Glass or acrylic?

[pnsnowboard]

i have an acrylic right now and have never had any problems i have been told that they scratch a lot easier but i have never scratched mine

 

[bmwardo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6844517#post6844517 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Csubseball

Brandon- I was reading on another thread that sand will scratch the acrylic when cleaning. I assume that only happens if you are not being careful.
Decisions, decisions!

Oh, I see. Well you are going to have that problem if you have any type of sand in your tank, not just a DSB.

Before I clean my tank I lightly go over everything with a basic algae pad just enough to knock off any bits off the acrylic (other than the algae) and then I go back and scrub off the remains. Of course, this is all pretty easy with a 22 gallon!

 

[MBX5]

Yes any sand will do that. You just have to take your time and make sure no sand gets behind what ever you are using to clean the tank. Snails will also scratch it. I think the guy that builds tanks for QA is http://www.aquaticdesignhabitats.com/ I went to his shop and things looked nice + they are local. Again he wanted too long for me and I wasn't sure if he was part of the old US Aquarium that I have seen some bad things about (I COULD BE WRONG ABOUT ALL OF THIS!). You may want to give him a call.

 

[castorpollux]

another thing too, i usually just leave a magnet cleaner sitting inside my acrylic tanks so i can just clean it of and on casually, i recently had a spurt of the small calcium based feather dusters spawing all over my tank, and anyways they somehow formed on the inside of the magnet and as soon as i moved my magnet SCRATCH! so if you go with acrylic... dont do that

i prefer acrylic too

 

[PrarieReef]

Here is a link concerning a scratch Del (dsandfort) had in his acrylic tank. It may reassure you or sway your decision. Hope it helps.
Scratch
John

 

[Csubseball]

John-
You have officially made up my mind! I will be going acrylic!
Thanks to everyone for the help.
I will repay with frags if I ever get my tank up and running again!

 

[ecreef]

I know glass can be fixed when it leaks but what about acrylic?

 

[bmwardo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6854540#post6854540 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ecreef
I know glass can be fixed when it leaks but what about acrylic?

From Joe's post earlier...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6841201#post6841201 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jdallred
Here is an excerpt from an acrylic aquarium manufacture's website;....

Acrylic is several times stronger than glass.
It will not shatter, crack, or leak like glass can....

Acrylic seams are stronger than glass.
Acrylic seams are molecular bonds and actually stronger than the acrylic itself. Silicone seams used on glass aquariums can dry out and weaken over time....

The more rare cases of an acrylic tank failing are due to poor workmanship. If you saw Lynn's tank oh a few months ago, it was acrylic and really bending out of place but it didn't shatter.

 

[ecreef]

asked because of the 240 on craigslist.