GLASS VS. ACRYLIC

cardinal

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 4, 2007
74
0
0
detroit
I prefer acryllic due to it's unbreakability. I have many large rocks and I like to change the aqua-scape often. I feel more confident moving the rocks around knowing that if I accidently drop one it will not crack the bottem of the tank.

I also heard that glass will eventually become brittle and be easier to crack, they may make glass more durable today, but I had a 100 gallon tank that was old and eventually the glass just cracked without warning.

Also my tank is in our family room were my young boys constantly play and throw stuff around. Sure the acryllic has a few scratches but it is better than a a crack that leaks.

Mine is a bowfront tank also which is a neat effect. If you are looking into a neat designed tank acryllic will give you more options.
 

johnptc

Feeder Fish
Apr 6, 2005
4,812
27
0
71
los angeles
www.fishtankwebcam.com
rallysman;963448; said:
I still can't understand why people say acrylic has "better clarity" than glass. Have you tried to take a picture through acrylic?!

Even if I was buying a 750g tank I would prefer glass (even though it would take a fork lift to move)
thick glass has a green tint.....the good plastic is cell cast and extremely clear( no tint) ....even at 2 inches thick....to get this in glass you must go to a specialty glass ( STARPHIRE GLASS) etc which is cost prohibitive.

the good news is that its very easy to remove scratches from acrylic and it will flex more without breaking ( calif = earthquakes)
 

rallysman

Polypterus
MFK Member
Aug 7, 2005
17,533
32
89
42
indiana
johnptc;964616; said:
thick glass has a green tint.....the good plastic is cell cast and extremely clear( no tint) ....even at 2 inches thick....to get this in glass you must go to a specialty glass ( STARPHIRE GLASS) etc which is cost prohibitive.

the good news is that its very easy to remove scratches from acrylic and it will flex more without breaking ( calif = earthquakes)
Yes, it may have a green tint, but I can't notice it. A green tint is easier to see through than a scratch or bow.
 

Tigriuns™

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 27, 2007
1,898
1
0
Singapore
Well, for glass can always tampered it to make it 5x stronger than normal glass...and I dun think so from front view you are able to tell alot about crystal glass and normal glass... the percentage in light transition is only different by abit..
 

TCZeli

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jun 27, 2007
1,388
3
68
NJ
1000 gallon tank would deff be heavy made of glass, but I am looking for a 150 - and since it is cheaper and is harder to scratch i am 100% going with a glass aquarium.

But that does bring up a good question. For everyone who perfers glass, how big would you go before you finally decided to go with the lighter Acrylic material? I will eventuall get a 400Gallon (YEARS from now) so I may consider Acrylic then.
 

big train

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jul 12, 2006
1,050
5
68
Chesapeake V.A.
I am a glass man all the way glass cages advertises low iron glass so that takes care of the green they got a side by side pic of the regular green glass and the low iron u can decide for your self.They also make a 3/4 thick glass commercial tank so that should take care of any fears of being weak or brittle if u got the big bucks they got the best product the weight of the glass is the only negative imo but when u get a monster tank u only move it once.Evan if rally gets a 1000 u can't get enough indy mfk's to move it no matter how much steak and beer is offered it would be forklift time like i seen in repairs pic thread damn that was cool.
 

fishdance

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Jan 30, 2007
1,788
952
150
I think it is kinda silly to swear by one product when they clearly have different advantages and uses. Use whichever is best for your pupose. Its natural people will disagree on whats best for their purposes since its natural that their purposes will differ (in their minds) so its natural you will get disputes.

I have both but only use acrylic on large deep tanks over 65cm.
 

vanilla__gorilla__

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 3, 2006
712
0
0
42
at work
-I have had 2 glass tanks break on me in the last 5 years
-you can remove scratchs from acrylic you can't with glass
-acrylic is much lighter
-acrylic is easy to drill your self
-there are no seems on acrylic tanks
-acrylic tanks look nicer
 

Wolf3101

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 26, 2007
3,303
19
0
66
Arizona
Glass dosen't become more brittle with age...A glass tank is as strong 100 years from now as it is when its made.
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store