Acrylic vs Glass
 

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

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 :)

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.

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.

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 ;)

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 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.

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 ...

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

I'm not worried about abuse on the acrylic
There won't be anyone touching it, only worried about the fish rubbing on it and scratching it that way,
ie... Triggers scales n tang barbs

I don't wanna have to buff it every couple yrs

I wouldn't worry about the fish.... It's cleaning off the coralline algae that can scratch it. And kind of hard to buff it with water, fish and corals inside.

You could have a custom built glass tank for a third of that.

Really?
I can't even get the glass for a 1000, not even thinking about drilling or over flows....

I forgot to measure on my last walk through of the house but I don't think the tank will fit in the house, I'm probably going to weld out most of the stand then weld it all together in place...
That's why I've been thinking about DIY

I will know if it's do able on Feb 21/14

I got a quote coming from one company , but I like the forum community's so I think I should talk to Concept as well ....

When you get things figured get in touch with me so we can chat, I have a few contacts :wink:

You could do a modular stand and bolt it all together in place, I built one for a buddy for his 6' - 300 gal tank.

Will do,
Thanks

The modular might b a good idea, I know the wife would be scared of me burning down the house welding in the basement ,
I was just going to send her to the spa or something and tell her it fit ....

Just to give you something to think about this is the 3 piece stand I built for my buddy & fellow Red Deerian, complete with custom hanging kit for 6 Radion LEDs.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...psfdhzwd5m.jpg

That's a good idea, I had a different design in my head, and thought that there would be a lot of stress on the joints, and sag .
I was thinking to cheep n using less HSS in my head,
That's how I will be building my stand...
Looks good thanks for the idea

Oh and if you dont have a contact for steel at a decent price I can help you out there as well, just so you know.

I can get a little discount but I'm sure you get a better one.
I just read your 300 g. Thread, do I have to wait till next season like with a tv show? I'm left hanging , are the cubes in place? Is the wood done?
How's your back? That's a closed loop right? (Sorry couldn't help myself)

Wow that tank is crazy, the thought that's gone into it is probably more the the labour time...

I'm going to drive you crazy with questions

Do you have a favourite drink or like wild meat? Going need to keep you happy :)

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.

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

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)

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 ...

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?

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.

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).

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...

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 ...

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.

Yes it was your trigger, I really enjoyed reading your thread, it gave me lots to think about
I pretty sure I'm going to do a 8'x3'x3' , 19mm glass
The work involved with acrylic just isn't worth it to me

I should also mention that I can stand/sit on top of my tank. Acrylic is stronger and that gives me a maintenance advantage.