need opinion on tanks

huckleberry406

New member
hey guys, i am getting my first saltwater tank. i am a bit torn between glass and acrylic. i keep hearing good and bad about both, so i wanted to get some opinions on here. also what are some good acrylic tank companies. i have had a bit of a hard time finding alot of information about them on the web. if i go with glass ill be getting an oceanic. i am leaning towards a 90 gallon tank right now.let me know what you guys think. thanks
 
yea thats the only downside of heard about acrylics...is the scratching. however ive also heard that their are scratch removal kits that work really well available on the market. how easily do they scratch? besides scratches is there any downfall? they are lighter and more clear and more reliable when it comes to leaks and such.
 
Acrylic will scratch easily, no matter what you do you will get scrathes. Yes the light scratches will buff out with Novus which is the buffer and scratch remover.
Scratches inside of tank are more of a pain, you will have to drain the tank down belwo the scratch to try and remove it.
The deeper scratches wont come out.
I also second going with a glass tank. The only way I would buy acrylic is if I had a larger tank of more than 125 gallons, just for the fact that it is stronger and there are no seals to worry about.
 
For anything under 180 gallons I would go with glass. For anything over... It depends on the application and other outside factors that could influence your decision.

I have a 370 gallon that is acrylic and I wouldn't change it... My other tanks are all glass and I'll keep them that way:)
 
what do you mean by starphire on the viewing side? im a newbie lol...also ive heard that oceanic makes the best glass tanks...is this true? if not who does?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6915094#post6915094 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by huckleberry406
what do you mean by starphire on the viewing side? im a newbie lol...also ive heard that oceanic makes the best glass tanks...is this true? if not who does?

It's a low iron content glass that makes the viewing pane more clear. Being new, I'm assuming that you are going with a standard sized tank initially... So go with what's available. Starfyre is a bit more expensive.

Oceanic is a good company. I have all-glass and have never had an issue. Other's swear by other companies.
 
Normal glass has a green color to it if you look at it at the seams, Starphire doesnt, so the clarity is like Acrylic.
 
what company uses this starphire material? i havent heard anything from oceanic or all glass aquariums about an option with this material...
 
Best bet would be to find a used one with Starfyre or contact a custom tank manufacturer.

Run a search on it and I'm sure you can find hundreds of threads. I don't want to say this company or that, as the thread may get moved:)
 
anybody else like to throw an opinion out on a tank to get? the more opinions the better. so far it sounds best to stay away from acrylic
 
I've only ever used glass, so heres another vote: the only problem is, get a new one!!! mine leaked after trading for a golden oldie: its hard to re-seal a tank, but it can be done. so, theres something 'bad' about glass: the seams CAN give away in old/abused tanks.

if your a newbie, just go for an easy purchase glass, I wouldn't go into the custom starfire tanks unless your tank is going to be 90 gallons or more...
 
well what i have hear about the scratch removal kits is that u dont have to drain out the water...only if the scratches r more like gouges. i heard the kits r made to use with a full tank and done effect the water. personally i have been leaning towards glass from the start but then people keep telling me to go with acrylic but now that i hear these people with acrylic tanks complaining about the scratches and all i am definitely leaning towards glass. i didnt realize it scratched that easily. thanks guys
 
huckleberry,
I have had a 110 gallon Oceanic reef tank for 7 years. As careful as I am it still has accumulated numerous scratches. They are small and not very noticable to anyone but me but they are there. I have had many instances while cleaning my tank over the years where rock will fall and strike the sides of the tank and this always leaves a mark. With glass it is a small scratch, with acrylic it will be a large scratch. Also cleaning algae from the acrylic tank will eventually turn the surface a little hazy. Glass will stay good looking longer than acrylic.
 
I had an acrylic freshwater aquarium and it became scratched over time even with be careful.
I think it would be even harder with sand and lr.
 
Oceanic has a new "tech" series that has starfire glass built in as a standard feature from what I hear. You could check with your LFS to see if it's available in your area. I'm betting that it's fairly expensive though!

Honestly, for your first tank wouldn't spend a lot of money on a custom job. There is a very good chance that you will either:
a) find it's not as interesting as you thought and decide that you want to sell it or
b) develop a bad case of bigger-tank-itis and decide that you absolutetly must have a new 180 gallon tank


- Jason
 
Funny how this topic is constantly debated. Comes down to choice from what I can tell. Starfire bumps up the cost though so that evens out some of the advantage of glass.
On here and other sites people report very good results getting scratches out of acryllic inside without draining the tank.
I had a FW 55g glass tank that got a bad scratch on it and there is nothing you can do with glass. And glass tanks can (though rarely) leak/burst if a seam goes or if the glass is banged hard.
Really is personal choice - I am going with an acryllic (72x24x18) since I want an odd size anyway.
But either will work fine I suspect.
 
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