Acrylic vs. Glass

[Poseidon2.0]

I had a 70 gallon (36x18x25) Marineland aquarium that the bottom seal opened up on in less than two years. Was level and on the Marineland stand, but still blew out. Is the reason I am moving over to acrylic.

Does anyone have a favorite brand of acrylic? I currently have a ‘Clear for Life’ brand. Anyone else have success or failure with them?

 

[LBDave]

I agree that acrylic is less prone to leaking. I read this stuff about leaking glass aquariums and it concerns me. One reason I keep leak detectors under my aquariums.
When I clean and change water I always clean the inside of the aquarium with a mag float. Since I like taller aquariums it's the best and easiest way. Can clean the viewing panels in about 3 minutes.
I would be hesitant to use these on acrylic. Just scratches too easily.

 

[Lepisosteus]

From the pages of Reef 2Reef Forums. Manufacturer has much to do with the state of acrylic. And I'm not advocating one type of tank vs the other, that was not my original purpose. Just to point a balanced view, not "rah rah" one over the other. This was posted in 2017. Companies mentioned are still in buisness.

Cell cast acrylics (the only product should be used by tank manufacturers) should not yellow due to the U.V. inhibitors added during the manufacturing process. That said there is cheap overseas sheet that has a yellow tint before use. The overseas products should be rejected due to the poor quality of the manufacturing process. Only two companies make sheet in the United States PolyOne (Poly Cast) and Reynolds Polymer. Renolds will not work for most fabricators because it is a cross-linked polymer and requires special bonding techniques that Reynolds will not share with the fabracators. So that leaves only PolyOne. Mexico provides what used to be called Plexiglass G cell cast. It is the only other product that seems to work in North America currently. Beware of Acrylite GP and other brands since some of the product seems to have problems. Most of the distribution only stocks continous cast acrylics which are not as dense as cell cast. Supply is a problem for many fabrcators myself included. I have to get shipments from Chicago or the East Coast making the product even more expensive and time limited.

That guy on R2R knows what he’s doing no question. He has an amazing Q and A thread worth checking out.

As he said cell cast acrylic will not yellow with age. There is cheap overseas acrylic that has a yellow tint “before use”. Indicating that it’s already yellow regardless of age. As previously stated by myself, acrylic tanks don’t turn yellow. In terms of overseas acrylic vs local brands. Overseas acrylics are going to dominate the aquarium market soon enough. There are plenty of overseas brands that use 100% unrecycled PMMA for their acrylic. The one I order with JSXACRYLICS, does exactly that. I have used spartech and acrylite in the past. I still do on request. I personally don’t notice any difference in terms of bond strength or clarity between the brands. I use North American sourced sheets when I’m building oversized aquariums. L<8’. JSX does not make larger then 8x4 sheets.

 

[Lepisosteus]

I agree that acrylic is less prone to leaking. I read this stuff about leaking glass aquariums and it concerns me. One reason I keep leak detectors under my aquariums.
When I clean and change water I always clean the inside of the aquarium with a mag float. Since I like taller aquariums it's the best and easiest way. Can clean the viewing panels in about 3 minutes.
I would be hesitant to use these on acrylic. Just scratches too easily.

They have “magfloats” designed for acrylic that work very well. They do not scratch unless you get sand in them. Lots of companies make them. I personally like the tiger shark cleaning magnets for acrylic.

 

[Rocksor]

I have used mag floats for acrylic and it didn't scratch the inside of my old 110 for 13 years. My clown pleco did more damage which was not visible from any angle until the tank was bare dry.

 

[Rocksor]

I personally like the tiger shark cleaning magnets for acrylic.

This is what you use?

Algae Free Tiger Shark Float PLUS Cleaning Magnet

The Algae Free Tiger Shark Aquarium Cleaning Magnet will make algae cleaning quick and easy. The Algae Free Tiger Shark Aquarium Cleaning Magnet is 4 inches x 2 inches.

www.marineandreef.com

 

[Lepisosteus]

That’s them. Take the glass blade off though

 

[LBDave]

I have used mag floats for acrylic and it didn't scratch the inside of my old 110 for 13 years. My clown pleco did more damage which was not visible from any angle until the tank was bare dry.

I hear you guys. Lots of good info on this thread.

 

[LBDave]

I hear you guys. Lots of good info on this thread.

I was a little more concened about the outside of the tank with the mag float. Magnet is super strong. Needed for 3/4" glass.

 

[FINWIN]

That guy on R2R knows what he’s doing no question. He has an amazing Q and A thread worth checking out.

As he said cell cast acrylic will not yellow with age. There is cheap overseas acrylic that has a yellow tint “before use”. Indicating that it’s already yellow regardless of age. As previously stated by myself, acrylic tanks don’t turn yellow. In terms of overseas acrylic vs local brands. Overseas acrylics are going to dominate the aquarium market soon enough. There are plenty of overseas brands that use 100% unrecycled PMMA for their acrylic. The one I order with JSXACRYLICS, does exactly that. I have used spartech and acrylite in the past. I still do on request. I personally don’t notice any difference in terms of bond strength or clarity between the brands. I use North American sourced sheets when I’m building oversized aquariums. L<8’. JSX does not make larger then 8x4 sheets.

In all probability some of the tanks I've seen up close are from the inferior stuff or abused/old. I should mention that I was strongly considering the Clear for Life and read the reviews. Really wanted the aqua background in a certain size but nobody had it. No interest in the black background and so so interest in the dark blue. Overall good in terms of the acrylic but I noted that a lot of people also quoted scratch issues, either in shipping or during maintenance. There were issues about incompatible holes for filtration custom jobs. Some complains about the lids being cheap and deforming. I can't comment on what they're doing but I do check the reviews. One of the reasons it took me so long to make a decision was because of the ease of delivery / weight considerations. I may still get one in the future. On the Wayfair site you can get a really big acrylic tank and have someone deliver it inside and remove the packaging and haul the mess out for $149 (white glove service). Easy peasy. My glass tank is beautiful but it was a pain dealing with the shipment. My brother and I removed it from the crate and needed to examine it before accepting. Needed prybars and drill set. Quality is impeccable, but the weight of glass tanks is always an issue with shipping and installation. The local distributor OUTSTANDING in sending some guys over to plop the sucker on my stand. The tank is gorgeous with a metal marine grade upper frame and black silicone. Built like iron, I never had a tank like this before. The background looks like a painting at the museum. But A large tank? I think next go around it would be different.

Also I had a tree stump I stripped, treated and cleaned and wanted to use. It would never have fitted through the openings in an acrylic tank. As it turned out I could never get it to sink anyway!

The uniquariums are good but you have to account for loss of depth in the tank, several inches. The larger the tank the more depth you lose with the included filtration. You almost need to size up to get the actual volume you want.