Acrylic Vs. Glass

dustin_ole

dustin_ole

New Member
I know that this post could cause an uproar (or maybe not) but I'm trying to decide between an acrylic and a glass aquarium. The guy at the local store knocked acrylic because it clouds after years of use and scratches easy. Any comments?
 
airforceb2

airforceb2

Active Member
You will find feuds all over this forum knocking both of them. Each has its benefits. Glass doesn't scratch easily but is very heavy and the seams leak over time as the silicone sealant deteriorates. Acrilic scratches easily but is lightweight and has no seams. You can buff the acrilic tanks if the scratches are shallow. As for them being cloudy, a lot of people on here will show you their acrilic tanks and they are crystal clear.
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
Acrylic = clearest viewing quality, scratches like nothing else
glass = slightly less clear view, difficult to scratch
I prefer glass 100%
 
slick

slick

Active Member
Acrylic does scratch very easily. I had a 240 acrylic and was very carefull and there were still scratches inside it. So IMO I like glass better. And yes any scratches no matter how small are visibly distracting.
 
S

skysmom

Guest
My 2.5 gal nano is acrylic. I like it, because it is lightweight, and it is clearer, but like everyone else has said, it scratches EASY. I barely bumped it with my ring the otherday when I was wiping down the outside and it scratched, right in front, right where you look. It's distracting, but then again, that's the price you pay.
It's all a matter of your own wants, I suppose.
 
fuax

fuax

Member
I agree with Mud
glass = a lil less clear and heavy as all get out if you move, hard to scratch
acrylic = best clarity scratches like crazy (but scratches can be removed with significant effort) the only draw back is the larger the tank is the more the price sky rockets
Glass imo
 
airforceb2

airforceb2

Active Member
They scratch just as easy inside or out. The benefit of the scratch being on the outside is that you can buff it out pretty easily. As long as you take extreme caution setting up your LR and clean off your magnet each time before you clean your sides...you will be fine.
 
ktsdad

ktsdad

Member
I have 3 acrylic tanks and I assure you I will never buy another!
Yes they look AWESOME with the clearity, they are lightweight and easy to drill for CL and other systems.
I have alot of scratches from general cleaning and I am tired of constantly having to worry about every little thing I do around these tanks!
We are getting ready to upgrade to a 225 and I we are really leaning toward glass. They have the new starfire (name??) glass that is supposed to be 12x clearer than regular glass. I think we will be going with the new glass (front panel only) when we upgrade!
Just our opinion! :D :D
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
ive got a 100g glass tank..... it still scratches but mainly only when im moving my rock around and i bump the sides or something.... its never leaked on me.... claritys pretty good .... but it is the heaviest thing in the world lol... i had to move it one time for new carpet and that was before i made it a reef tank it was the heaviest thing we had to roll it on 1" pvc piping to get it anywhere....
 
msd2

msd2

Active Member
lol this topic has been beat to death, a search will probably give you more info than you ever want. I have ran both glass and acrlyic, what ppl said is true in my experience, overall. Except in two areas acrlyic is easy to buff out the scratches inside and out, and acrlyic is considerably stronger than glass. My preference is for acrylic for the display tank. For a sump/fuge not even a question in my mind its far superior to glass for its ablity to be drilled, glued and modified easily.
Just like everything else everything has pro's n con's and you need to weigh whats most important to you.
 
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