I am about to (at last some will be saying) replace the ank I lost in the disaster last february. It was a 7 ft glass tank made by Clearseal, legal action is still pending between my insurers and the company. Anyway, after losing the bottom floor of my house for a month, I am faced with the dilemma of what to replace it with. There are the old arguments that acryllic scrathes and won't look good for long etc etc. You guys have the experience. I am going to be a little more modest this time and go for a 6ft x 18" x 18", feedback please! perhaps thicknesses would be handy!
Acryllic or glass for large aquarium?
- Thread starter Tony Quinn
- Start date
for a 6 footer, you might want to go with a 24"deep, like an AGA 125. (dsb?) You can get them off the shelf. I may end up buying one to replace my copper-laden 100gal.
My vote is for glass. The only plastic tank I had was a 4 gal i built and it scratched pretty easily.
IF you have a few burly friends to help you move the glass one into place, I would go for that. IF it's you and the wife, get acrylic- you might stay married longer...
Brett
My vote is for glass. The only plastic tank I had was a 4 gal i built and it scratched pretty easily.
IF you have a few burly friends to help you move the glass one into place, I would go for that. IF it's you and the wife, get acrylic- you might stay married longer...
Brett
I love acrylic, nothing else even compares to the look you get with it, but I will never own one . I have been extremely careful with my glass 180 and yet there are still some scratches. With abrasives such as sand and rock in a tank, I don't know how you would avoid this.
Steve
. I have been extremely careful with my glass 180 and yet there are still some scratches. With abrasives such as sand and rock in a tank, I don't know how you would avoid this.Steve
I have a 110 clarity plus acryllic tank 59x24x18 . I love the seemless look of it not to mention it is very light compared to glass. The tank is around 4 years old and has worn OK. Despite my best efforts to clean the front of the tank with acryllic safe pads and the kent proscraper there are still cleaning scratches.
These scratches are only seen if you look for them. In otherwords when looking at the fish and the xenia filled tank and not the front panel you never notice the scratches. The scratches were mainly caused not by rock handling or rock slides but by sand in the cleaning pad or scraper. Since my tank is built into the wall Its much harder to see where I am cleaning. I have since started to sharpen my kent scraper to prevent the sand from being caught and causing scratches. This seems to work and reduce accidental scratches.
If I had to do it again I think I would still go with a acrylic tank but a deeper (front to back) tank. This way I would have more room to maneuver and clean the front.
D
These scratches are only seen if you look for them. In otherwords when looking at the fish and the xenia filled tank and not the front panel you never notice the scratches. The scratches were mainly caused not by rock handling or rock slides but by sand in the cleaning pad or scraper. Since my tank is built into the wall Its much harder to see where I am cleaning. I have since started to sharpen my kent scraper to prevent the sand from being caught and causing scratches. This seems to work and reduce accidental scratches.
If I had to do it again I think I would still go with a acrylic tank but a deeper (front to back) tank. This way I would have more room to maneuver and clean the front.
D
http://www.printroom.com/ViewAlbumPhoto.asp?userid=megarc&album_id=108209&image_id=6
Yes that would be me, inside my 220, buffing the scratches out of the front.
It was almost scratchless when I got done
when I sold the tank to brad before I moved, it was all scratched up again.
I'm doing a 120g AGA this time, I wish they all had starphire fronts, they make up for the difference in clarity & color
Yes that would be me, inside my 220, buffing the scratches out of the front.
It was almost scratchless when I got done
when I sold the tank to brad before I moved, it was all scratched up again.
I'm doing a 120g AGA this time, I wish they all had starphire fronts, they make up for the difference in clarity & color
I've got a big acrylic tank and I can't tell you the number of times I wished the viewing area was glass. Truth is, at 36" inches deep, there is NOTHING that'll adequately clean the bottom few inches of an acrylic tank. I've got pits, scratching, and hazing down there and I don't even have a sandbed! So my advice is to be mindful of your depth on a big tank if you want to go acylic. Yes, it's malleability and weight gives it an advantage over glass, especially in a larger tank but, man, do I get p***ed when I'm trying to take a picture of something on the bottom.
Thanks for the replies guys. I am now even more undecided. Living in Jersey, no not New Jersey, being a small island everything has to be shipped from England and large glass tanks tend to suffer, it took three attempts to get my 300g tank here in one piece and then it exploded 6 months down the line! It's at times like this I wish I lived back in the States, you guys dont know how lucky you are. I am very particular about having my tank immaculate all the time, from what you guys have posted, I'd have scratches in no time the way I clean but the acryllic idea still sounds good, have they not designed a non scratch one yet?
I have had 2 acrylic tanks. My current one is in fact a deep(front to back) 500 gal. I built it into a wall and have mouldings that cover up the bottom 5 inches of the tank. This does two things: 1)It doesn't show the front of the deep sand bed and 2)It allows about 1/2-1 inch of acrylic below the viewing area but above the sand so that you can clean it with a magnet and are less likely to pick up sand.
If you are meticulous about your cleaning I would recommend acrylic. It only scratches if you are in a hurry or don't clean the viewing area frequently thus allowing corraline algae to grow. I run the magnet over my tank daily and don't seem to have an issue with scratches.
If you are meticulous about your cleaning I would recommend acrylic. It only scratches if you are in a hurry or don't clean the viewing area frequently thus allowing corraline algae to grow. I run the magnet over my tank daily and don't seem to have an issue with scratches.
Tony,
it really depends on what you are looking for. I have a glass 125 and an acrylic 360. I have had the 125 for 5 years and the acrylic for 2 I don't have a single scratch on the 125, but a few on the 360. Acrylic scratches no matter how careful you are. However I disagree that glass is significantly clearer.
The shipping weight will differ greatly. When the 360 was delivered it tok only 2 of us to get it off the truck and into the house, and I placed it on the stand on my own.
My opinion? For anything greater than a 150 I would do acrylic
Eddi
it really depends on what you are looking for. I have a glass 125 and an acrylic 360. I have had the 125 for 5 years and the acrylic for 2 I don't have a single scratch on the 125, but a few on the 360. Acrylic scratches no matter how careful you are. However I disagree that glass is significantly clearer.
The shipping weight will differ greatly. When the 360 was delivered it tok only 2 of us to get it off the truck and into the house, and I placed it on the stand on my own.
My opinion? For anything greater than a 150 I would do acrylic
Eddi
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