Acrylic Thickness

[NYRANGER]

Hi all,
I am going to attempt a santa monica style turf scrubber. What size acrylic should i use? quarter inch, half inch, or one inch? i will be using 192 watts of t5 ho lighting. i dont want it to warp.
thanks

[new2scrub]

1/4" should be fine

[Floyd R Turbo]

1/4 will be adequate as long as you brace the acrylic. SM100 design has an "I" or "H" beam-style, the top and bottom perpendicular pieces prevent warping of the acrylic by the lights. In my design, I made an interior box to hold the screen and a frame to hold the lights. Since the interior box is open on the top and not braced along the top edge, heat from the lights and cooling from the water is causing it to warp outward significantly after only a month.

http://i611.photobucket.com/albums/tt191/FloydRTurbo/2011%20Aquarium%20Pics/Customer%201%20-%20125%20Reef/2011-01-15%20ATS%20Rev%202/IMG_9207.jpg

It's about 1/2 to 3/4" wider now than in the above pic. It's to the point of touching the frame.