benefits of acrylic over glass

[chwattscaw]

Are there any benefits of an Acrylic tank over a glass tank of the same size. Say a 180 gal setup as an example?

Thanks,
Chris

[Paulairduck]

PROS:it is lighter if you need to move it and supposedly it is a better insulator.

CONS:It scratches easier and I have seen braces crack from metal halide lighting, and if it is not designed right it bows.

I have had acrylic tanks and will never have another unless it is a SUMP, they are not worth it, with the price of oil raising the prices drastically on acrylic.

[goreefer]

With all of the coraline that I have to scrape I don't think that I would ever want a acrylic display tank.

[chem-e]

Another benefit to acrylic is the clarity. This is probably the biggest plus for acrylic IMO.

[bdif]

Acrylic is superior in every way exept for one "deal killer" flaw. It's scratches if you fart in the same room. Most of these advantages can be overcome, for the most part, with glass. Clarity, get starphire. Weight, get more friends for the first time (and hopefully) only time you will have to move it. Strength, go with a top name manufacturer and put it on a well made stand. Insulation properties, get a chiller/good heaters. Some who own acrylic (and like it) will tell you that yes, it scratches more easily, but at least the scratches can be buffed out whereas with glass they cannot. This, however, is a flawed arguement. Given the SAME EXACT EVENT that produces a scratch in a glass aquarium that cannot be buffed out, that SAME EXACT EVENT in an acrylic will create a scratch that is so deep it cannot be buffed out either. If you are fixing scratches in an acrylic tank, which is a MAJOR ordeal, you are simply fixing scratches that would never have occured in glass. Although I have few posts in RC, I have long experience with both and unless you are going over about 500gal. I would NEVER own an acrylic disply again. Even with best intentions, the reality of asthetic maintinence of your display WILL create scratches.

[Paulairduck]

Originally posted by bdif
Acrylic is superior in every way exept for one "deal killer" flaw. It's scratches if you fart in the same room. Most of these advantages can be overcome, for the most part, with glass. Clarity, get starphire. Weight, get more friends for the first time (and hopefully) only time you will have to move it. Strength, go with a top name manufacturer and put it on a well made stand. Insulation properties, get a chiller/good heaters. Some who own acrylic (and like it) will tell you that yes, it scratches more easily, but at least the scratches can be buffed out whereas with glass they cannot. This, however, is a flawed arguement. Given the SAME EXACT EVENT that produces a scratch in a glass aquarium that cannot be buffed out, that SAME EXACT EVENT in an acrylic will create a scratch that is so deep it cannot be buffed out either. If you are fixing scratches in an acrylic tank, which is a MAJOR ordeal, you are simply fixing scratches that would never have occured in glass. Although I have few posts in RC, I have long experience with both and unless you are going over about 500gal. I would NEVER own an acrylic disply again. Even with best intentions, the reality of asthetic maintinence of your display WILL create scratches.

I agree

STARFIRE GLASS

[Raul-7]

I see your point, but your argument is still biased. Low-iron glass (which includes the brand Starphire) is still not as clear as acrlyic.

[walmart]

I often hear the phrase: "I think I am going to upgrade to glass."

[thor32766]

if you can get glass get glass. plain and simple.

[Carnavor180]

no comparison , glass 10 to 1

[bdif]

I see your point, but your argument is still biased. Low-iron glass (which includes the brand Starphire) is still not as clear as acrlyic.

True, true. kinda. Acrylic isn't clearer, they are both "clear". Acrylic is brighter. But in reality the only way anyone will ever be able to compare and see the difference would be to set the exact same set up in acrylic next to the one in my living room and view them side by side. Standing alone the low iron glass with quality, bright lighting looks darn good...

[miwoodar]

I told myself that I would never have an acrylic tank ever again. However, I've always been told that acrylic is more impact resistant. Is this true? Last week my 1.5 year old son bounced a ball off of the front of my glass 65...since then I've been planning to go acrylic instead.

