planning my new tank.

[panaboy95]

well as some of you may know. my 150 leaked all the water out on a weekend i was out of town. i lost mostly everything. well i am now planning my new tank. i first started by looking at the deep dimentions tanks by perfecto. then while i was looking around i have found that i am most likely going to go with an acrylic tank. they are less likely to leak. i went to a party in vandlia and looked at an awsome 525 built by aquart in OH i e-mailed them and i got some quotes back. i was pretty impressed with the prices. the 6 footers are cheaper than any glass one with starfire i could find. they come with like a 15 year warr. that is better than any glass tank by about 14 years. i am looking at either a 72x36x25 or a 72x30x25 there is only about 300 dollars difrence in the two.

how does everyone like there acrylic tanks if they have one i have never owned one and am scared to death i am going to scratch the heck out of it. i do not plan on buying one til the end of the summer. that way i can work on building it all winter.

 

[panaboy95]

wellafter a lot of debate i have narrowed it down to three tanks.

marineland 250 60x36x27 with starfire on front pane only. 1452.00 but i have to pay tax on that bad boy.

glass cages 240 60x36x25 1145.00 with starfire on both front and side panes.

aquart acrylic 72x30x25 1235.00

i like the 60" tanks if i buy one of them i will be making it like a little island with a bar on one end. it will be viewable from 3 sides. if i buy a 72" tank i will be building flush with the wall and only viewable from the front pane. i really like the look of a 5 foot tank and it will fit better in the hole.

i am cursed with tank leaks. the one i have got has leaked twice. i am really leaning toward the glass cages 240 but i am scared of not having any warr against leaking. i love the marineland but they are pricey with out starfire on side panes.

 

[dcombs44]

The glass cages tanks are supposed to be built like tanks. I would say you'll have no worries about it leaking.

I'm also afraid of acrylic. My one experience with one in an LFS, I scratched it. I was putting rock in it and one slipped, and that was it. Scratch.

Luckily, somebody jacked it up trying to make it custom for him, so it wasn't a big deal.

 

[panaboy95]

i hope i never have a tank leak again. i like the way glass cages builds there tanks they are made of thick glass and none of the panes are tempered. i have heard they are a little sloppy with silicon but a razorblade can take care of that. but the price of them is right.

 

[mangobusa83]

I still like the thought of ZERO tank leaks.. how often do you read threads on RC bout someones 300g leakin and having to save everything in trash cans til they can get a new tank... gotta weight the options....also keep the plastic on the thing til all your rockwork is set and you should be fine...

 

[panaboy95]

i am not too worried about scratching the tank before it has water in it i am worried that a fish or sand will scratch it once it is running. cleaning the glass takes on another set of challanges.
i am sill thinking so i do not know. most people that have acrylic tanks say they scratch very easy. but they like them most people with glass tanks say they would never buy an acrylic tank.

 

[BryanM]

I would scratch the crap out of it. 150s are known leakers. i understand your concerns with glass but i think u got a lemon.

 

[panaboy95]

i am not sure right now Bryan. i think i may just buy a 250 deep dimensions from perfecto. Reef fx gave me a pretty good price on one i have called a few big fish stores from St Louis and there prices are higher than reef fx. the Perfecto tank is only a couple hundred more than glass cages. the glass cages tank is only 25 high and the perfecto is 27 high. Plus i have to pick the glass cages tank up in St Louis.