Glass vs Acrillic

[Gigus]

Ok here is the deal. I had a 250 glass and loved how robust the inside was for cleaning. However, I was an idiot and set a MH on the center brace and cracked it in half. I almost S--t my pants when the glass bowed four inches (but did not break thank GOD)!

I am in the process of buying a tank and am torn between an acrillic 260 (72x24x36) or glass 215 (72x24x30).

I have herd that while acrillic is stronger and clearer (not to mention lighter), it does scratch easier and casts distracting internal reflections.

The other thing is the 260 is three feet deep and my arm is only 2.5 feet long. How do you clean the bottom 1/3 of the tank? Also how hard is it to scrape the coralline alage off the front and sides? With glass you can simply use a razor blade.

Any opinions would be apreciated :D

G

[Bamm Bamm]

I Have both. Acrylic 55, acrylic 6gallon nano and glas 25, 46, and 90.. After tearing down my 90gallon this weekend. I'm not going to have any big tanks made out of glass anymore they are too damned heavy to move adn there are no where near as clear to look through as my acrylic tanks.. Unless you get a Starfire...$$$$$$
You just have to be more careful and change how you clean things.. But the best part is they are soooo much lighter.. i can lift my 55 with one hand and it barely weighs anything. I have to have 2 people to move my glass 55 I have and the same with the glass 90.. Too damned heavy.. I say go for acrylic..

[moviegeek]

If you own your home and don't plan on moving again I say go for glass. I've seen a few large acrylic tanks that have been set up for 5 or so years and the scratches are always the first thing I notice.

If you think you'll move again, acrylic does have its merits.

Personally, I think the acrylic tank in question is too deep. I'm 6'3" and I couldn't reach to the bottom of a tank that deep.

[CaptiveReefSystems]

My vote is for glass. Cleaning is something you will do all the time. Moving, in most cases, is not. So the weight is not that big of an issue for me. When it comes to clarity, it all depends on quality. Buy a quality tank and it will look great.

[thereefgeek]

Glass, my man. I don't know a lot of people who constantly move a tank around the room, but I do know a lot of people who rearrange the INSIDE decor. You have to drain it and remove the rock & sand to lift it anyway. Twenty pounds of rock and fifty pounds of sand sitting on a feather still makes that feather weigh 70 pounds. Acrylic scratches very easily, glass does not. Acrylic is easy for the do-it-yourselfer to drill and modify, glass is not. If you think a MH on the glass center brace caused you problems, try it on a plastic brace. Speaking of bracing, the port holes in the top of an acrylic tank offer WAY less access to the inside than a glass does. Pick a tank that you can reach the bottom of without donning scuba gear. Once you know where you want the tank, and how you want it plumbed, leave it alone!

[Gigus]

Yeah, I was thinking about those access holes. It is way too hard to catch fish and mantis shrimp in a tank that size with only access holes to work with.

I also remember all the times when I clunked the live rock agaist the front glass panel. There is no way acrillic could withstand that without leaving a huge gash...glass it is. Thanks for the input.

[Brian Prestwood]

Good choice.

I've had both. In the end, scrapping the coralline algae off the plexi-glass will ruin it.

[sagitariuscbc]

i have had a leak out with a glass tank before. luckly i was home when it happened. i have not had or heard of any friends who this has happened to with acrylic. it seems all the best tanks i've seen the majority of them are acrylic. my sump is made out of one inch acrylic, it is bullet proof. i have read somewhere that glass tamks are to last around 50 years and acrylic over 200 years. if i were to recomend glass it wouls be the starfire glass. but i really favor acrylic. it has alot of of benifits that glass does not.

[Bamm Bamm]

Yeah I kinda think um glass is a bit-- a little backgrounf-- I started working on setting up my acrylci 55 in January.. Just have it setup here now for a few weeks--BaRELY. Downsized from a 90greef into this 55 and my 46g bowfront.. I spent probably 12hours+ polishing this 55g.. I got it free from a friend who had badly scratched it.. Wel i put some nice scratced on it yesterday with my magnet when I picked up a little gravel=( and then last night put a few more from the LR trying to get my yellow tang out of there...

So now I'm changing my opinion--Acrylic is lighter and more visually appeasing---Unless you got the bucks for Starfire.. BUt Acrylic is a pain in the *** and is a bit unforgiving..Now I'll have to polish underwater=(...... Now I'm really debating on when i buy my 240 in the next year or so if I want acrylic or glass?????

[CaptiveReefSystems]

Originally posted by sagitariuscbc
i have had a leak out with a glass tank before. luckly i was home when it happened. i have not had or heard of any friends who this has happened to with acrylic. it seems all the best tanks i've seen the majority of them are acrylic. my sump is made out of one inch acrylic, it is bullet proof. i have read somewhere that glass tamks are to last around 50 years and acrylic over 200 years. if i were to recomend glass it wouls be the starfire glass. but i really favor acrylic. it has alot of of benifits that glass does not.
You need to ask Eddie at Tropical Paridise about the 900 gallon acrylic tank that exploded on him. I believe it was one of the tanks he got from 24Hr Fitness when they got rid of all their aquariums.

[reefnovice]

Go, for the glass tank. My first marine tank is acrylic it has too many scratches despite my best efforts. :-(

[sagitariuscbc]

Originally posted by CaptiveReefSystems
You need to ask Eddie at Tropical Paridise about the 900 gallon acrylic tank that exploded on him. I believe it was one of the tanks he got from 24Hr Fitness when they got rid of all their aquariums.

you said it. its a used tank with a uncertain history!

[sagitariuscbc]

here in a acrylic tank that i like.;)
http://www.jetanuki.com/journal/movies/aquarium%20hi.rm

[Alto]

I would have to say without a doubt I am an acrylic man myself. The way I see it if you can scratch acrylic you can scratch glass too. I have been working with and around acrylic tanks for almost 4 years give or take and have yet to do any more then slightly ding an acrylic tank, which you would have to get a magnifying glass out to notice.

Basicly you have to take care when you work in an acrylic tank, you cant be dropping and smashing stuff around. Also you just have to leave a 3-4" buffer zone around the sand bed when using a magnetic scraper(something you should do with glass tanks as well since this is one of the most common ways to scratch a glass tank). Then just scrap that buffer zone with a kent acrylic safe scraper (best scraper in the industry if you ask me).

Acrylic is less likely to break, clearer, causes less distortion when looking from an angle, its lighter for when you will have to move it... yeah mostly likely it will happen, just do a search on here for "how do I move my tank" you will get a billion results. It only has one down fall the scratching issue. But like I said with a little care and concern it is very very easy to not scratch acylic.

[sagitariuscbc]

hello alto!
how is school? burned yourself yet?;)

shawn