GLASS VS. ACRYLIC

[12 Volt Man]

I know the comment has been made on this thread that acrylic does not scratch easily, but in my opinion, if a good sized fancy pleco can scratch it just by rasping, then I would say it scratches easily

 

[skillzizzo]

i know its a myth...but the thread is kinda nuts......

no i am not an engineer but a physicist.....re glass flow ( no spin)

Physicists who have put this theory to the test say it would take millions (not hundreds or thousands) of years for there to be any noticeable change in the glass at room temperature. A study published in the American Journal of Physics went so far as to say that the period this phenomenon would require is "well beyond the age of the universe."
ref: http://www.infoplease.com/askeds/does-glass-flow-old-windows.html

my dad is a carpenter and i used to tear down old houses with him and use the wood and window's and such for other projects and i have personally seen this happen to glass on some houses that were only a hundred years old so it is true i have seen it with my own eye's you could clearly see a difference.

 

[T1KARMANN]

well each to their own choice but i dont have plecos so cant coment

if i did have plecos i would have a big bit of bog wood for them to rasp on and as their is no algue in my tank the best place for them would be the wood

unless you own an acrylic tank you will never know

so it looks like you will be stuck in the glass age

i have had glass for years and it also scratches its very hard to get scratches out of glass

if for some reason you do get scratches on the acrylic is easy to polish out even if its on the inside with water in much easyer than glass

 

[12 Volt Man]

this is true.

scratch the glass and its impossible to get out.

scratch the acrylic and you can..but from what I have seen it sometimes doesn't work all that well.

at the LFS where I used to work for example, they made the mistake of leaving an algae magnet in the 340 gallon reef tank that they had set up.

a customer started using it and got gravel on the inside of the abrasive part and scratched the tank to ****..

lesson learned for them I guess...

 

[skillzizzo]

THis is were i stand on this subject over 180 buy a acrylic first off. YOu'r going to need to put it on a slab of concrete so that means bringing it down in to you'r celiure for most people inless you'r rich and have metal beam reinforce or triple thick sound proof floors. Example i just bought a 240 glass broke the bottom bringing it in my cellur you don't think 400 pounds is that heavy untill you and 3 freinds grab a hold of it and start bringing it down a flight of stairs then you are going to change you'r mind really quick. Mind you me and all of my freinds that helped can bunch atleast 260 are 6 foot 220 pounds atleast and in great shape. Next you can't put more then 2 people on a end no were for them to be helpfull just in the way. So when i get a new tank this big or bigger it will deffinetly be acrylic sence i don't own my own house yet. But when i do i will be building large concrete ones with viewing window end of problem. But 180 or under glass or even 150 or under glass 180 or above acrylic for me lesson learned. YOu can see how much of a pain it was for me to fix my glass tank in the diy section under ----- 240 glass fixed silicone drying as we speak ------ would of bean much easier to fix if it was acrylic i'm surprised no one mentioned that i could get a crack in the middle of the bottom pain of a acrylic tank and just put a square patch over the crack it's self and would be fixed on my glass i would be replacing the hole bottom sheet at a great big pain in my but. Also another point to look at with a acrlic tank you will only be able to use a overflow system on even if a small tank sence the tops are so wide no hang on filters can be used this is my .02 cents

 

[T1KARMANN]

well like i said if you use the right tools like the acrylic mag-float you will be ok

if you try to polish your car with sand paper it will scratch it

the link to the thread with plecos stated another point acrylic tanks are garanteed for life and presure tested

glass tanks you are lucky if you get 12 months garantee and the silacon is only good for 10yrs max less if you use black silacon

back to plecos what about them rasping on the silacon

even if my tank is scratched to bits after 10yrs i just get it repolished

with glass you will need to brake it down and re silacon it

as long as i take care of my tank and dont want to upgrade it will last for life you will need a new glass tank after 10yrs

my last 6x2x2ft tank made from glass was falling apart after 10yrs with the strenght bars coming off the top

 

[12 Volt Man]

glass tanks you are lucky if you get 12 months garantee and the silacon is only good for 10yrs max less if you use black silacon

this is not true, at least in my experience.

many of us have tanks that are 16+ years old and they are fine.

the seals on glass tanks last a lot longer than 10 years..I know people who have 65's that have been going non-stop since 1978..

heck, some of my tanks have been set up since 1991 and we are in 2007 now..

they should last decades if not moved, allowed to get dry for long periods, not exposed to sunlight etc.

