Glass or Acrylic Tanks?

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Okay, I like acrylic. I like the view. It is really, really clear. I like the break resistance. I like that it insulates from temp swings. My DT is acrylic. It is expensive and easy to scratch, so if that's not a problem, go acrylic.:fish1::popcorn:
 
I prefer starfire glass, almost as clear as acrylic and 100% more scratch resistant. And if i had to choose, i'd go glass or acrylic. Glass has a greenish natural tint to it. Acrylic is ok if you are careful 100%... TLC always. No mistake or scratch. My two cents...
 
i prefer Starphire glass as well. but it will be very very expensive. close to $2000 just for the display tank for the size tank i want. However, i have the tools to build an Acrylic tank myself.

the thing about saltwater is that you have to clean your glass every 3-4 days to keep it clean.
 
This is true! I have starphire and i'm glad i went with it. Although i have heard and read horror stories about how easily acrylic scratches. I made my light and chose a thin sheet of acrylic to protect the light fixtures and was amazed at how easy it scuffed up.
 
I've done acrylic and have not had complaints. Same reasons given above. It gets scratched, but with water in, you usually can't even see the scratches.
 
I have a 135 acrylic that was all stuffed up from the previous owner and I just wet sanded and buffed it out. Can't really do that with glass. Also I ha r a 2yr old and let's just say acrylic can take a good hit.
 
TheTodd said:
I've done acrylic and have not had complaints. Same reasons given above. It gets scratched, but with water in, you usually can't even see the scratches.
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Yes, I scratched mine inside with a magnet cleaner that caught sand last week. Have to really look for it and even then it's no big deal. Scratches on the outside are easily polished out, but using a clean, damp microfiber cloth pretty well eliminates outside scratch danger. Oh, no more mag cleaner. It's hand acrylic only algae pad from here on out.
 
Coryluv said:
Yes, I scratched mine inside with a magnet cleaner that caught sand last week. Have to really look for it and even then it's no big deal. Scratches on the outside are easily polished out, but using a clean, damp microfiber cloth pretty well eliminates outside scratch danger. Oh, no more mag cleaner. It's hand acrylic only algae pad from here on out.
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what if you have pawsie kids that like to touch the tank :p or a cat that likes to jump
 
Jonnypro said:
I have a 135 acrylic that was all stuffed up from the previous owner and I just wet sanded and buffed it out. Can't really do that with glass. Also I ha r a 2yr old and let's just say acrylic can take a good hit.
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i don't know if many know but you can't buff and polish glass also in the exact same way you would acrylic , a wet sanding and a buffing wheel just might take a bit longer. theone thing about glass though is you don't have to worry about the buffer not meltign and screwign up the acrylic even more
 
Have had many of both. Current acrylic tank is over 20 years old. It has some scratches, but not bad. I like low lead glass, but it's heavy and expensive. I also like the fact that acrylic bonds. Glass aquariums are held together with silicone that doesn't penetrate the glass. They are glued together.
 
Gregcoyote said:
Have had many of both. Current acrylic tank is over 20 years old. It has some scratches, but not bad. I like low lead glass, but it's heavy and expensive. I also like the fact that acrylic bonds. Glass aquariums are held together with silicone that doesn't penetrate the glass. They are glued together.
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acrylic bonds but its just a surface weld, and i doubt the weld is as strong as the actual cellcast piece is.

the silicone on glass bond may not penetrate but it is still a strong "gluing". silicone os extremely hard to get off of glass, you really can't pull it off it has to be cut and even then there is still some that is always stuck to it, even when you soften it with acetone. in some way i trust a silicone bond more then i trust the acrylic weld. you don't need to smooth out the surface of glass when siliconing like you have to do with acrylic to make a proper joint.

another thing i worry about with acrylic is that if its not sized properly it bows and you get stress cracks, acrylic requires thicker panelling then glass as it does tend to flex more then glass does, even though it has can deflect more and take a higher impact, i still maintain that under normal steady pressure glass can take more force. i have seen alot of videos where the bracing on acrylic tans begins to crack and where the welds of it begin to pull away from the front and back panelling where structural resins need to be used in order to bond the pieces together again. also there was an episode of Tanked where a bulkhead was tighted to much and over time the pressure caused the acrylic around it to crack and caused a leak. again they had to resin it in order to repair it.

glass is in theroy a stone after all

all this said, i'm goign to be completly honest, i like the over all structural integrity of a plywood tank much better and like the fact that they are cheaply built and you can still get a front and side view and leave the back undone
 
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Wow...I loved it and also use to build plywood and concrete tanks. But I found them to have weakness's like all materials have. Both glass and acrylic aquariums need to adhere to basic structural rules. Cel cast is certainly stronger than welded. (Or is it? Another discussion) And silicon seals have held up for decades. Lead free glass is deluxe but heavy and really expensive. Doing anything but flat surfaces and glass gets crazy expensive. With an exception of some factory made glass tanks that have no seams. Regular glass is too green for anything but pretty shallow tanks.
It goes on, everything is a trade off.

As to plywood, never came up with a coating that would hold up like glass or acrylic. The glass to wood seams were also sometimes a problem. But they were cheap and held water.
I bet you love old wooden sail boats? :)
I think Mr_X was also a fan of plywood and even concrete tanks.
 
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