Glass or Acrylic?

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ragin_cajun

ragin_cajun

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if a person were considering a 10 foot tank, should he get glass or acrylic? With a big tank like that, what's the pro's and con's? Would glass be cheaper? Would Acrylic be less likely to bust? Does scratching matter with Freshwater tanks--won't be scraping any marine crusty rock stuff off the glass. Weight doesn't matter since a tank that big will be on the ground floor anyway. What about thickness of material. I saw a big marine tank, and the acrylic was so thick, you could really only see what is directly in front of the eye. Look through the acrylic at the slightest angle, and the thickness of the material distorted light too much to see what's in the tank. That happen with glass?
 
I have never seen what you described in any tank unless it was a bowfront, or something bent. Just how big of a tank are you looking at getting? There are pros and cons to both. If you are ordering a new tank, and it will be over 4 ft wide, you can get starfire glass that will make it nearly as clear as acrylic. Much under that it won't serve much purpose. Weight is a big reason for acrylic, but you said that doesn't matter. Glass is hard to scratch but if it does you can't repair it.
 
I won't be able to help that much but glass would definitely be cheaper than acrylic and harder to scratch, but acrylic would also be lighter and holds heat better if its gonna be heated. I've also never encountered what you mentioned about not being able to see from certain angles except with bowfronts or wavefronts. Even the extremely large aquariums at public aquariums with 3"-5" viewing panels, I've been able to see fine from all angles.
FYI, he should still be a little concerned about weight because just because it is on the ground floor, it doesn't mean it will be able to support that much weight. This is why some people reinforce the floor with concrete.


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I have an empty wall 12 feet wide in the "dining area" just off my kitchen. I can fit a 120x36x30 (LxWxH) easily.
 
if you can afford, fully tempered glass panes. but that going to cost yu.
 
ragin_cajun said:
if a person were considering a 10 foot tank, should he get glass or acrylic? With a big tank like that, what's the pro's and con's? Would glass be cheaper? Would Acrylic be less likely to bust? Does scratching matter with Freshwater tanks--won't be scraping any marine crusty rock stuff off the glass. Weight doesn't matter since a tank that big will be on the ground floor anyway. What about thickness of material. I saw a big marine tank, and the acrylic was so thick, you could really only see what is directly in front of the eye. Look through the acrylic at the slightest angle, and the thickness of the material distorted light too much to see what's in the tank. That happen with glass?
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As most have already said their are pro's and con's to both also as most have said I haven't ever seen acrylic thickness interfere with the ability to view into a tank. The following is my understanding of acrylic versus glass in response to your questions.

Would glass be cheaper? Yes in general it's cheaper to buy a glass aquariums.

Would acrylic be less likely to bust? In terms of impact yes acrylic is harder to shatter bust then glass.

Does scratching matter with Freshwater tanks? Yes there are a variety of things that can scratch your glass and acrylic even in freshwater(sand substrate, rocks decorations, algae scrubbers, etc..) Acrylic is pretty prone to scratching if you aren't careful but both glass and acrylic can be buffed to remove scratches, the process for acrylic is generally more effective at removing them and easier to do. Another side note I haven't seen it myself but I believe some have stated that large plecos have been known to chew on acrylic.

What about thickness of the material? In general acrylic does not need to be as thick as glass to support the same volume of water.

Hope that helps.
 
I hear about Pleco's damaging acrylic. But it always was "this guy I know". Might not be true. I did have a pleco damage a cord to a powerhead I think. No way to be sure. I know it wasn't my cat cause it was too far underwater.
 
castro1212 said:
I have heard of plecos sucking on acrylic too.


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rodger said:
I hear about Pleco's damaging acrylic. But it always was "this guy I know". Might not be true. I did have a pleco damage a cord to a powerhead I think. No way to be sure. I know it wasn't my cat cause it was too far underwater.
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Definitely one of those statements that kind of just floats around without anyone really focusing on it or showing any proof. Still I figured it was worth mentioning as even if it's not true I still imagine large plecos(Royals for example) could do a serious job of scratching the acrylic just doing their whole sucking on the tank thing. Interestingly enough when ever I heard the rumor I think it was in the stingray section when stingray owners listed some complaints about cohabing Rays with Plecos. I just attributed them mentioning it due to Ray owners often having large acrylic setups and hence saw the effects first hand when others may have not but I'm assuming so I definitely wouldn't state it as an absolute since I haven't experienced it myself.
 
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