180 Gallon Glass or Acrylic

[tmcpeek]

Hello Again,

I am still debating on the glass vs acrylic. I was set on acrylic until I was at a guys house that had a glass tank the size I want 72x24x24. He said glass all the way because once you have a reef tank the acrlic gets scratched and looks bad.

Can I get some opinions.

Thanks,

 

[fishfreek]

True acrylic will scratch very easily in comparison to glass. If your carful around the tank you can limit the degree of scratches alot.

One benifit to acrylic is that its alot thinner for the same strenght. On large tanks this means that the tank itself is MUCH lighter and subsquently easier to move around. Thick glass often produces a kind of green hue to everything because of its thickness yet acrlic is thinner and thus more clear to view thru.

Glass is often cheaper than acrylic for the tank the same size.

Acyrlic while it scratches easier is less liable to break or crack if something should fall into the tank either from the inside (live rock shifting due to a sand sifter or digging creature) or from the outside (kids + hammers or many other number of things).

If you ask me I think the benifits and cons of both put it on an even keel.

 

[brotherd]

starphire glass!clear like acrylic but has the scratch resistance of a regular glass aquarium.

 

[triggers]

Scratches on acrylic tanks can be removed. Glass scratches too, and when glass scrathces it is permanent. Most acrylic tanks come with life time guarantee against leaks.

Acrylic also has less evaportion, if it has a built in top in has vertually no salt creep, and acrylic is better insulation preventing temperature fluctuation.

 

[Sam]

Remember also that for that size tank, a glass one is liable to weigh I would guess over 300 Lbs. An acrylic tank the same size would weigh in about 1/2 of that. Plus you can get some nice shapes with acrylic that cannot be done with glass. Most of the large display aquariums you see in commercial displays are typically acrylic. Really a subjective decision.

 

[TriggerHappy]

Glass IMO, acrylic will scratch easily. I also was stuck on plexi til I thought otherwise. GL

 

[goldy]

we love our 180g acrylic tank.yeah it scratches easy but you can buff them out with a scratch remover. it weighs less then glass,holds temperature better then glass,there is less salt creep if you get a built in overflow.

 

[tmcpeek]

Thanks for everyone's input. I guess I will go acylic just for the weight factor and being that I am in earthquake area. As always this site is SO valuable. The LFS just tells me that the best is whatever he is making the highest margin on.