Starfire or acrylic?

[mcoomer]

My 125 was acrylic and I ran it for 12 years but when I upgraded to the 180 I went with Starphire on the front and sides. Looking at corals through the glass is not as clear as the acrylic tank, but only slightly less and if you're looking straight into the tank I think it's as clear as acrylic. If you're looking through the glass at an angle then the clarity is reduced. Having said that, the scratches in the acrylic tank detracted at least as much from the viewing quality. Acrylic or glass? I'll stick with my new glass tank.

BTW...coralline algae. Not a problem. On the acrylic tank I couldn't clean the corners and didn't even bother trying to keep up with the back panel. My 180 is clean on all four panels and it only takes a few minutes of work to get it all clean. Blades and stiff pads clean much faster and easier than credit cards and orange Kent Marine scrapers.

Mike

 

[SPotter]

it definitely sounds like it will come down to personal preference and overall budget for this build. I appreciate everyones opinions.

 

[Chris27]

I like being able to use metal scraping tools when necessary in the tank, so glass is my choice. I too looked at acrylic vs. glass, and ended up with glass simply because I'm clumsy and I have kids who like to "help."

 

[SPotter]

I too have a couple of little "Helpers" and stopped leaving my magnet on my tank because I witnessed my son drag it across the tank with a snail stuck under the other side of the magnet. So now I have a nice scratch in my glass. Fortunately its towards the bottom of the tank and you really cant see it unless you are up close.

 

[solitude127]

BTW...coralline algae. Not a problem. On the acrylic tank I couldn't clean the corners and didn't even bother trying to keep up with the back panel. My 180 is clean on all four panels and it only takes a few minutes of work to get it all clean. Blades and stiff pads clean much faster and easier than credit cards and orange Kent Marine scrapers.

Mike

+1 on this. On my old 90 (acrylic) it would take me 45min to clean the front pane from coraline and other hard algae by hand. Now with my new tank (starfire glass) I can clean the whole tank in about 15min with a scrapper. I have scratch my glass but it's not nearly as noticeable as with my acrylic

 

[SPotter]

I'm at a $500 difference between acrylic and 3 side low iron tank right now. I need to find some local people that have tanks this size that I can go look at.

 

[atreis]

I've had both, in the same number of gallons, although a somewhat different shape. Both of my tanks were custom made and the glass one has starfire for the front pane.

Acrylic Advantages:
- Clearer than starfire
- Can be bent and formed into more shapes (for instance, rounded corners, which looks really nice)
- Stronger - less concern about a falling rock breaking a pane
- Scratches can be buffed out
- Scratches on the inside are generally hard to see when the tank is full because the refractive index of acrylic is about the same as that of water.
- MUCH lighter weight
- Easier to drill yourself (no worry about shattering the glass)
- Acrylic with pigments in it is available, so if a black back pane is wanted, this can be done at build time.

Disadvantages:
- They usually have a fairly wide rim all the way around, which can make in-tank access more difficult.
- Scratches more easily
- More expensive

Glass Advantages:
- Less expensive
- More readily available in already-made standard shapes and sizes.
- Hard to scratch
- Can be made rimless more easily, and generally has a narrower rim regardless.

Disadvantages:
- Heavy
- Glass breaks more easily and more catastophically
- Harder to drill yourself
- Scratches are very difficult to remove
- Generally can't get opaque glass for back panes - need to paint.

Overall, I prefer acrylic and would go with that if I get another tank. For now, I have glass because it fit my budget at the time.

 

[viggen]

yea, personal preferance.... either way you will love it

coraline is a PITA to remove if you get behind with the cleaning, years ago I had a 70g reef & yea it wasn't the easiest when it was covered

I am a fish guy so no more reef tanks for me..... if I was doing a big trigger tank (500g+) it would be non-starfire glass. Seen to many triggers scrape their teeth into acrylic & not having to stick my arm in there for cleaning would be very nice.

FWIW I had under $3K in my 120x30x30 shipped to my door