GLASS VS. ACRYLIC
- Thread starter TCZeli
- Start date
i have 4 tanks... some are acrylic some are glass.. or to make it easy... 2 or glass and 2 are acrylic....
pro and cons... i buy acrylic if it is more than 100 gal... if less.. maybe glass. but if you buy a big tank.. guess what.. the value in $$$ you pay on acrylic and glass is almost the same. and not counting how many friends you need to carry it... if your friends are busy...guess what.. you gotta hire some guy.. and the expense adds up. well, both are good... but insulation is really something.. got two 240 glass and acrylic side by side on the window... acrylic holds my temp at 80-81F, but glass fluctuates more.. around 78-82F. i hired 4 guys which i paid extra $240 for them... $60 each..
go do the math....
depends also on fish.. if you have plecos with teeth them you want glass... if you are on reef they you might also want glass... but with datoids like T1K.. wow! i hail you the king!
great tank and nice clean set up!!!
oh, about public aquariums... they are double pane.. most of them.. i went to this library with a 20-25Ft tall tank..salt water.. they wrote the info on the side.. it was 7" or 8" thick acrylic.. surely not bowing.
you can paint acrylic too.. or better yet get some plastic board that you can buy at home depot. get a spray paid that is flat black.. color it up.. get tape and tape it. cheap, affordable and easy to take off and sell your tank when the buyer wants a clear back... doing it permanently can also be done.. sand the back, make it rough a little bit.. get tape.. to avoid over sprays.. and spray it as you want.. ching ching.. ka bang... you got a black back.. but that is permanent. unless you sand it again and that magic starts.. like T1K.. he wants is black and most probably he is not planing to sell it soon.. maybe years so he wants a black black.. doable... and besides... no need to spray..
BOTTOM LINE.. YOUR CHOICE, YOUR MONEY, YOUR HOUSE, YOUR PROBLEM (IF IT FAILS) AND BEST OF ALL YOUR SATISFACTION! try not convincing yourself to buy an aquarium that you would say later on... "i think i wanted the other material... " you just wasted your time and money by then.
pro and cons... i buy acrylic if it is more than 100 gal... if less.. maybe glass. but if you buy a big tank.. guess what.. the value in $$$ you pay on acrylic and glass is almost the same. and not counting how many friends you need to carry it... if your friends are busy...guess what.. you gotta hire some guy.. and the expense adds up. well, both are good... but insulation is really something.. got two 240 glass and acrylic side by side on the window... acrylic holds my temp at 80-81F, but glass fluctuates more.. around 78-82F. i hired 4 guys which i paid extra $240 for them... $60 each..
go do the math.... depends also on fish.. if you have plecos with teeth them you want glass... if you are on reef they you might also want glass... but with datoids like T1K.. wow! i hail you the king!
great tank and nice clean set up!!!oh, about public aquariums... they are double pane.. most of them.. i went to this library with a 20-25Ft tall tank..salt water.. they wrote the info on the side.. it was 7" or 8" thick acrylic.. surely not bowing.
you can paint acrylic too.. or better yet get some plastic board that you can buy at home depot. get a spray paid that is flat black.. color it up.. get tape and tape it. cheap, affordable and easy to take off and sell your tank when the buyer wants a clear back... doing it permanently can also be done.. sand the back, make it rough a little bit.. get tape.. to avoid over sprays.. and spray it as you want.. ching ching.. ka bang... you got a black back.. but that is permanent. unless you sand it again and that magic starts.. like T1K.. he wants is black and most probably he is not planing to sell it soon.. maybe years so he wants a black black.. doable... and besides... no need to spray..
BOTTOM LINE.. YOUR CHOICE, YOUR MONEY, YOUR HOUSE, YOUR PROBLEM (IF IT FAILS) AND BEST OF ALL YOUR SATISFACTION! try not convincing yourself to buy an aquarium that you would say later on... "i think i wanted the other material... " you just wasted your time and money by then.
very true
i was the same i thought acrylic scatched easy but it doesnt seam to be the case for my tank
as you can see from the pics i have a 13inch flag tail that is always sucking on the acrylic in the same way i would expect a pleco to do
as long as you use the right products to clean the tank its not a problem
to clean the inside i still just use a mag-float but the type for acrylic and take extra care not to get gravel stuck in the mag acrylic glass cleaner for the out side
i was the same i thought acrylic scatched easy but it doesnt seam to be the case for my tank
as you can see from the pics i have a 13inch flag tail that is always sucking on the acrylic in the same way i would expect a pleco to do
as long as you use the right products to clean the tank its not a problem
to clean the inside i still just use a mag-float but the type for acrylic and take extra care not to get gravel stuck in the mag acrylic glass cleaner for the out side
true. but your beautiful flagtail has no teeth.
look at the teeth on my royal pleco:
he would make short work of an acrylic tank.
thats another good point: you CANNOT keep certain types of fancy plecos (eg panaques) in an acrylic tank.
they can rasp with their teeth and really scratch it up:
look at the teeth on my royal pleco:
he would make short work of an acrylic tank.
thats another good point: you CANNOT keep certain types of fancy plecos (eg panaques) in an acrylic tank.
they can rasp with their teeth and really scratch it up:
The reason I paint them is because I hate tape-ons. You get any bit of water down the back, and you got all kinds of water marks. Also, with painting, you can use textured paint, which IMO adds character. I don't like solid backgrounds.
normal hypostomus probably not at all.
but panaques and other types of fancy plecos can do real damage especially if large.
for example, my royal is 7 inches long, and you can hear him rasping on the glass from across the room if it is qiet.
I am constantly worried he is going to damage the silicone! LOL
but panaques and other types of fancy plecos can do real damage especially if large.
for example, my royal is 7 inches long, and you can hear him rasping on the glass from across the room if it is qiet.
I am constantly worried he is going to damage the silicone! LOL
check out this thread on plecofanatics.com
it seems that people have had fancy plecos scratch acrylic tanks:
http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20971&highlight=acrylic+tanks
it seems that people have had fancy plecos scratch acrylic tanks:
http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20971&highlight=acrylic+tanks
