Perspex/acrylic separater?

[billie]

I didn't think to ask, but can well cleaned perspex be used instead of glass to separate water from land area of the tank?

 

[john]

I would assume perspex is a trade name for an acrylic sheet? Yes, acrylics should be fine but a concern was expressed in a previous post about acrylics buckling as they age. Glass is cheaper so i'd probably just go with that.

 

[jennifer]

The other problem is that silicone sealant adheres much better to glass than it does to plexiglass/acrylic. Poor adhesion could mean leaks at some point.

 

[mark]

I've been using a perspex divider for the past three years - I've had no problems with either silicone adhesion or leakage of water.

Hope that was of some help!

 

[jennifer]

Good to know! Is the land area fairly damp? This would prevent warping I think, as warping is only a problem when one side is wet, the other side dry.

 

[mark]

Hi Jen,

The land side is actually pretty dry as its a Tylototriton shanjing setup. Maybe the gravel slope helps matters? Apologies for the poor pictures! The water level is only this high in the summer months, in the winter it is much lower.

 

[john]

That makes sense to me that warpage would be a factor of water induced creep since acrylic is actually somewhat porous and can wick water into the first few microns of material. That divider looks like .220in or maybe even thicker so that is probably what helps keep it from warping. Plus the gravel you have mounded up against it should provide some rigidity to prevent it from deforming. What did you use to cut it?

 

[mark]

Hi John,

I've just measured it - I make it to be 0.25 inches thick. I cheated somewhat with the cutting - i asked my old tech teacher at school if he could cut it for me on the bandsaw! I sanded it down extensively after that and smoothed the top.

Hope that was of some help to you!