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally posted by chwattscaw
Are there any benefits of an Acrylic tank over a glass tank of the same size. Say a 180 gal setup as an example?

Thanks,
Chris

for a 180 reef aquarium choose glass. JMO

[Raul-7]

Originally posted by miwoodar
I told myself that I would never have an acrylic tank ever again. However, I've always been told that acrylic is more impact resistant. Is this true? Last week my 1.5 year old son bounced a ball off of the front of my glass 65...since then I've been planning to go acrylic instead.

It's more resistant because it can absorb more force before it breaks and the other fact is that the seams are chemically bonded.

[moondoggy4]

Glass. had both, prefer glass. I could only clear small window's in my acrylic so that I could see my corals.

[kdblove_99]

Also agree Starphire. I hate My acrylic tank it has so many scratches and i am real careful.

I will be getting a glass starphire in the not so far future

[chin]

Personally Im a glass man. There are 2 advantages though that I do sway me towards acrylic on the random off day; bonded seams, customizability. A well manufactured acrylic tank on a solid stand will never leak. Not to say other factors, halide lights, plumbing, fish, random accidents, will not cause an acrylic tank to fail, but an acrylic tank is a plastic box w/ no seams. I have had glass tanks that have leaked, but also have had glass tanks where the silicon peals out and doesnt? Acrylic tanks can also be custom made to any shape and size. The only limitation there is your pocket book.

[viggen]

I prefer acrylic for larger tanks..... I have not owned any over 150g glass tanks & I have owned acrylic tanks from 70g to 260g & from my experience I definantly prefer acyrlic. Acrylic looks so much cleaner but yes.... it is more difficult to clean due to not being able to use magnets (they can scratch the tank if not carefull).

So many people complain about how easy acrylic scratches & in the 14 years I have owned acrylic tanks.... I do not understand why so many people have issues. It's VERY easy to keep a tank free of scratches!!

My concern with large glass is how the glass can crack with a small impact or the silicone can come out sometimes due to fish picking at it. Acrylic is so much stronger.... but it's a tradeoff to me.... I choose acrylic

[miwoodar]

Originally posted by Raul-7
It's more resistant because it can absorb more force before it breaks and the other fact is that the seams are chemically bonded.

I stopped by a friend's place last night - we got on to the discussion of glass versus acrylic. He told me the story of why he's such a fan of acrylic. He came home once to find two big semi-circle cracks front and center in his 125 acrylic tank. Turns out his roommate and his roommate's girlfriend had gotten into a fight and she threw a dish. She missed and hit the tank. By the way he described the cracking, I have no doubt a glass tank would not have made it through the ordeal.

I had a 20 high when I was ~8 years old. My 4 year old brother threw a nickel across the room and broke it.

I would prefer glass due to the scratch resistance. With my son though - I'm going acrylic. Plus, the materials to do the tank I am looking at are $400 more if I go with a glass tank. That doesn't even include any starfire glass.

[FishDad2]

I see the same arguments being made here that were being made when I had to make this decision. In the end, I looked at it from a risk and probability perspective and went with glass.

So, for example, let's take a look at scratching.

In the case of scratches what's the risk? Simple, the tank will look shabby and be difficult to repair, particularly for scratches on the inside and low on the wall. Question is, do you want to get involved in buffing out scratches...it's a lot of work, as the posts above will attest. And despite the occasional post I see testifying that it’s easy to keep an acrylic tank scratch-free, the majority of posts I’ve seen from acrylic owners say the same things...the tank scratches relatively easily and it’s a lot of work to buff out the scratches. I figure there’s already enough maintenance to do and I didn’t want to create additional, and rather difficult, work for myself…especially when the likelihood of scratching is high with acrylic. Glass is the big winner in this category of consideration….BIG!!

Next I considered clarity; acrylic vs. low-iron glass. Here the winner is acrylic, but as a post above points out, you’d have to place identical tanks side-by-side to tell the difference. Are you planning to build 2 tanks? Winner is acrylic but not by all that much…IMO.

