Any reason to go to Arcylic over glass with freshwater?

[JamesMJ2]

I want to get a bigger tank, my current one a bit crowded. I have been looking at Acrylic, but the cost isn't very appealing, My question is, Is there any compelling reason to switch to an Acrylic tank instead of buying another glass one? I have only found two makes commercially available to me, "Clear for Life" and "Sea-Clear" both are expensive, with "Clear for Life" being cheaper.

 

[loganj]

Acylic is a better insulator and it's clearer. Other than that, I can't think of any reason. I'd go with glass.

 

[Biggen]

Hey JamesMJ2,

I have the Sea Clear 40 gallon tall tank. It is a beautiful tank. However, if I had to do it again, I would probably go with glass.

Acrylic does have it's good sides. It lighter than glass, stronger than glass (17 times stronger in fact), clearer than glass (around 5 percent or so), and it is a better insulator than glass. With all these good points why would one still choose glass? Acrylic scratches REAL easily. Much easier than glass will. My tank is only about a month old and I have a few scratches inside of the tank. I was wiping off algae inside of the tank one day with a super soft painters brush and all of a sudden noticed that I had scratched it. Upon further inspection of the brush I noticed there was very fine sand grit in the brush. Now acrylic scratches will buff out a whole lot easier than glass would, but at the same time, if I had a glass tank, this never would have happened.

I think even with all the good things about acrylic, glass is still the best bet. It is also cheaper so it fits most people's budget a little easier.

If you do get an acrylic tank, just make sure that you be careful when working inside of the tank. Also make sure that people don't have sharp objects around the outside of the tank. Mine in located in my retail store and I am constantly telling people to "Stop touching the tank!!"

 

[JamesMJ2]

<laughs> People always have to fiddle don't they Biggen. Thanks for the info guys, One of the things that I liked about acrylic tanks was the lack of all that structural plastic, that stuff on glass looks terrible. Has anyone every had a glass tank leak, I mean in normal wear and tear situations..?

 

[wabyrd]

I had a 35 gallon acrylic tank and was forced to replace it with glass. The walls of my acrylic tank were beginning to bow under the pressure of the water. It had bowed to the point that I could see the bottom of the tank starting to separate from the walls. I replaced it with glass when I was too worried about it leaking on my wood floors.

The acrylic also scratches WAY too easy but are fairly easily removed.

I didn't think there was a way to remove scratches from glass though? If there is, I'd like to know how because I have a scratch on one of my glass tanks that I'd like to remove.

 

[i3k]

check out acrylic tanks at ebay.com people will usually ship an acrylic tank up to 50-60 gallon and they sell them pretty cheap at ebay.

 

[TankGirl]

The other downside to acrylic associated with scratching is that plecos and other algae-eaters will actually scratch the acrylic when the eat the algae. The major thing is that it is lightweight, so shipping costs are greatly reduced, and if you drop an acrylic tank it is no biggie. I have both. It is personal preference, so if the price is right and the look is right (I'm with you on the unsightly glass tank edges) then stick with acrylic. For easier cleaning, go with glass, because you can use a razor blade on it!

 

[Electrobes]

Please go with glass. I admit that the structural sutff on the glass corners (the silicon and the such) may not look all that great, but its better than an ever increasingly fuzzy appearance because of the small scratches. I love acrylic and all but for now its too soft on the outside... ironically its tougher than hell, way more so than glass, and its prettier, but only for a short while, or unless you've delt with acrylic a number of times and are that much careful. To save you stress and hair on your head go with glass, you'll be glad later

 

[JamesMJ2]

Thanks everyone for the info, I think I will stick with glass, anyone reccommend a good glass tank, Bow front 30-40gal. I hate that middle peace of plastic on glass bowfronts though, but oh well.. thanks again.

 

[Guest]

Better optics than glass they say - though I can't envision anything clearer than glass. It scratches way too easily so you may find yourself buffing out scratches.