Why use acrylic for SW rather than glass?

[Biggen]

However, if you are still on the fence between glass and acrylic. Let me make it a touch harder. There is also "Starphire" glass. I am not sure whether it is a company name or a special process but I have seen some starphire glass tanks and they are VERY clear. So let's just say "Acrylic is lighter, stronger and is a better insulator than glass." Clear may no longer be a factor.

Very interesting. I have not heard of that. Will have to check into it.

 

[bizzybeas]

I have 2 boys who fight and wrestle a lot. Thus, I have acrylic.

 

[NaH2O]

I was debating between acrylic and glass for my tank. Starphire glass makes a tank much more expensive, and acrylic tanks are more expensive than glass, but I'm not sure if Starphire glass is more expensive than acrylic... :? Anyway, another plus for acrylic is you don't get the distorsion when you are right up against the tank looking in. It's almost as if you are in the tank. Acrylic, as has been noted, can be drilled for overflows and if you want to have holes drilled in the back for circulation (i.e. closed loop) this eliminates the need for powerheads. Finally, if a ball is kicked and it hits the acrylic tank, it most likely won't break (if kids are a factor). The drawbacks I found in my research were: you need special algae pads when cleaning the acrylic so you don't scratch it doing routine maintenance; if you get a grain of sand on your algae pad, that could create a big scratch mess (even though you can buff them out, it IMO would be a pain), so cleaning near the substrate would have to be with care; and what do you do when corraline algae grows into a scratch on acrylic?. I ended up choosing glass in the end because of the cost, and because I didn't want to have the super extra care that goes with acrylic. Some people love it, some do not.