GLASS VS. ACRYLIC

sugarsilver

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
My only question after reading through 40 pages of insanely well (and poorly) executed debate is how are large, aggressive fish species against acrylic? I've got a 125g glass for now, and a young silver aro who will need a new home in about a year's time, and I'm trying to figure out if I should be looking at making a ply-wood tank (300+ gallons) OR doing a beast of an acrylic tank? I know the nature of them so I would be very skeptical of acrylic's capacity to stand up against trashing, jumping, and general fish behaviour.
 

plecostic

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 17, 2011
495
2
0
USA
Let's see acrylic = double the price........I'll sick with glass :popcorn: For the price of one I can buy two glass aquariums.
 

Predator Fish UK

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 12, 2011
127
1
0
England
Glass or acrylic for 1500 gallon aquarium?
The monster tank im building will be mainly made of wood but i need to decide on either glass or acrylic for the viewing windows.
The aquarium will measures 14ft long x 5ft high.
Im unsure weather to put 2 x 6x3ft or 5x4ft windows or just have 1 @ 8x3 or 8x4ft?
Any ideas?
And glass or acrylic?
 

kamikaziechameleon

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Sep 23, 2010
2,339
4
68
western hemisphere
Glass or acrylic for 1500 gallon aquarium?
The monster tank im building will be mainly made of wood but i need to decide on either glass or acrylic for the viewing windows.
The aquarium will measures 14ft long x 5ft high.
Im unsure weather to put 2 x 6x3ft or 5x4ft windows or just have 1 @ 8x3 or 8x4ft?
Any ideas?
And glass or acrylic?
Think you are stuck with acrylic there.

I've been looking at large(7 ft long and larger) glass tanks and in Chicago where I'm based there are no large custom tank shops that will do glass. I have a 1 ft 265 gallon glass that leaks, weighs 500 lbs and will be a pain to break down and rebuild. I don't know if I want to spend the time working on it right now or to buy a custom acrylic tank. The tank I own is so rare and expensive no one has them. they are like 3,000 new about twice as much as a similarly sized acrylic tank. No one will work on it for me, I'm not confident in it and that's allot of water to worry about. I'm more confident in building a plywood tank and using a panel from this as the window than rebuilding the tank but the plywood tank will take lots of time. LOTS OF TIME, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

I like glass, I prefer glass. Have never had an issue with it exploding or shattering as other have sighted and Beyond my one 265 gallon tank leaking has never Ever been an issue. That being said after 6 ft in length it become really precarious. I'm not against it but I can't locally find any shop that will stand behind large(over 200 gallons) glass tanks. As I reach out for some monster tanks I imagine I won't have much in the way of an option when it comes down to it. I wish I still could get glass as a real option but I can't and shops like glass cages are not well enough reviewed for me to get behind them.

Any thoughts.
 

kamikaziechameleon

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Sep 23, 2010
2,339
4
68
western hemisphere
need an advice, i'm trying to build 380 Gal, better use glass or acrylic?
and maybe more info about calculating method.
thx
Get quotes for local shops if you can afford it I go glass, the fact that you won't be draining the tank to rub out scratches goes a long way. If you plan on keeping fish that might beat the tank up I go glass for sure if at all possible but honestly glass isn't always possible as their are fabrication constraints and weight issues that will drive up price and make it to hard to work with. For a tank like that your glass panel will probably way something like 125-175 lbs.
 

2pac

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 15, 2011
83
0
6
So. California
glass is preferable for me (scratch-resistant, easy to clean). But at a certain size, it becomes too heavy. Anything larger than 100 gallons i'd say go acrylic
 

gunfragger

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 22, 2011
14
0
0
alberta
would plexi glass be an acrylic? i think they are different i am thinking of building a 25 galon plexi tank just to see if it would be any good i used to be a plastics fabricator an used to build chemical tanks out of special plexi and other things i want to build a living room table/tank of about 150 gallons and have three young kids any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated an because im new here i would like replys to my email as i may not be on here often enough to get replys or find this thread scott_emberly29@hotmail.com
 

gunfragger

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 22, 2011
14
0
0
alberta
you may find that building a glass tank would probly still work you just need to go to custom glass shops that will cut the panels for you where i live i have no options over 55g so i want to build a tank for my living room but i am thinking of goin with glass or plexi but its a much smaller tank than your mine will be near 300g just find out exactly what kind of glass they use on bigger tanks an get them to custom cut ur tank but carfull of weight issues if you but a tank that size on a second floor (above basement) remember to reinforce the floor first or all your work will cost you more than you think good luck
 

BarbaraClark

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 17, 2012
52
0
0
Lake Charles, LA
I think my main concern is really...How REAL is the threat of having a large glass tank break? Many of you have owned fish for years...have you ever had a big glass tank break on you?

I have this dilemma currently. I am about to purchase a 400 gallon tank. Acrylic will cost me $6,000 for JUST the tank from glasscages while glass will be $2,000. That's a huge difference. So how real is the threat of a tank of that size breaking? Is it something worth spending an extra 4,000 on?


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