GLASS VS. ACRYLIC
- Thread starter TCZeli
- Start date
i have acrylic and would never buy a glass tank again
much lighter if you ever want to move it would have taken 6 strong men to move the tank i have me and my girlfreind lifted my tank on its base
its much clearer than glass
you dont have any ugly silacon joints on the corners
i have had my tank for 2 yrs and their not a scratch on it
glass also scatches but its a lot harder to polish out compaired to acrylic
you dont get as much scaleing if your tank water is hard
algue doesnt stick to acrylic like it does to glass
acylic is much stronger than glass if you have big fish it wont crack or smash
if you get your tank from a good maker it will come with a life time garuntee the silacon on a glass tank is only good for 10yrs
if you get lots of scratches on acrylic tank then your not takeing care of it properly
much lighter if you ever want to move it would have taken 6 strong men to move the tank i have me and my girlfreind lifted my tank on its base
its much clearer than glass
you dont have any ugly silacon joints on the corners
i have had my tank for 2 yrs and their not a scratch on it
glass also scatches but its a lot harder to polish out compaired to acrylic
you dont get as much scaleing if your tank water is hard
algue doesnt stick to acrylic like it does to glass
acylic is much stronger than glass if you have big fish it wont crack or smash
if you get your tank from a good maker it will come with a life time garuntee the silacon on a glass tank is only good for 10yrs
if you get lots of scratches on acrylic tank then your not takeing care of it properly
Someone needs to make this a sticky.
I also feel the need to respond a couple things I saw skimming this thread... maybe someone beat me to ti already but:
Acrylic is NOT stronger than glass, thanks. Glass is actually incredibly strong, but because of it's enormous sensitivity to defects (chips propogating into cracks, etc.) it has a recommended safety factor of 10 or 20, instead of 2 or 3. A perfect peice of glass could be 1/4" thick for the front of a 24 or 30" deep aquarium... but any chips will be disastrous, so they make it thicker.
Tempering glass for a tank is a very bad idea. Yes, you increase the tensile strength of the material by up to 5x... but you also create enormous internal stresses to achieve that strength. Any damage at all to the glass once it has been tempered can result in the glass shattering into a million tiny pieces. This is why a car window can be destroyed with a tiny diamond tipped hammer.
Glass is also a pretty good insulator. Compare the amount of time needed to cool a beer bottle vs. a beer can. Any difference between glass and acrylic in insulating properties probably won't affect your power bill much.
As for optics, I got 5/8" glass for the front of my tank, and I'm wishing I could have afforded 3/4" acrylic instead. The green isn't SO bad, but the refractive index of it makes it so if you get close up and move side to side trying to see into a cave or corner, you get dizzy from the distortion.
That said, having three kids running around the house, I would be forever fretting about them scratching my beautiful fish tank. At least this way I won't have to look through scratches at my fish. If I lived alone I might be tempted to go acrylic on anything over 75g or so.
I also feel the need to respond a couple things I saw skimming this thread... maybe someone beat me to ti already but:
Acrylic is NOT stronger than glass, thanks. Glass is actually incredibly strong, but because of it's enormous sensitivity to defects (chips propogating into cracks, etc.) it has a recommended safety factor of 10 or 20, instead of 2 or 3. A perfect peice of glass could be 1/4" thick for the front of a 24 or 30" deep aquarium... but any chips will be disastrous, so they make it thicker.
Tempering glass for a tank is a very bad idea. Yes, you increase the tensile strength of the material by up to 5x... but you also create enormous internal stresses to achieve that strength. Any damage at all to the glass once it has been tempered can result in the glass shattering into a million tiny pieces. This is why a car window can be destroyed with a tiny diamond tipped hammer.
Glass is also a pretty good insulator. Compare the amount of time needed to cool a beer bottle vs. a beer can. Any difference between glass and acrylic in insulating properties probably won't affect your power bill much.
As for optics, I got 5/8" glass for the front of my tank, and I'm wishing I could have afforded 3/4" acrylic instead. The green isn't SO bad, but the refractive index of it makes it so if you get close up and move side to side trying to see into a cave or corner, you get dizzy from the distortion.
That said, having three kids running around the house, I would be forever fretting about them scratching my beautiful fish tank. At least this way I won't have to look through scratches at my fish. If I lived alone I might be tempted to go acrylic on anything over 75g or so.
cvermeulen;970806; said:
and the chances of a small chip when you moving a tank that can take 6-8 people to move are very high so the glass tank is weaker as soon as you put it into it final location
if you have kids and they like playing near the tank you have a much higher chance of them brakeing a glass tank
unless you take the chance with an acylic tank then you wont know how good they are
the only people who say they scratch easy are people who didnt take the care needed and just tryed to clean it the same way as glass with a normal sponge
T1KARMANN;970830; said:
I think maybe you missed the point... glass tanks are made heavy enough to accomodate surface defects such as cracks. That's why even heavy chips on the corners of annealed glass tanks don't usually cause failure.
And man... if they have a pillow fight and a zipper hits an acrylic aquarium it will leave a scratch. They could probably have a fights with jim duggen style sawed off 2x4's in front of my glass tank without breaking it - the glass is the same kind as used in large non-structural high rise windows - very VERY difficult to break by any normal household accident.
If you do not ahve a scratch on your acrylic then bravo, you are taking great care of your product, but the fact still remains that it is much easier to scratch then glass. And acrylic is clearer, yes but appearntly turns yellow over time. Rather have the green tint i can barely notice over a yellow tank. algae is wiped off easly and if your worried about the heat escaping your tank with glass, buy a heater.
the way I see it, a acrylic tank is easier to scratch then a glass tank is to break
the way I see it, a acrylic tank is easier to scratch then a glass tank is to break
i wasn't saying acrylic wasnt clearer, I was saying it scratches easier and it turns yellow over time. The only benefit i would take into consideration getting acrylic would be the weight difference, and that would only be if i was getting a 300G or bigger.
TCZeli;971111; said:
it doesnt scratch that easy
unless you have had one you wont know
i have rays that are constantly up the side of the tank and theirs no a scratch on my tank
as for this yellow thing if you buy a cheap budget acrylic tank then this may be true but i havent seen it
the weight thing is also handy if your tank if on floor boads as it puts a lot less stress on the floor
this is the 1st acrylic tank i have ever owned after keep glass tanks for 15yrs + and like i said i will never have glass again
it makes a glass tank look so out of date with its ugly silacon joints
you quoted me so you should have seen me write EASIER as in more easy.
And your right i have never had a acrylic tank. and that is why I started this thread, I was curious. But everyone but you has said it scratches VERY easy. Again the price difference does not seem to justify the pro's of acrylic in my opinion. you obviously have a different opinion.
And your right i have never had a acrylic tank. and that is why I started this thread, I was curious. But everyone but you has said it scratches VERY easy. Again the price difference does not seem to justify the pro's of acrylic in my opinion. you obviously have a different opinion.
