Glasscages Yes or no

[MimicTang]

Thinking of getting a couple acrylic aquariums and glass cages has good prices but concerned with quality.

[badfish]

I bought the 16" cube from them. They do VERY quality work. Especially for the price. PM me if you have any questions.

[splateee]

I have a glass tank and i am happy with it.

[capncapo]

I have read that their glass tanks are great and their acrylic tanks are not very well made.

[WaterKeeper]

Here is what I said in an old thread on the subject--

Originally posted by WaterKeeper
As any manufacturer of acrylic tanks will tell you acrylic tanks beat glass tanks hands down. Acrylics are:

• Lighter in weight than Glass
  
• Stronger than glass
  
• Much clearer
  
• Have no seams to leak
  
• Are much easier to drill
  
• Can be molded into unusual shapes
  
• Are better thermal insulators
  
• Help preserve the worlds ever dwindling supply of Silicones

With all these merits we have barely scratched the surface of the marvels of an acrylic tank. Well hush my mouth, did I say scratched? Sadly, acrylic tanks get scratched more easily than a 3-legged horse in the Kentucky Derby; easily enough so that this flaw outweighs most of their other qualities.

Sure you say, "I'll be real, real careful" but the sad truth is that even the most carefully managed acrylic tank is going to scratch over time. We all think about major scratches that occur when a piece of Live Rock is dragged across the surface of the acrylic but most of the scratching is far more subtle. Particles of fine sand get sucked up by powerheads and propelled into the sides of the tank. Using a magnetic scraper crushes calcium deposits contained in coralline algae into a fine abrasive powder. Kids slide their silver teething rings across the outside of the tank.

Over time micro scratches in the tank give it a dull cloudy appearance. One of the main reasons for choosing acrylic is clarity and this haze does not help enhance that image. Also, the glass aquarium manufactures are not blind to the fact that standard glass is just not as pleasing as acrylic. To counter this they now offer tank made from low iron float glasses. With brand names such as Starfire, OptiWhite and UltraWhite these tanks avoid the greenish cast that standard glass imparts due to iron content. This really levels the playing field.

I've heard mixed results on using buffing kits to remove scratches on acrylic tanks. Some people feel all they do is trade larger scratches for lots of smaller micro scratches. Overall creating a haze. Touring threads on RC you find may acrylic owners saying their next tank will be glass. Not so with glass tank owners.

True, standard glass tanks are cheap but if you are considering acrylic you probably can afford to get a low iron glass tank. It is worth the extra money and really doesn't cost much more than plastic.

Also, some of the other arguments against glass are also somewhat over stated. A hundred gallon glass tank when empty weighs in at about 180 lbs and the acrylic only about 80-85. Still when both are full of water they will end up weighing over a half ton so a hundred pounds here or there is not a big issue. Quality glass tank do have seams but leakage is unlikely and usually occurs when you do something foolish such as trying to move a full tank. Used glass tanks that have been stored dry can also have the silcone degrade over time but can be repaired. On small tanks, those 20 gallons and under, the insulating ability of acrylic will help control temperature swings. In larger tanks this effect becomes fairly moot as the water itself provides thermal stability.

Overall I tend to be bias toward glass.

[kensilvey]

Purchased 2-65 gal and 2-15 gal acrylic tanks. They are not high quality but will work for all applications especially sumps and fuges. The larger rectangle aquariums and sq cubes are of higher quality.Fast and cheap shipping on acrylic tanks.

[nigam]

I bought a 190 gallon glass tank from them in December. I'm happy so far. In discussions with them, they were reluctant to provide design advice, but built what I asked for...

[MimicTang]

Waterkeeper:

I wanna use them for a research/breeding stand point. Do you think they would save me money on elec?

No rock & no sand

[WaterKeeper]

Hi Mimic,

As I said in the above post acrylic has less thermal conductivity than glass and insulates a small tank better. As a tank increases in size the ratio of water volume to exposed surface area steadily increases and the effect of heat transfer through the tank walls therefore steadily declines.

If your tanks will be small then there may be some savings in using acrylic but once you get above a 100 gallons or so the advantages become very small.

[MimicTang]

planning on some 20gal longs with the length side, side by side hence the long side.

Insulates better as in 20% better or minimal. Wanna cut operating cost as much as possible.