Acrylic Tank Owners - Happy or dissatisfied?

[hyperfocal]

Originally posted by Alto
You just proved my point perfectly. If you cant commit the time, energy, or attention to detail to an acrylic tank then go glass. Sounds like you made a wise decision. I know in the wrong context this sounds rude or patronizing but I am not, I mean that honestly.

Heh, it's possible to be honest and still be rude or patronizing. :-)

There is no point to prove. The choice between glass and acrylic is a personal one based on the situation and personal opinion. Each has pros and cons. Picking one or the other doesn't make you smarter, more detail oriented, or tougher.

The only exception to this is that people who choose glass tanks are sexier. True story.

[Kayadad]

I was always told that people that choose acrylic tanks are sexier! hmmm?

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally posted by Kayadad
I was always told that people that choose acrylic tanks are sexier! hmmm?

stop believing those LFS people

[TitusvileSurfer]

All my tanks are glass, and I have to admit I am quite the lady's man...



...then again all my super model girlfriends went acrylic.

[Benny Z]

fwiw, i use a standard acrylic-safe mag float to clean my acrylic tank daily or every other day. never have had coralline start. it's just become a part of my daily routine...along with adjusting the beckett skimmer and feeding. takes 5 minutes at the most, and that's 5 minutes i get to spend observing the tank pretty close up. do something 14 days in a row and it will become habitual. try it.

i have found that a gift certificate credit card (no signature = no ink) works great for removing coraline that has started on the acrylic displays at the store i work at.

still, my next tank will definately be starfire. i have an old acrylic tank (probably 15 years old or better) and can confirm that while acrylic seams may not need resealed, crazing in the acrylic does start to appear over time. to me it's more frustrating than scratches because you can't buff it out. it's embedded in the acrylic itself. so no, imo acrylic tanks don't last "forever".

[hyperfocal]

Originally posted by TitusvileSurfer
then again all my super model girlfriends went acrylic.

I call shenanagans! Supermodels are all about the silicon, and we know that silicon doesn't work with acrylic! Therefore, your supermodel girlfriend must *really* have gone with glass!

Game. Set. Match.

wow, we're silly

[Kayadad]

hyperfocal - supermodels don't do silicon. that is why they are super.

[kwaters]

Wow...I inherited the 55 gal acrylic so it cost me nada. It is easy enough to keep clean and the previous scratches buffed out with a little elbow grease. A recent scratch buffed out easy as well. I was able to drill it on my own and I know that the seams are welded, not siliconed. It seems easier to get a "custom" tank with acrylic for the money.

I personally, like mine.

[bureau13]

The little short-handled scraper works fine for coraline on the upper parts of my tank...but its 36" deep, and I have trouble getting enough pressure applied with the long-handled version so I can't get the area by the sand bed (which adds to the problem!) clean enough.

I've really only had one major mishap, and yes, I was being careless, but that happens with humans. More than the actual scratches though, its all the pain I have to go through to try to clean it (and not do a good job) because of the fear of scratches. What I wouldn't give to be able to put a razor blade on that long-handled scraper and just go at it!

Canarygirl, I suppose it may be crazing like you've described. I can't see any bowing, other than the fact that its a bowfront already.

jds

Originally posted by Alto
Right, I eventually learned my lesson and started to exactly that. It eventually saved me alot of time, though most pads I found were white which made seeing any particles much harder

I found my kent scrapper to be more then adequate at removing coraline algae in all but the most inconvenient locations. And those places are typically not main line of sight so I would let them be. Old credit cards also work wonders as long as you can reach it by hand.

[puffer21]

acrylic seems to scarach much easer and its really had to get coroline off the glass

[Kayadad]

Is it true that on a properly built tank, you will not see crazing? I thought crazing happpened over time due to deflection. A properly built tank will have zero (or very little deflection), thus no crazing.

From what I understand many acrylic tanks are underbuilt to save on costs.

[manderx]

after having microfractures appear overnight all over the front pane of my 3x3 glasscages tank, i'm gonna overbuild my next one myself out of acrylic.



the insulation is a plus for me, i've always spent way more money and effort keeping my tanks warm than cool.

[theatrus]

manderx,
Yikes, never seen that before. How old is the tank? Whats the thickness of that pane?

Acrylic does craze as well.

[manderx]

it's been set up for only about a year. it's 1/2" glass, 36x36x20 rimless. it also has a 3"x3" chip halfway down on the inside one of the front seams that appeared a few days after filling, but it ran itself out with no chance of running back into the glass so it never bothered me. i think they were a bit rough with it while assembling it. might also have something to do with being rimless, but i've seen bigger rimless tanks with 1/2" glass, so who knows. my stand is just cinder blocks with a double layer of glued and screwed plywood + foam. perfectly flat and level.

not trying to imply that everyone should do acrylic just because my glass tank scares me. actually the biggest reason i want to do acrylic is because i feel like i can get fancier with it, make it look sharper, solid black back and bottom, with a sexier external overflow and stuff like that.