New Tank Glass or Acrylic

[scott058]

Hey everyone-

I am looking into getting a new tank for myself and I am not sure if I want glass or acrylic. Can anyone shed some light on the pros and cons for both. Also I heard that using mh will help out controlling corraline algae. Something about the lights burning it off? Probably just bs, with my power compacts I constantly scrape it off my glass. I don't want to jack up the acrylic dealing with corraline as it its no biggie with the glass. I'd like to hear everyones opinion if you got the time. Would be a big help on my decision. Thanks in advance.
-Scott

[luistwentyone]

with acrylic scratches are inevitable.

acrylic is much stronger and lighter, so if you are going large, go with acrylic

acrylic is better containing the heat in.

cleaning time is much much easier with glass

[reef]

Acrylic is much easier to drill than glass.

[Mike N]

Go glass, acrylic is a pain in the *@#.

While acrylic is clearer and lighter, it scratches easily, it tends to have a limited life (hazes and checks as it gets old), it's hard to keep clean, retains heat (which is a bad thing), is more expensive, and distorts with pressure.

I've had quite a few acrylic and even more glass tanks over the years and I still have some of my old glass tanks, the acrylic just dosn't stand the test of time...

If you can afford it go with a low iron glass tank.

[dhuynh]

Go with glass for smaller tanks.

For large tanks, just for safety reasons, go with acrylic.

[lucubrator]

Here's a bit more argument:
http://www.sdreefs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11456

[Mike N]

For large tanks, just for safety reasons, go with acrylic.

I imagine you are referring to the increased shatter resistance of acrylic, but I seldom hear any reports of aquariums breaking especially large ones. Large glass aquariums use thick glass, which as anyone who has hit one hard by accident can tell you are very hard to break.

Both can break, both will have sharp edges if broken. While the glass may break into more pieces I would think the immediate safety issue would be the water and electricity issue, or perhaps just the water alone.

Most of the breakage’s I knew about when I was in aquarium retail were due to stupidity, and the owners would have been just as stupid with either type. I remember one guy who came into the store for a "Full Refund" cuz his tank broke. He had placed his tank on top of an area rug and later decided to move the rug, to accomplish this feet he used a car jack and two 2x4s to lift one end of the tank up. It might have turned out alright, but the rug got stuck under one of the legs of his stand and while pulling it out he pulled the whole tank over (it was full of fish) and he expected the owner to replace his lost livestock and equipment.

If a large aquarium breaks I think you're screwed either way, glass or acrylic

[Trickman2]

Mike this debate will never end, But Just to let you know I would rather have acrylic over glass anyday.

[Dakota]

Go glass, acrylic is a pain in the *@#.

While acrylic is clearer and lighter, it scratches easily, it tends to have a limited life (hazes and checks as it gets old), it's hard to keep clean, retains heat (which is a bad thing), is more expensive, and distorts with pressure.

I've had quite a few acrylic and even more glass tanks over the years and I still have some of my old glass tanks, the acrylic just dosn't stand the test of time...

If you can afford it go with a low iron glass tank.

Limited life???? no way. As long as you have a high quality grade of acrylic, it will outlast glass tanks by a huge factor! I love acrylic. easy to work with, clearer, etc, etc. Yes, it scratches easily, but I have a kit that take them out and it looks like new. If you ever scratch a glass tank, you're pretty much out of luck. The seams on glass tanks fail over time (a long time, but they do), and in the larger tanks, you have to spend a lot more for clearer glass (starfire).

In the end, it's up to you. I know those who prefer glass. Go out and look at a bunch of tanks. The black silicone sealed glass tanks are nice IMO. I have no issues with glass that dont' reciprocate over to acrylic tanks. There are advan/disadvan to both.

[dhuynh]

http://www.aquariumslive.com/Archives/Aug05.html

Glass CAN shatter. The chance of it doing it? Probably pretty slim... But accidents do happen. I wish my big tank was acrylic.

[Mike N]

Limited life???? no way. As long as you have a high quality grade of acrylic, it will outlast glass tanks by a huge factor!

Show me a 20-year-old acrylic tank that looks better than a glass tank of the same age. U/V effects acrylic, not glass and I can reseal my glass tank every 25 years if it needs it.

I still have my first aquarium, a 20 long with metal frame and a slate bottom, it was my fathers and it's now almost 50 years old. It looks allot better than my 18 year old 60 gallon Tru-Vue acrylic.

The debate over glass and acrylic is rather like the old Ford, Dodge, and Chevy debate. Each has it's benefits and downsides, staunch supporters and opponents and no one is correct. So take what information you can and make an informed decision for yourself.

[luistwentyone]

a large glass tank will break way way way way before an acrylic tank will.

I have yet to heaR someone have an accident with an acrylic tank.

I can't tell you how many times I hear glass tanks breaking.

it is not about personal likes or dislikes, it IS a FACT.

[Mike N]

http://www.aquariumslive.com/Archives/Aug05.html

Some good info in this link, but also some false info too.

1. Scratches in glass can be buffed out just like in acrylic.

2. Glass can be drilled and modified, just like acrylic.

3. Glass can also be repaired with a patch applied over the damage, but since the entire pane can be replaced (unlike acrylic) total pane replacement is a better solution.

4. Acrylic will shatter too, if you hit it with a hammer.

Trickman said it best, "this debate will never end" so can we all just agree to disagree

Hey they took my Ford, Chevy analogy too, honest I was typing when you posted that link...

[Mike N]

a large glass tank will break way way way way before an acrylic tank will.
I have yet to heaR someone have an accident with an acrylic tank.
I can't tell you how many times I hear glass tanks breaking.
it is not about personal likes or dislikes, it IS a FACT.

Facts can be substantiated, please do?


The world was flat at one time and that was considered a fact until someone went out and proved that “fact” untrue. I have not seen any studies that support the claims you state as fact.

I do agree with you, I believe that acrylic tanks will require (FAR) more force to break than a glass tank, but I don't think that anyone has done any testing to verify our assumption. I also don’t think that the insurance industry, safety organizations, or health practitioners track such incidents, but it would be interesting to find out. Hey maybe we should seek funding for a 2.5 million-dollar grant to fund an in-depth study, sounds reasonable with some of the government-funded studies I’ve seen?

(Since) The vast majority of aquariums sold are glass, it only stands that you'd hear more stories about them breaking.
It's rather like saying that automobile accidents involving Saabs in the US are far fewer than Volvos, so Saabs must be safer. Left out of the information is the fact that Volvo out sells Saab in the US 10 to 1, so hearing stories without verifiable numbers really means nothing.

Anyway I have no idea how we got to this point, I fully agree with you assertion that acrylic tanks will take more fore to break, but I DO seriously doubt that acrylic aquariums are safer than glass based upon breakage. I suspect over 95% of all safety related problems in the aquarium hobby are related to electrical shocks, the inhabitants we choose to keep, and other factors having nothing to do with the construction of the aquariums themselves.

My point was that the number of accidents resulting from breakage is most likely inversely proportional to intelligence of the person breaking said aquariums.
I really don’t think that safety should be considered as a factor in the argument between glass and acrylic, but then again that’s just my opinion, not fact.

[luistwentyone]

lol......

Mike, you're not a lawyer are you ?

we can agree to disagree

peace

(oh, and I prefer\drive a Honda)