Glass or acrylic

[dfringu]

which & why ?

[dg3147]

I'm a fan of glass --much less risk of scratches. I really dig the low iron or Starphire brand of glass for the front/viewing panels.

...my two cents.

Pros of acrylic: very light.
Cons: scratches super easy.

[James77]

Huge downside to acrylic is it scratches very easily. You also usually need big stupid braces on top that hinder access. Other than that, it is clearer than green glass, more impact resistant, holds heat a bit better, and is great for earthquake prone areas.

Glass is cheaper, does not scratch easily. It can be just as clear as acrylic if you use white glass- aka starfire.

I could never be meticulous and careful enough not to scratch acrylic. More people wish they had gone with glass rather than acrylic than the other way around.

[Agu]

10 gallon tank or two thousand gazillion gallon tank ? Fowler or reef ? Will you be maintaining it or will the servants be doing that ?

Both have their advantages and disadvantages but neither is clearly superior until the terms of use are defined.

[dfringu]

200 gallon. two sided (front & Back) I will be the slave...Fish a little live rock and a few critters to start..

[Gill_bucket]

I love my 125 gallon being acrylic when I have to move it and hate myself every time I scratch it. Another thing to keep in mind is that drilling holes in acrylic is much easier/cheaper than glass. If I were to setup a smaller tank I would definitely go glass but I wouldn't want to move a larger glass tank very often.

[Amp2020]

I if could afford it, I'd replace all my tanks with acrylic. Its easy to scratch but its also easy to remove those scratches. Try doing that with a glass tank. It usually cost more to remove a scratch in a glass tank, than just replacing it. Plus, its probably clearer than starfire glass and I like how bright they look compared to regular glass tanks. The only down side I see worth mentioning is the added labor of cleaning. I can clean a glass tank with a razor blade in no time flat. Acrylic takes a lot of work to remove coraline algae with special scrapers that don't scratch the surface of the tank. But its easy if you keep up on the maintenance and don't let the coraline grow to much.

[needmore-reef]

amp2020

Im with you on that, razor blade is the way to go. I have a Magnavor 4ER that put a crazy crazy big scracth on the out side of my glass tank, Its so bad my wife asked me if I wanted to look into getting a new one!

[khaosinc]

I'd never go back to glass... especially on a big tank. Just don't trust them long term

[capecoral]

For super-cheap, I only seem to find glass.

[jeff@zina.com]

Originally Posted by capecoral

For super-cheap, I only seem to find glass.

Acrylic will always be more than glass. Until you get to custom tanks and sizes, there's no cost advantage to acrylic and, even with custom, acrylic will usually be a premium price.

Jeff

[cveverly]

I have had both, I like a low iron glass tank the best. My current tank is a 180 glass. I would have preferred a 240 but it would not fit right where I put it.

There are advantages of acrylic. Lighter, clearer and impact resistant. However, they will scratch and you really need to be careful when cleaning. If it scratches it can be repaired but it is a lot of work. I don't like the bracing required on the acrylic tanks.

[dfringu]

Thanks all !

[oakleyx]

Glass

Less scratches

[RcToners]

Lets all be honest here for a min, the ONLY advantage to glass is that it does not scratch as easy and when purchasing a larger tank its cheaper. These are the ONLY two advantages of a glass tank.

So lets break it down.

Glass,

Pros- Does not scratch as easy as acrylic, cheaper when purchasing large tanks.
Cons- Still can scratch and when it does you might as well buy another tank because getting that scratch out yourself might as well be impossible. Not as clear as acrylic even with starfire glass. Weighs a heck of alot more then acrylic, purchase yourself a glass 250 gal tank and you might as well plan on hiring a moving crew because you and a friend are not going to be able to move it. Breaks easier then acrylic, have that favorite rock stack take a tumble into the glass and wham, your corals are on the ground. Long term large glass tanks are a very touchy thing as some will say they weaken much more then acrylic over time. Harder to drill then acrylic, need to make sure you do not have a tempered tank.

Acrylic,

Cons, scratches easier then glass, cost more then glass
Pros, much better visability then glass, weighs less then glass- a few people can move a very large acrylic tank with ease. Acrylic will not shatter or crack like glass. When acrylic does scratch its fairly easy to remove and can be done with the tank in full operation. Extremly easy to drill.

[TitanTV]

You will always get people on both sides of the fence here. I say Glass all the way. The biggest downfall to glass is the initial weight for moving the big tanks. The scratch factor alone makes glass far superior.

Titantv

[capecoral]

Can't you avoid scratches?

[john32]

I always here the scratch argument, recently purchased a 240 gallon acrylic tank. I got a few scratches on the front that really bothered me, I used a scratch kit and it worked perfect, i thought there would be some hazing or color issue but nothing worked perfect. You get a scratch on glass and you just have to live with it.

[tozzi]

what kit did u use? Novus? Did u do all the different papers then the cream to buff?

[dmopar74]

i am not a fan of acrylic, ive owned tanks that have crazed, gotten scratched alot(got kids?), and even a 360g acrylic that burst a seam on me. not fun.

i agree acrylic has its ups and downs, but from my experiences acrylic is inferior for me.

[Gregthos]

Go with whatever is in your budget because you'll enjoy it either way

[john32]

I used lifegaurd aquatics and yes I used all the different grades and the cream at the end. Very easy to do. I have heard of many glass tanks bursting not to many acrylic I would rather have a welded seam any day as far as that goes.