Large Tank 300-400 gallons - Acrylic??? Glass???

[tanglovers]

Hi All,

I have kept and maintained large saltwater reef aquariums in the past and currently. My current setup is a 220 gallon display with total water volume around 350 gallons.

My wife and I are considering doing a large freshwater setup in addition to our reef. The setup will be mainly built to house a pair of stingrays (motoros or leos). We will be considering other fish for the system, maybe an arrowana (unsure want to risk rays).

I have always been terrified of acylic tanks due to the ease of scratching and as a result have only kept glass tanks.

What are your guys opinions? I am talking purely from the sense of ease of maintenance with freshwater. The weight factor of the empty tank I am not concerned about at all (and yes I know how much a glass tank of this size will weigh). I imagine your freshwater tanks like these do not have the algae growth that my reef system gets since my reef has 1500w watts of light above it but want opinions.

Thanks!

 

[crowconor]

its not to bad if you keep up with water changes with ray i would say one every two to three days

 

[Noto]

I have a 300 gallon acrylic, and I wish it were glass. In my experience it is easier to scratch a big tank, since you're inclined to move more hastily when cleaning, and much of the area is at the very limits of your reach. You also have to consider the tank inhabitants; big fish are more likely to push decor around, which could be another source of scratching.

As far as algae goes, it just depends. I'm guessing you won't be keeping any plants with your rays. This allows you to use low lighting. You may still see some algae, but nothing severe.

 

[tanglovers]

No live plants. I am planning on just doing flourescent lighting. Do you guys use normal output T12 type bulbs (shop lights) or HO T5 type lighting? The tank will be built in wall like my other setup so it has to be functional and reliable not pretty.

 

[Noto]

With no plants, I suggest normal output T12 or T8 fluoros. The fish don't care too much so long as there's enough light to see by, and buying expensive HO lights will only encourage algae. T8s are slightly more efficient, and you can jam more of them into the space available if you feel like you need more light.

One problem with an off-the-shelf shoplight is that the reflectors are designed to broadcast the light to either side, rather than aim it at the floor of the tank only. You can modify the reflectors yourself easily enough; just fiddle with them until the lights only illuminate the tank's footprint.

The other issue with shoplights is that the contact pins and other easily-corroded bits are not protected from moisture. Be sure to take that into account.