I am looking at doing a large tank and have decided to go with acrylic. I have been researching acrylic and some of the things I have seen related so the fogging of the tank or UV damage has worried me. What is the typical life on an acrylic tank? I know a lot of manufactures guarantee the seams for the life of the tank but not sure what that even means. My biggest concern with glass is the weight of the tank and then trusting the seams on such a large tank.
Acrylic vs Glass
- Thread starter nzafi
- Start date
I am more worried about the tank becoming yellow and foggy than it actually breaking a leak occurring. I have been reading about how this happens to acrylic tanks either because of direct sunlight or UV lights used for the tanks.
My tank will be against a window but I will have that shade always closed and then I am planning on painting the back of the tank which should protect it also.
My tank will be against a window but I will have that shade always closed and then I am planning on painting the back of the tank which should protect it also.
what size tank are you planning?
the thing to be careful with acrylic tanks is that they scratch very easily
and people will say the scratch can be buffed out, which is true.
problem is, it still looks 'scuffed' when you are done. you can still see the area of the repair.
its not like it completely disappears like it was never there.
Glass tanks of course, are super heavy to move around but once they are in place you never move them again.
the thing to be careful with acrylic tanks is that they scratch very easily
and people will say the scratch can be buffed out, which is true.
problem is, it still looks 'scuffed' when you are done. you can still see the area of the repair.
its not like it completely disappears like it was never there.
Glass tanks of course, are super heavy to move around but once they are in place you never move them again.
the ease of scratching is the biggest negative. over on reefcentral there are a lot of acrylic users that end up regretting it because of the scratching, but, its saltwater with live rock and crushed coral/sand etc so I would imagine the likelyhood of scratching is way higher than for a normal freshwater tank.
The scratches can be buffed without removing water using a mighty mag system and some elbow grease. New acrylic tanks don't use Cobalt which accelerated the UV yellowing. That's less of a concern these days. They also insulate better than glass, and can take impact better.
Acrylic tanks don't just turn yellow or foggy at all. Main key is to use the proper cleaning liquids vs thinking you can just use windex. I have never seen a yellow acrylic tank.
I have seen yellowing or foggy acrylic but at like restaurants where they obviously don't take care of the tanks. I plan to be extremely careful with cleaning the tank both internal and external.
Sounds like if you just take the proper care and with the latest acrylic, the yellowing and fogging isn't a huge concern.
Sounds like if you just take the proper care and with the latest acrylic, the yellowing and fogging isn't a huge concern.
Not a concern. Your typical window pane in your house filters most UV radiation anyway. So unless it's outside, no concerns