 

[TCZeli]

I also have had no problems with the silacon, nor have anyone I know. And I am tired of listening to people actually try and convince everyone that acrylic doesn't scratch easier then glass. This isn't really debatable. I understand there will be a few ppl out there that take really good care while cleaning, and do not get fish with teeth, and walk by there tanks very carefully, this does not mean they do not scartch easier then glass, it means your careful.

acrylic fans seem to be focused on 2 points "acrylic do not scratch easly" (even thought they do) and that glass tanks tanks dont last. Well glass tanks deff are more fragile then acrylic but they do not break for no reason. If i throw a baseball at a glass tank, it will most likely break, if i throw one at acrylic it probably wont. So you know what I do??? I do not throw a baseball at my glass tanks!!!! Glass tanks dont break from your elbow brushing up against it.

Now to be fair I agree when you get to larger tanks acrylic is a must, the weight benefit (which should be the main argument for acrylic fans) is to great. But acrylic DOES scratch regardless what some ppl hear will tell you, and is MUCH more expensive. If you are going with a tank 250Gallons are less I wouldn't go with acrylic, it is not worth it.

 

[cvermeulen]

lol is this thread coming to an end?........

Probably not this is like light beer vs dark beer... everyone has a preference, and most people defend it to the death.

I'm not sure I understand the weight argument... I mean the last all-glass tank I had was 100 or so gal, and it was relatively easy to move with 2 people. Any larger than this, and how often are you ever going to move it anyway? Anything larger than 500 almost has to be a permanent installation wherever it goes, and is often built in place. I hope no-one is concerned with the weight of glass after the tank is set up... considering the massive weight of the water.

It's not like acrylic is all that light anyways, so moving a large acrylic tank, light as it may be, you're still likely to bang into something, and scratch it horribly as a result. At least with a glass tank, the wall suffers and not the tank (usually).

The main advantage of the acrylic is the undisputed clarity. Well worth it if you can put up with scratches, or if you can be careful enough not to scratch it... which is damn careful, even coarse paper towel will mark acrylic.

 

[T1KARMANN]

Probably not this is like light beer vs dark beer... everyone has a preference, and most people defend it to the death.

I'm not sure I understand the weight argument... I mean the last all-glass tank I had was 100 or so gal, and it was relatively easy to move with 2 people. Any larger than this, and how often are you ever going to move it anyway? Anything larger than 500 almost has to be a permanent installation wherever it goes, and is often built in place. I hope no-one is concerned with the weight of glass after the tank is set up... considering the massive weight of the water.

It's not like acrylic is all that light anyways, so moving a large acrylic tank, light as it may be, you're still likely to bang into something, and scratch it horribly as a result. At least with a glass tank, the wall suffers and not the tank (usually).

The main advantage of the acrylic is the undisputed clarity. Well worth it if you can put up with scratches, or if you can be careful enough not to scratch it... which is damn careful, even coarse paper towel will mark acrylic.

100g is nothing tanks start to get heavy when you go above 24inch deep when the thickness off the glass gets thicker

the weight should also be taken into consideration when the tank is on floor boards not concret

i had a 72x24x24 tank on my 1st floor house on joists and floor boads i wanted an upgrade but couldnt lift it up the stairs if it was glass and didnt know if the floor would hold it when it was full of water so i went for acrylic

i now have a 84x32x30 tank in the same place as the old 72x24x24 the new tank is lighters than the old tank its was easy to get up the stairs and the cab was heavyer than the acrylic tank

when full of water the new tank if 15kg lighter than the old tank