechs in the tank is there any way i could put them on the overflow and make a watertight box to put them in or would i just want to get a tunze and make it easier on myself. the tank will be 7 ft by 2ft by 2ft
Thanks, Cole Harlow

[cyberwollf]

Thats pretty ambitious for someone without experience.  At the very least you should have someone that has successfully done it before to walk you through it.  I play around with acrylic but wouldnt trust my craftmanship/house/carpet/marriage lol.  If you got the knowhow Go for it

[DarinSchmidt]

Building tanks is what i do for work. The thickness of the glass is dependent on the length and depth of the tank. here is a chart you can use. http://www.livingreefs.com/glass-thickness-calculators-t21048.html
According to your description, you should use glass that is between 9-12mm (i would get as close to 12 for assurance). As far as the overflow, you can make it yourself out of just about anything. As far as acrylic vs glass there are a couple things to keep in mind.

Acrylic scratches easy but can be buffed out. Glass doesnt scratch as easily but not easily able to remove scratches. Acrylic has more thermal resistance than glass so its a good insulator and is "lighter" than glass. With a sheet of anything that thick (close to 1/2") they are all heavy lol.