As regards the strength of the tank, I've been keeping fish for 20+ years and have 2 kids...now ages 6 & 11. In all that time I've never had a tank break...even with an 11 yo. hockey player in the house. So, while acrylic is stronger, I didn't give relative strength too much weight in the final equation. Now, if I'd had a tank burst on me once, I'd probably think otherwise, but since it hasn't happened in more than 20 years...

The integrity of the seams is the biggest advantage of acrylic over glass in my view....clear winner for acrylic here. This was the one thing that kept acrylic in the game for me. But in the end, as with not having a tank burst on me in 20+ years, I relied on my own experiences and decided not to weight this factor too heavily either, as I felt the probability of a leak would be low. It did make it a more difficult decision though, as the impact of a leak would be horrific.

Finally, as regards weight, I agree with an earlier post....get more friends and don't move it around...not really a big factor in my mind, unless you plan to move it regularly or you live in the first little pigs straw house. It was the first pig, wasn't it?

So in the end, glass was the winner because of the scratching considerations being high impact on aesthetics & maintenance while also having a high probability of occurrence (and ongoing reoccurrences), whereas the biggest advantages of acrylic were minimized in my mind by the low likelihood of those issues occurring with glass.

In the end, you have to weight the factors for yourself, as there is no one right answer…all we can do is offer opinion and our own experiences.

Good luck making the right decision for you…post some pics when you’re done.

[warriorss08]

I have a 220 acrylic tank and it has scratches all over it. Mostly from sand getting caught in the magnets. I don't think i'll ever get one again unless it's just fish or a lot smaller. It's hard to reach to the bottom and get leverage to scrape off the coralline algae.

[Snarlax]

Acrylic is the best option in all categories except the most important: Scratch factor. This is probably the only reason most people prefer glass.

I'd do glass if I could afford a custom made glass tank (or make a DIY glass), but until then it's DIY acrylic for me.

[miwoodar]

Originally posted by Snarlax
Acrylic is the best option in all categories except the most important: Scratch factor. This is probably the only reason most people prefer glass.

I'd do glass if I could afford a custom made glass tank (or make a DIY glass), but until then it's DIY acrylic for me.

I just priced up glass to DIY a 135 cube. Just the materials in PLAIN glass ran above $700 (and I would have had to have driven 200 miles round trip to get that price!). Some places wanted upwards of a grand. Compare that to $460 in acrylic...and I will have enough material left over to make a nice external overflow, a 12 gallon top off container, and then some.

[xtm]

Function before Fashion, simple as that.

What good is a scratchless tank if it can't hold water anymore? (cracked, leaking seams, etc)

Acrylic Pros:
-can be customized to any shape
-much much stronger than glass
-so much lighter
-much better insulator
-way clearer
-scratches are VERY fixable
-will not shatter
-You can add extra bracing if needed
-has no annoying seams for a very nice panoramic view
-easier to drill for plumbing
-no silicone seams to dry out and peel
-no green tinge
-tolerates hard impact during fights with GF or wife
-tolerates shaking esp. if you live in CA
-you can sleep at night when using a wavebox
-etc etc

Acrylic Cons:
-Scratches easily.......... BUT if you learn how to use proper grits, learn how to wet-sand, and learn how to properly use Novus, there is NO scratch that is unbuffable. Try that with glass.

Need a cord hanger? pfft.. WeldOn #4. Need to add brace? Weld on # 16. Scratched your tank? Novus #2... the list of possibility is endless!

Plus if you have an acrylic tank, you will be driven to become very meticulous with how you treat your tank. You will learn how to pay attention to detail.. which is great, at least in my opinion.

That being said, I will never go back to glass, ever.

JMO

[Gary Majchrzak]

suggestion for those still debating whether or not to set up an acrylic reef aquarium:

do a seach for more threads on this subject!