Are you using acrylic and are you happy with it?

benf

benf

Premium Member
I need to decide this week wheter my new tank will be acrylic or glass. Looking at doing a 215gal. Since both tanks will be custom, and only minor difference in price, should i go acrylic or glass?

Do u find cleaning scratches in acrylic an annoying every day/week occurance???

Need your input please!!

thanks for your time!

Ben
 
At the time acrylic was the best choice for me, but my next tank will be Starphire glass for sure.
Yes, you have to be extremely careful not to scratch every time you clean, or move something around.
 
thanks for the response chris, what is special about starphire glass? sounds expensive!
 
It is more money, but the glass is so much clearer than standard glass. Starphire PPG's brand name, but there are other companies that offer low iron glass. It's worth checking out for sure.
 
Glass, I owned an acrylic 120 gallon. Every time I had an accident with the live rock, it scratched the inside. I was unable to make the scratches go away. I used a scratch remover kit and the results looked worse than before treatment. Besides, the labor is intensive to remove the scratches. I now own a glass 225. I will never (probably shouldn't say never, will come back to haunt!) buy anything except glass. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
besides Aquarium Obsessed, who else makes the tanks with Starphire glass? I would like to get comparable quotes. Has anyone seen a tank built by Aquarium Obsessed?
 
Thanks NYVP for the info, at least from them shipping would be less. Is Exotic the whole name?
 
This has been posted over and over again, I suggest you do a search on this sub-forum.

They both have pro's and cons.

Pro's of glass:
Doesn't scratch easily

Con's of glass:
Not as clear as acrylic, low Iron is better but still not as clear and last I heard you could only get 1/2" low iron but that may have changed now.
Not a good temperature insulator (temp variations)
Once it's scratched you can't remove the scratch
Weighs alot more then acrylic
Easier to shatter then acrylic
Sylicone will break down over the years (very long term).


Pro's of Acrylic
VERY CLEAR
Light Weight
Joints are bonded together.
More forgiving then glass when it comes to rockslide, kids tapping on it, unleveled stand, etc.
Good temperature insulator (fewer temperature fluctuations).
A scratch can be buffed out.
Can be crafted into almost any design.

Con's of acrylic
Scratches Easily
Can melt if exposed to extreme heat.
 
i love my acrylic and my new tank is going to be acrylic. I have a 180 now if you careful there is NO PROBLEMS with them, and yes I have kids and cats so they wont cause any problems if your vigilant in training them to keep there paws off the tank
 
yes I run ozone I would assume no problem since the ozone is no linger (caustic) by the time it reaches the display. It enters the sump id is filterd out by carbon first
 
z28pwr's Pros and Cons list has one glaring ommission. The most important CON of acrylic. coralline algae loves acrylic!! You will spend all your free time trying to keep the coralline off the acrylic before it takes root and then scratches it when you scrape it off. Its a losing battle. As an owner of both types over the years I have plenty of experience. For a large tank you are in for a lot of work. Go look at the notice on www.exoticreefs.us Tubs is sick and tired of cleaning his 300 acrylic.

The tank size you're thinking of isn't that big that the weight becomes a major obstacle to getting glass. And if you want 3/4" low iron it exists. Miracles built my 1/2" tank but they have 3/4" Starphire. And acrylic tanks crack too and warp over time. They have not proven to be more durable than glass in my experience. My 100G sump tank is warped on the top. The 55 Tru Vu I had cracked all down the corner after some years.

And finally one more thing, I often see many stunning Tank of Month tanks that have a 2 inch band of coralline algae around the bottom or sides. Those tanks rock, but there's your answer about acrylic. Those dedicated reefers couldn't keep up with the coralline. OK, rant over! :)
 
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Maybe i should see if some local reefers that have acylic would let me see their tanks, so i can see it first hand.

Kelhuffman, i see you have a Starphire tank, any problem with scratches? I hear Starphire glass is softer cause of the low iron?
How would you say the glass compared to a regular glass tank?

thanks everyone for the input!
 
coraline will not be an issue my tank has been up 2 years none in the corners, no problems cleaning once a week and the back wall will flake off to the acrylic by itself I have never scraped it and you can still see the back wall. Acrylic is like anything else it needs tlc, if your "hard" on a tank its not the way to go, with regular cleaning and a careful hand acrylic is no problems at all. Most people complaining are saying the same thing to hard to clean and scratches easily, BOTH are easily avoided,and are a non issue in looking at the benefits of acrylic.
 
No, IME Starphire doesn't scratch any easier than normal glass, but I don't do anything to find out if it does! I had a 120G starphire for 4 years that had one scratch on it that occured when a random piece of magnetized gravel (something volcanic I think) got stuck in my magnet. Otherwise with my glass starphire tanks I take a weekly swipe with my strong algae free magnet and everything is fine, including when I get random grains of sand in the magnet when cleaning the bottom area.

Do a search about acrylic and coralline. A reef system that has its CA and ALK in line WILL create coralline issues on the acrylic.
 
thanks for your help!! I think unless they lower the price of the acrylic, i am going glass and it will either be Oceanic or Aquarium Obsessed.
 
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