acrylic vs glass

[jckjohn]

I am looking to purchase a 540g from oceanic. A glass aquarium. Is this a good investment should I go acrylic do they yellow over time? Will the oceanic leak after 15 years?

 

[reefnetworth]

acrylic will not yellow. however they do scratch very easily. oceanic is a very good tank. if you arent planning to move it once its in place and its leveled properly, it should last far beond 15 years.
if you have doughts, additonal silicone may by applied for self-reasurance.

 

[jckjohn]

thanks reefnetworth do you prefer glass over acrylics? If I am very careful with the acrylic tank would you say acrylic is better?

 

[viggen]

I like acrylic, you just have to be cautious!!! Also we cannot get as lazy with the cleaning routing with acrylic especially on a reef tank.

Acrylic can yellow if it was not built properly. I have seen it before however any good tank manufacturer that knows what they are doing will make a tank that will not go yellow. I think the yellowing is from the acrylic pulling in some of the chemicals they use to bond the acrylic together but yellow tanks really aren't a issue today.

 

[Untamed12]

I have a 400 gallon acrylic. While I would still choose acrylic I'm getting a LOT of scratches and they are not my doing.

Nobody ever told me that the fish are the cause of most of the internal scratches in the tank. All the Tangs have the spikes, and the trigger has teeth and rough scales that scratch the acrylic.

So...it doesn't matter how careful you are....the acrylic is going to get scratched on the inside.

I clean the tank probably 3x per week and have yet to put a scratch on the outside of the tank.

 

[jckjohn]

thanks a lot guys for the advice... I think I am leaning towards the glass from Oceanic..

 

[elvictre]

I have acrylic and if I could do it agin I would go glass. My tank is from Tenecor who is one of the top tank manufactures. It scarthes way to easily. Every time you clean your glass you get a scrath. You can buff it out but just a pain.

 

[Brandan]

Glass, I would never set up an acrylic tank, probably not even if it was free. I personally think that acrylic would be a waste of money after seeing many many acrylic tanks in person.