Glass or acrylic?
- Thread starter Lizlips
- Start date
HornetMech242
Premium Member
There are pros and cons for both. Acrylic cost more, scratches easily and weigh less than glass, has a clearer view, has less seems and usually a life time warranty against leaks. Glass is heavier, more durable, not as clear view (unless you get low iron glass) and has silicone joints.
I am sure there are a bunch of environmental factors also that I am not aware of, so I am going to stick to this to see what everyone else says since I am going to be building a 300+ tank in a year.
Chris
I am sure there are a bunch of environmental factors also that I am not aware of, so I am going to stick to this to see what everyone else says since I am going to be building a 300+ tank in a year.
Chris
jmaneyapanda
Commencing hatred
yeah, if you get a good starphire, or other low iron glass, it will be way better than acrylic in terms of durability. If you are just gonmna go with standard glass, the acrylic will certainly offer better clarity at that thickness.
How thick is your wallet?
How thick is your wallet?
IMO, neither is necessarily better unti you get up their in height and span. Preferences rule in standard size hobby tanks. When you get 8-10' long and more than 30-32" in height - I'd say acrylic only but that's JMO as I dont trust silicone that much as a mechanical fastener.
* Glass is harder to scratch but scratches are not easily repairable, care should be taken in both cases but extra care for acrylic
* Acrylic is clearer but then came low iron glass which is just about as clear.
* Acrylic is easier to drill but glass can be drilled easily enough, except tempered glass
* In the 400gal range, I don't think their's necessarily much of price difference between the two, the price differences will be between mfrs and what sort of extra features you want. Acrylic might even have the edge pricewise in this range.
* Acrylic is lighter so the scope of the job can change. Usually not that big o' deal though.
* If an acrylic tank is about to blow, the acrylic usually will give plenty of warning prior, glass *generally* will not - many times catastrophic failures. This is one of the reason public aquariums use acrylic.
There are other differences such as insulative factors but should not be a basis for purchase.
In either case, a well designed/built tank will last many, many years.
HTH,
James
* Glass is harder to scratch but scratches are not easily repairable, care should be taken in both cases but extra care for acrylic
* Acrylic is clearer but then came low iron glass which is just about as clear.
* Acrylic is easier to drill but glass can be drilled easily enough, except tempered glass
* In the 400gal range, I don't think their's necessarily much of price difference between the two, the price differences will be between mfrs and what sort of extra features you want. Acrylic might even have the edge pricewise in this range.
* Acrylic is lighter so the scope of the job can change. Usually not that big o' deal though.
* If an acrylic tank is about to blow, the acrylic usually will give plenty of warning prior, glass *generally* will not - many times catastrophic failures. This is one of the reason public aquariums use acrylic.
There are other differences such as insulative factors but should not be a basis for purchase.
In either case, a well designed/built tank will last many, many years.
HTH,
James
jmaneyapanda
Commencing hatred
James- Public aquariums use acrylics because the clarity of a 2 foot piece of glass would be catastrophic, also.
Look up the glass tank mfrs and ask for low iron glass, I think most of the major mfrs and all of the custom mfrs offer this. Starphire is a brand of low iron glass from PPG, the downside to this particular brand is that it's ony available to 1/2"/12mm (AFAIK) but others are available to 3/4"/18mm and maybe thicker. Others will prolly have more info on those specifics.
You may also wish to do a search here on RC for low iron or Starphire tanks, there are some very nice ones
HTH,
James
You may also wish to do a search here on RC for low iron or Starphire tanks, there are some very nice ones
HTH,
James
kamil5000
New member
James,
I like acrylic - just the strength factor gives me the peace of mind. But i have had problems with scratches, my first 30g was scratched due to my negligence with a magnet, then my latest 75 gallon is being scratched by cheatons rasping away at algea from the front viewing pane!
I want to install a 300g inwall in my new house, but hoping to find a solution to protect the acrylic from scratches whilst having the peace of mind about the safety of acrylic. This my be the solution.
My only concern here would be the "marrying" of the two materials with regards to expansion and contaction - would there be a risk of 'detachment' from one another? or any other risks - apart from price ?
