[jnarowe]

I am trying to determine the feasibility of building a large hybrid acrylic tank with a low-iron (Starfire) viewing pane. My idea is essentially to build the tank from acrylic with a sort of a bracing style front and set low-iron glass into the tank for viewing.

My reasoning behind this is that because I live in an earthquake area, it would be inordinately risky to have a full-blown glass tank, but I feel that with most of the structure being acrylic, it would be stout enough that inserting a glass front may work, and help me keep the glass clean. I have had a horrible time with the viewing pane on my tank because for some odd reason, my tank grows coraline like there is no tomorrow. It is so thick and fast growing that in many areas it is peeling off and exposing fresh new coraline under it, much like when a sunburn peels.

Anyone have any experience with this or insight as to how this could be accomplished? My current tank's overall dimensions are 96l x 60d x 35h.