Acrylic Vs Glass

[GreyHawk1968]

I'm about to venture into my next tank , somewhere in the 180 , 240 range and was wondering what is better Acrylic or Galss.
Any opinions. Pros/Cons
Thanks

 

[marve467]

Glass is twice as heavy, consider for moving and tank weight.
Acrylic maintains temperature better.
Acrylic is clearer but scratches easier.

Personally I have a 55 gallon reef and a 150 FOWLR and they are both acrylic.

 

[ReefArtist]

I just did some searches and here are a few:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1056750&highlight=Acrylic+Vs+Glass

Take a look at this tank and you will forget about any pros with glass:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1053276

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1057499&highlight=Acrylic+AND+glass

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=721379&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

 

[moonpod]

There is a laundry list of pros and cons for each. Essentially what bothers most anti acrylic users is scratching. You need to know how to care for an acrylic tank and clean one before you set up your "dream tank" in acrylic. Additionally IME anyways a big thick acrylic tank is less scratch vulnerable than smaller thinner acrylic tanks. There are also better quality acrylics IME that are more scratch resistant.

Starphire is quite nice as well and I wouldn't downplay it but it isn't scratch impervious and there's no way to get rid of glass scratches. Also you can't really do some of the goofy things with drilling and hole placement in glass that you can do with acrylic.

So JMO in the end it's probably a personal preference issue, but FWIW my tank is acrylic.

 

[TheMcs]

I prefer glass for a reef. With my experience at the store (90% of the holding tanks are acrylic), it's not if it will scratch, but when. As with all else in this hobby, it comes down to your preference.
My vote goes to glass though.

 

[tom obrecht]

Acrylic has all the advantages except the most important...scratch resistance. I'm very particular about scratches and viewing the inhabitants through the panel with scratches turns me off.

Yes, glass is heavy, but how often do you move it...realistically once. A 180-240 glass tank should be moved fairly easily with 6 people.

As you can see my vote goes with glass.

 

[jayo]

What bothered me most about acrylic is how quickly the coralline algae grows on it, and how hard it was to scrape off. My next tank will definitely be glass.

 

[rlxwcapt]

I think if you are looking at a standard size then go glass. If you want something that is longer or wider then it makes sense to go acrylic. I am in the same delima. I want a 8'x3'x2.5 so I think I will be going acrylic.

 

[tom obrecht]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9417222#post9417222 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rlxwcapt
I think if you are looking at a standard size then go glass. If you want something that is longer or wider then it makes sense to go acrylic. I am in the same delima. I want a 8'x3'x2.5 so I think I will be going acrylic.

Here's my 96" x 36" x 28" GLASS tank! Moved it in with 6 people.

[/IMG]

 

[marinelife]

With Acrylic you can remove the scratches, plus like others have said drilling holes is easy