Acrylic vs Glass

[BackPackHunter]

Hi everyone
I'm very glad I signed up at the plaining stages of my aquarium
I've been reading lots of threads which brought up some very good points to think about.
I'm toying with the idea of building it myself
(we can talk about that in a different thread)

The tank most likely be 6x3x3
It was going to be a reef, but the wife and I was talking last night, and a couple things came up, so now it's going to be a fish tank and we'll work around the picked fish for the corals I can have ...

The wife said she wants to have 2 or 3 clown fish again
I want a French & Emperor angelfish, n maybe a clown trigger maybe n a few different tangs....

So reading a thread someone wrote that the scales of the trigger was so bad on the acrylic they had to get rid of them, also the tail barbs on the tangs was also doing damage ????

So with wanting them fish is acrylic out?

Thanks

[mrhasan]

To me, acrylic tanks are useless because:

1. Gets scratched like cakes
2. Need extremely thick acrylic to overcome the bending issue
3. Extremely expensive

Unless you go for really big tanks with unique shapes, glass is and will always be the way to go. But thats completely my 0.05

[littlewoodchuck]

I was wondering about the " bending" issue. how much bending would one expect on a 6 foot eurbraced tank that is 2' high and 3' wide?

I am planning to build an acrylic tank and although it does scratch when itabused it is easy to fix a scratch as opposed to glass, easy to cut and work with unlike glass, ten times more stronger than glass, lighter weight than glass and that clarity is better. not to mention no ugly silicone.
I have several glass tanks and once I build and cycle my new tank then all you glass lovers can come and grab a glass tank off of me.

[Reef Pilot]

I have a 6' acrylic tank and the panes are actually smaller than another 6' glass tank I have downstairs. There is no bending, but the acrylic tank does have a one piece euro brace top, incl a center brace.

However, the scratching issue is a big one. I hate cleaning the acrylic too, needs plastic blades, and coralline seems to really love it. My downstairs glass tank is a dream to clean compared to this one.

I would not build or buy a tank again that is acrylic.

[carriej]

I've got a friend who makes quite a few acrylic tanks...

As long as you're careful, they don't scratch TOO easily and they can be buffed out. They are lighter, more durable and less likely to break (think rockslide), plus they don't have that green tint that thicker glass does. However, it is not cost effective to even bother with acrylic unless doing a very large tank as cell cast acrylic can be $$$

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by carriej

I've got a friend who makes quite a few acrylic tanks...

As long as you're careful, they don't scratch TOO easily and they can be buffed out. They are lighter, more durable and less likely to break (think rockslide), plus they don't have that green tint that thicker glass does. However, it is not cost effective to even bother with acrylic unless doing a very large tank as cell cast acrylic can be $$$

Starfire glass = no green tint

[hillegom]

You say you want to build 6x3x3
I would not go deeper than 2'
Hard to get down 3' to clean/move things
Corals will not get enough light at 36 inches. But good for a FOWLR.
As far as acrylic vs glass, I vote for glass. I have a friend that has an older acrylic tank, and it is starting to "craze" ( is that even a word?) Tiny little cracks that are structurally sound (so I am told) but not very pleasing to the eye.

[The Grizz]

I had the option of acrylic versus glass on my 300 gal Im building and I decided to go with glass simply because acrylic scratches way to easy for my liking. We have grandsons who love the tanks and I am always cleaning off little hand prints from the glass. The other factor is actually the building of the tank, acrylic is a very tricking product to work with. Edges have to be perfectly square and smooth. If you get a good bond and its just a little bit off its a tone of work to get it apart and resurface where as glass little imperfection can be forgiven and come apart much easier when bonded with silicone.

[BackPackHunter]

Originally Posted by hillegom

You say you want to build 6x3x3
I would not go deeper than 2'
Hard to get down 3' to clean/move things
Corals will not get enough light at 36 inches. But good for a FOWLR.
As far as acrylic vs glass, I vote for glass. I have a friend that has an older acrylic tank, and it is starting to "craze" ( is that even a word?) Tiny little cracks that are structurally sound (so I am told) but not very pleasing to the eye.

I've had a 3x3x3 and know the fun of working in the tank
I would have a hot shower, then get into it.
I just put on swimming goggles n hold my breath
The corals will be higher up in to the rock ...

[BackPackHunter]

I priced out the acrylic (1") and it would be around 3k for the sheets if I did all the work myself.