Acrylic vs Glass

[reefme]

Acrylic is not easy to clean. If you are interested I have one 72" x 30" x 30" acrylic with 3/4" thick built by Tenecor. Just tear down two months ago. I also have an acrylic sump 60"lg. x 24"w x ?h.

PM me if you are interested.

[BackPackHunter]

Well I've done a lot of reading on this, because I've never had a Acrylic tank.
And this new build is my last tank, so I want every thing to be just right.
And the advantages of glass far out weigh the advantages of acrylic .

Thanks for the replys everyone .

I'm going with glass

[sirruckus]

I've had acrylic as our first tank 90 gallon 4' x 18" x 24" tall used 3/8" with wrapped corners - way nicer looking than a glass aquarium IMO hands down because of this feature - also got it because of being paranoid with bumping into it and smashing a glass aquarium.

after having it, just like another user has mentioned:

easy to scratch = harder to clean
Coraline loves to grow on it = harder to clean

if you wanted to do acrylic you could probably use 1/2" or 5/8" material

but I'll caution you, if it was anything like our tank - you'll be spending 30 minutes or more cleaning your acrylic (FYI mr. clean magic erasers work best for this and cause no harm to your inhabitants)

[BackPackHunter]

The one thing that is a 100% is that it's going to be built in with only the front glass showing, Hinding the edges. And it will be 36" deep, and 36-42" wide. Working in a 36" deep is not a lot of fun so the extra work cleaning is not wanted...
With only be able to get at anything is threw the back, so I'll be into it wast deep.

The only advantage with acrylic I can see is its lighter n easier to drill
I'm thinking this tank is going to have to be built in place anyway so weight, not that big of deal ...

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by BackPackHunter

With only be able to get at anything is threw the back, so I'll be into it wast deep.

No access from the front? How are you going to clean the coralline off the front glass, when the mag cleaner doesn't get it all? I can see a lot of accidental frags in the future once it is all grown out.

Also, going to be kind of hard to position and rearrange your corals in the front, when you can't see what you are doing?

[Ryanerickson]

About 2 years ago I had a customer with a acrylic tank that I cleaned only access was from the back. Sorry tank was in wall he paid me $60 a hour to clean it even at that rate it was the worst job I have ever had and only 24" deep in the past I have cleaned tanks for many of people with no problem loved the job but combo of cleaning from back and acrylic made it so hard I never got it perfectly clean just to hard getting the bottom and corners after my second cleaning I told him I had no interest in cleaning his tank anymore IMO his tank was the worst design ever.

[mark]

well now that you decided glass, what type?

Starfire is great just my experience is a dogs nails can scratch it (I'm agreeing with other posts out there it's seems softer that regular glass).

[BackPackHunter]

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

No access from the front? How are you going to clean the coralline off the front glass, when the mag cleaner doesn't get it all? I can see a lot of accidental frags in the future once it is all grown out.

Also, going to be kind of hard to position and rearrange your corals in the front, when you can't see what you are doing?

i will be having a hot shower, putting swimming shorts & goggles and getting in there, had to do that with my last 36" deep tank.
that tank i was able to view 360, so cleaning was easier. with this tank i plan on having a piece of 1" plywood thats as long as the tank to distribute my weight so i can lay on top and not have to get as far in.

the aquascaping is going to be more at the back of the tank, leaving the front clean and open, for the bigger fish to have a good spot to swim in the open if they want , so hopefully there wont be any unwanted frags...

[BackPackHunter]

Originally Posted by mark

well now that you decided glass, what type?

Starfire is great just my experience is a dogs nails can scratch it (I'm agreeing with other posts out there it's seems softer that regular glass).

ive been doing a lot of reading of glass also...
and a lot of people are saying that the starfire scratches very easy, and some say they never had a problem...
I read a post that someone used a low iron starfire glass thats not normally used in aquariums, because of its cost being a lot more then normal starfire, and it was very hard and scratch resistant , im going to look into that a lot more, as for the other sides i dont care to much if they scratch up, im going to be painting them black and probably letting them grow out
the tank is going to be built into the living room wall, and want to keep it very clean looking , like its just a living picture ...

[untamed]

That was my trigger that scratched up my acrylic tank. That fish was crazy, however, swimming back and forth along the same spot endlessly. He would only stop this behavior to eat. Regardless, I have to polish the panels every year or so.

As for acrylic vs glass...it is just a tank size issue. Beyond a certain size, acrylic is a must...in spite of its challenges. Big=thick. Even thick starfire glass imparts a green hue compared to acrylic. Btw, my tank is 1" acrylic, euro braced 6' x 4' x 28" and there is no panel bowing.

At what size does glass become unacceptable/unmanageable? Opinions vary. I think it happens around 300-400 gallons.