GLASS VS. ACRYLIC

[T1KARMANN]

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.

buy the look of your replys you have already made up your mind that glass i better which may be the case with tanks made in the US as some of the pics i have seen of tanks made in the US they are made real bad with some silly looking access holes in the top

my tank is made the same as a normal glass tanks with normal centre bars
not like a sealed box with holes cut out of the top

hears a few pics so you can see their are no scratches on my tank after 2.5yr and you can see how much better the joints look compaired to glass

 

[T1KARMANN]

wow. that is an AMAZING tank! what size is it?

but I have to disagree with your opinion that acrylic does not scratch easy.



I am envious of your tank! Great job!

the tank is 350USgal

and like i said the easy scratching you get in the US maybe down to the cheap acrylic used in the US

their are only 2 or 3 companys that make acrylic tanks hear in the UK 1 is about 4 x more expencive than the other 2 and maily makes tanks for public aquariums one makes great tank at an afordable price the other is just crap and makes tanks like i see in the US an acrylic box with holes cut out of the top

i know a few people hear in the UK all have had their tanks for 3yrs+ none of them are scrathed

most if not all public aquariums hear in the UK now use acrylic

if it scratches easy and is not stronger than glass why are they all using it

if it scratches that easy you would think that with all of the kids that pass throw a pubilc aquarium the veiwing panels would be badly scratched with in days

 

[TCZeli]

really the aquariums over there use acrylic???? are you sure? Acrylic is more flexable right? Well it would seem that 100,000+ gallons of water would bend acrylic till it popped out of the bracers no mater how thick the acrylic is.

Every aquarium I have ever been too has that annouying girl who always starts her speech with "this tank contains X gallons of water, but dont worry it is made of X inch thick GLASS".

Maybe the UK has some super acrylic that holds millions of pounds of weight and is impervious to scratches.

 

[12 Volt Man]

if it scratches easy and is not stronger than glass why are they all using it

because it is much lighter, thus much much easier to set up and build.

if it scratches that easy you would think that with all of the kids that pass throw a pubilc aquarium the veiwing panels would be badly scratched with in days

this does happen. but not to the outside, the inside can scratch easily, at least much more easily than glass can, as others have mentioned.




still drooling over your tank... fantastic job!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I've never checked around much for egg crate, but where do you find it? I think that is a much better idea, and much cheaper, than laying another piece of acrylic in the bottom of the tank. Would help protect the bottom, as well as allow me to put my lava rock in the bottom without damaging the tank bottom, or breaking the glass.

 

[crashinc25]

I've never checked around much for egg crate, but where do you find it?

Home Depot; Like $12.00. In the lighting section. It's for fluorescent lights.

 

[ercnan]

Home Depot; Like $12.00. In the lighting section. It's for fluorescent lights.

Also called "diffuser panels". Sold in 2'x4', or 2'x2' panels for laying in ceiling grid before the lights, or as replacements for lights that have them pre-installed.

 

[T1KARMANN]

ooops i forgot to add one more good thing about acrylic if ever find you need extra holes for filter pipes over flows that you forgot to tell the tank maker about when you ordered your tank its easy

you drill them yourself

no expencive glass drilling tools needed

 

[Kevaldo]

My tank at the moment is 84"x30"x24"high, and was a bugger to get in the house, I had to take the door's off which was'nt a major problem but it still took 6 of us to get it in here. Because I have a pair of Leopoldi's Im going to upgrade the tank, 92"long x 48"wide x 30"high, and Ive just had a quote from a acrylic tank maker, which was cheaper than I thought. So I might be starting a new thread soon about my new ray tank.

Kev

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Can acrylic tanks be painted like glass tanks? I prefer spray painting the background on the tanks.