Tks
P.s. Are you THE James from Envision ?
I like acrylic - just the strength factor gives me the peace of mind. But i have had problems with scratches, my first 30g was scratched due to my negligence with a magnet, then my latest 75 gallon is being scratched by cheatons rasping away at algea from the front viewing pane!
I want to install a 300g inwall in my new house, but hoping to find a solution to protect the acrylic from scratches whilst having the peace of mind about the safety of acrylic. This my be the solution.
My only concern here would be the "marrying" of the two materials with regards to expansion and contaction - would there be a risk of 'detachment' from one another? or any other risks - apart from price
?Tks
P.s. Are you THE James from Envision ?
Kamil,
There are a few "risks".
One is that acrylic and silicone generally are not attracted to one another so a heavy bead of an industrial adhesive such as DC 795 is used, gussets of a sort may also be used to reinforce this bond. The risk lies in the fact that during shipping, the bond *can* break free, hence the heavy beads. FWIW DC 795 sticks better to acrylic than any silicone product I know of and is completely safe. Another risk involved in this is that the glass would have to be installed prior to gluing the bottom on which would require a full silicone cure prior to this operation. The tank may need to be flipped over once or twice during finish work which would test the silicone bead's strength and would be, well, bad for the bead to break free during this. You cannot put the silicone between the glass and acrylic as this would create an air pocket between the two panes which can't be allowed because A) it would put stress on the glass and B) would allow for condensation between the two panes. Once in place, there shouldn't be any problems with this as there there would be no force trying to break the panes apart.
Another risk is that should there ever be any issue, the glass would have to be broken to be removed, an idea I just don't care for.
Another is that should there be any specs of dust between the two layers - it would be pretty much permanent. Getting something *absolutely* clean in a fabrication shop is not exactly easy.
The expansion/contraction is not as big o' deal as one would think as the silicone remains flexible and will easily allow for the .020-.030" difference.
The acrylic tank itself would have to be overbuilt so that as little stress as possible is applied to the glass, since it would be too thin to handle the pressure itself. So deflection would have to cut to a minimum.
So it is an alternative, just not quite sure how it would turn out. Some of the risks outlined above may not be problematic at all in a real world situation but there may be others that I haven't thought of.
Bottom line; you're gonna make me build one for myself just to find out - aren't ya
Sorry to ramble, not trying to hijack the thread - just answering,
James
P.s. yes
There are a few "risks".
One is that acrylic and silicone generally are not attracted to one another so a heavy bead of an industrial adhesive such as DC 795 is used, gussets of a sort may also be used to reinforce this bond. The risk lies in the fact that during shipping, the bond *can* break free, hence the heavy beads. FWIW DC 795 sticks better to acrylic than any silicone product I know of and is completely safe. Another risk involved in this is that the glass would have to be installed prior to gluing the bottom on which would require a full silicone cure prior to this operation. The tank may need to be flipped over once or twice during finish work which would test the silicone bead's strength and would be, well, bad for the bead to break free during this. You cannot put the silicone between the glass and acrylic as this would create an air pocket between the two panes which can't be allowed because A) it would put stress on the glass and B) would allow for condensation between the two panes. Once in place, there shouldn't be any problems with this as there there would be no force trying to break the panes apart.
Another risk is that should there ever be any issue, the glass would have to be broken to be removed, an idea I just don't care for.
Another is that should there be any specs of dust between the two layers - it would be pretty much permanent. Getting something *absolutely* clean in a fabrication shop is not exactly easy.
The expansion/contraction is not as big o' deal as one would think as the silicone remains flexible and will easily allow for the .020-.030" difference.
The acrylic tank itself would have to be overbuilt so that as little stress as possible is applied to the glass, since it would be too thin to handle the pressure itself. So deflection would have to cut to a minimum.
So it is an alternative, just not quite sure how it would turn out. Some of the risks outlined above may not be problematic at all in a real world situation but there may be others that I haven't thought of.
Bottom line; you're gonna make me build one for myself just to find out - aren't ya
Sorry to ramble, not trying to hijack the thread - just answering,
James
P.s. yes
