Aquariums over 300 Gallons

[shoprat001]

I've heard that when you get into the bigger aquariums that acrylic is the way to go over glass. I'm seriously thinking about a 96"Lx36"Wx24"H aquarium. My concern is the seals on the glass blowing out. Is there any truth to this?

Norm

 

[benihana]

Not sure if there is thrush to that or not, but that is the exact reason I am planning on acrylic for my large tank I am planning

 

[snorvich]

Weight of course, is also a big factor giving acrylic an edge.

 

[Kaidman]

I don't think I've ever heard of that. I just got a 300g glass tank, similar to the size you mentioned. 96x24x30

There are some beefy braces on both bottom and top. I don't see there being an issue in the future, but never say never.

Peter's tank was acrylic I thought and had a seam blow out I believe.

 

[Ricardo18]

Weight is the only issue between Acrylic and Glass at first.
But once the aquarium is installed, the issue becomes mute. Then you will have to worry about the other major difference between the two;SCRATCHES!
...and Acrylic yellows over time IMO.

 

[shoprat001]

I knew about the scratches too. I had a starphire tank that the wife managed to scratch up while cleaning the glass. I was unable to sand those scratches out

 

[Dmorty217]

I knew about the scratches too. I had a starphire tank that the wife managed to scratch up while cleaning the glass. I was unable to sand those scratches out

Glass scratch too like you mentioned with no way to ever fix them. Depending on actual tank size the glass option may have to be built on site, making the price of the tank unaffordable for most of us

 

[fast eddie]

I have a 11 feet long by 3feet wide by 32 inch high ..650 gallon glass tank.. Never had a issue. It is uni braced and built well. Been running it for 4 years.

 

[lionfish300]

Just got my 96" x 36" x 24"H glass tank from Custom Aquarium

 

[slief]

Weight is the only issue between Acrylic and Glass at first.
But once the aquarium is installed, the issue becomes mute. Then you will have to worry about the other major difference between the two;SCRATCHES!
...and Acrylic yellows over time IMO.

I had my 480g acrylic tank custom built 20 years ago and it's never yellowed at all. My tank is still crystal clear. I've had other acrylic tanks just as long and never had an issue with them yellowing. I guess if they are made with cheap material, that may be possible.

With regards to scratches, it's true that acrylic scratches easier than glass even though as noted above, glass will scratch. One thing I really like about acrylic is how easy it is to remove scratches even when the tank is up and running. Here is a thread I started to document the process of removing scratches from a fully stocked tank.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2538092

For me, it's a no brainer. I would choose acrylic over glass any day. If not for the ease of scratch removal, for the simple fact that I live in So. Cal. where earthquakes are common. My acrylic tanks have survived their share of earthquakes. If I had glass tanks, I suspect I wouldn't be so fortunate. As such, I would never go glass with a large tank.