Large Reef Tanks: going acrylic or glass ??

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15314315#post15314315 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GoToSleep
This may be true but I have seen a 600g acrylic tank that split out a whole seam. Very sad indeed, the tank belongs to a reef central and Richmond Reef Club member-- Vince. The theoretical advantages of welded acrylic 'seams' are small consolation if you wind up with a bad tank.


True, if you end up with a poorly made tank, but if it is made correctly it should last as long as the owner. Do you know who manufactured this 600 gal aquarium?

I chose glass for my 550g because I didn't want to deal with the inevitabel scratches inside the tank. It's worth noting that Starphire glass is softer than regular glass and Starphire will scratch if you get a grit of sand between the magnet and the glass. I checked out regular tanks side-by-side with Starphire and decided to go the durable route with regular glass.

My first LARGE aquarium was an 8 foot long, 240 gal glass tank that I kept in the foyer of my office. One day while sitting at my desk I hear a loud POP come from the foyer. Upon investigating I saw my lights down in the water. The cross bracing all let go, came unglued at the same time. The 8 foot long front and back panels were bowing out several inches. I quickly closed the office and rushed to a nearby Lowe's and bought several clamps. After getting the clamps on and taking the pressure of the corner seams I sold it to the first person that was willing to buy it. I replaced it with a 6 foot long 125 gallon which has just developed a slow drip from a seam underneath. :(

To say the least, my personal experience with large glass tanks has not been very good. When I had my new house built I went with acrylic from Envision......built solid like a tank. Silicone seams have weight, pressure and time constantly working against them.
 
The acrylic tank was built by someone in Virginia Beach.

My large glass tank has 1 inch thick glass so hopefully bowing will not be an issue. I've got steel bracing at the top and bottom for added insurance.
 
Thanks all for your replies and opinions. It seems opinions are 50/50. More suggestions, comments or personal experiences will be much appreciated.

Lightsluvr, I'm reading your great thread, it seems it'll be a great setup. Will keep a close eye on it!

Roberto
 
I think that the larger the tank size, the more merit for acrylic. The particular dimensions of the tank you want will also influence your choice.
 
I have seen Both Acrylic and Glass Aquarium have there problems... I have chosen glass for my personal aquarium.The Aquarium was 127x42x32.I just sold the aquarium.To get a larger glass aquarium.

Jeff
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15312522#post15312522 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmaccvols
I maybe wrong, but it was always my understanding that acrylic tanks are seamless. They are welded together all the way down at the molecular level, so an acrylic tank is virtually just one piece of acrylic and the area where the acrylic panels were bonded together are actually the strongest areas of the tank. If one "split at the seams" I would hazard the guess that it was not properly bonded together correctly by the manufacturer.

This is correct. A properly bonded tank has no seams. ITs one piece. There is nothing to split. If its not properly bonded, thats a different matter.

As far as bowing and crazing (Rainbow) this happens when the deflection is too large. A Well build Acrylic tank should have NO deflection that can be seen by the eye. If its bowing, its under-built. Any deflection that can be seen is too much and can cause crazing over time.

As far as scratch removal, It depends if its inside or outside. Outside scratches are very, VERY easy to remove. If its a large scratch a random orbital with paste buffing compound will let you remove the scratch, or hell, buff a 5 foot tank in under 10 minutes. A small local scratch you can do by hand in under 5... I know I have.

Inside is a bit trickier. You can't use the paste under water. You have to use the pads by hand. So it takes a little longer in the water. Small (foot long scratches) take maybe 10 minutes.

Most of my scratches have been outside from my kids and their toys :). They were easily fixed. I have 3 current ones I'm being lazy with and will fix when I get a few more :)
 
I also wanted to mention that if you want a large glass tank there ARE safe ways to do it. You can elect to frame the tank externally with angle iron (steel) that will strength the seems. In this case the silicone is just there to prevent water leakage, not to actually hold the tank together. The steel does this.

I was VERY close to going this route personally. It was between my current Acrylic tank and a steel braced Starphire tank. I went with the Acrylic because it was (literally) a ton lighter. It was still heavier than hell, but it was easier to move. The cost to have the tank built on site was too much, so I went with the acrylic shipped from a large manufacturer in Vegas (you can do the math).

One of the other advantages to going this route is that they can add steel cable to the top. This means you can have a very large, completely open top tank with no bracing what so ever. IT is a very sexy look. If you have a modern house the bracing steel can bee stainless and polished to a very high sheen. ITs VERY nice looking.
 
im no pro, in fact i have a glass tank, but i have also hear of people using aluminum, not steal. this way you dont have to worry about rust. (in my opinion, if your going that big to where you need a bracing of some sort, i would do the polished stainless road. it would look sweet!!)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15312522#post15312522 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jmaccvols
I maybe wrong, but it was always my understanding that acrylic tanks are seamless. They are welded together all the way down at the molecular level, so an acrylic tank is virtually just one piece of acrylic and the area where the acrylic panels were bonded together are actually the strongest areas of the tank. If one "split at the seams" I would hazard the guess that it was not properly bonded together correctly by the manufacturer.
If one were to split a joint, it usually due to one of two factors; either the mfr used a bad material for the application (not all acrylics are good for this type of thing, even cell cast acrylics vary in quality) or the mfr did a poor job at gluing it up. Virtually every acrylic tank that has blown a seam was due to bad material, though there are examples of bad workmanship as well. While the joints are strong and should be strong enough to handle anything that we can throw at them, if the material is bad, they don't bond as well.

If you do go acrylic, be sure of the material being used is a good one; Polycast, Acrylite GP, and Plexi-Glas G are the only ones I'd recommend and in that order.

Most acrylic tank failures though are due to cracking out at the top flange, the corner of the eurobrace is what cracks out and if it starts running down the tank - it's doomed. Be sure to have your acrylic tank mfr use thick enough material (this will cost more but worth it in the long run), large radii in the access cutouts, and wide enough eurobrace to help cut down on stress on the tank.

HTH,
James
 
I've often thought about doing a rebar reinforced concrete tank with a glass viewing pane. For something around the 1000 gallon range, it seems as though this would be MUCH cheaper than acrylic or glass...
 
yes, but dont forget that you have to seal the concrete and then apply a epoxy resin type of coating so the salt water doesnt eat away at the concrete. those 2 steps cost the big money in my opinion, although concrete is pritty high up there too.
 
I would say acrylic too; glass is nice if it's starphire as large tank requires thick glass and thick glass look greeny if not starphire, other is glass weight. If you decided with starphire then go for glass or just go with acrylic and be little careful when cleaning to avoid scratches.
 
my 1350 acrylic weighs 3000lbs empty.....can only imagine the weigh of glass.....

for strength, visibility and durabilty i would go acrylic.....scratches are no big deal...can easily be removed and sooner or later either tank will get scratched
 
Yeah but I would bet you'd spend 1/3 of the money you'd spend on a 1000 gallon acrylic tank. I'm seriously considering this for my future system once I get the house built.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15331394#post15331394 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sunsetSPS
I would say acrylic too; glass is nice if it's starphire as large tank requires thick glass and thick glass look greeny if not starphire, other is glass weight. If you decided with starphire then go for glass or just go with acrylic and be little careful when cleaning to avoid scratches.
You need to be very careful with starphire glass when cleaning as well. It scratches very easily as I have learned with my latest tank.
 
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