Acrylic tank… questions before I buy

[wjm6449]

Good luck with the new acrylic tank. Having an acrylic setup myself, you have some pros and cons to look forward to. The main con obviously being that it will scratch easily. The is mainly something to watch out for with magnetic algae scrapers. Keep them out of sight if any young kids are around. I’ve had a guests kid grab it one time and start scraping up and down the side panel with sand stuck in the scraper… .

All that being said, the bright side is they can and should be sanded down and restored. I just refinished mine recently after about 10 years of use (while converting from freshwater to marine). I’ll add the before and after photos for reference.

Love this post. What else should I expect if I build one.

 

[piranhaman00]

Love this post. What else should I expect if I build one.

You can’t build any size tank out or 1/4” material.


I use a magnetic cleaner and am just very careful, too tall to clean by hand at 26”

 

[wjm6449]

You can’t build any size tank out or 1/4” material.


I use a magnetic cleaner and am just very careful, too tall to clean by hand at 26”

Little did you know. Stainless steel you could

 

[jmichaelh7]

You can’t build any size tank out or 1/4” material.


I use a magnetic cleaner and am just very careful, too tall to clean by hand at 26”

Yikes . I don’t trust the magnet cleaners.

Its preference . I have a brand new xl magnet cleaner I’ll give to you . BRS didn’t want it back

 

[rexzilla_03]

Truth, I’m gonna stick to sponges and be mega careful around the sand bed weekly if not multiple times a week, hence the desire to build a 24” tall stand and a 17” tank, I prefer water volume but I want super easy mechanics.
Current tank is on a 21” stand and is 18” tall. Makes life way easy, all our furniture is short so it’s been a thing we do, we sit on the floor and watch the fish lol.

I can reach everything in the tank flat footed no issues, short stands may sound funny but they work pretty good lol. This is going to be sumpless btw, really gonna make the glass reef tank purists mad. Oase biomaster paired with a tunze macro algae fuge. When live stock increased I’ll run to 2 bio masters. Their pre filter system is legit and removed 99% of why canisters have a bad name.

However I have the ability to sump later with a shallow sump on this build if I feel necessary.

 

[piranhaman00]

Yikes . I don’t trust the magnet cleaners.

Its preference . I have a brand new xl magnet cleaner I’ll give to you . BRS didn’t want it back

Mighty magnets, made for acrylic

 

[ca1ore]

I’ve had many dozens of glass tanks …. and most recently two large acrylic tanks. Some cons but far more pros to the latter. I have also used a mighty magnet cleaner without any problems. You just have to be careful.

Curious what glass cages does for an overflow. In my most recent tank, the slots are actually routed into the back of the tank with an external box then welded to the outside. Far better than any aftermarket overflow I have used. It is completely silent, as opposed to just quiet; and there are far less opportunities for leaks.

 

[jft]

I had a 300 gallon acrylic tankyears ago. Scratched very easily. I was constantly using sandpaper to restore it. Hours of intense work and i am NOT an expert on acrylic restoration, waste time IMO. Glass tanks ONLY Now. Good Luck.

 

[kenjung]

Truth, I’m gonna stick to sponges and be mega careful around the sand bed weekly if not multiple times a week, hence the desire to build a 24” tall stand and a 17” tank, I prefer water volume but I want super easy mechanics.
Current tank is on a 21” stand and is 18” tall. Makes life way easy, all our furniture is short so it’s been a thing we do, we sit on the floor and watch the fish lol.

I can reach everything in the tank flat footed no issues, short stands may sound funny but they work pretty good lol. This is going to be sumpless btw, really gonna make the glass reef tank purists mad. Oase biomaster paired with a tunze macro algae fuge. When live stock increased I’ll run to 2 bio masters. Their pre filter system is legit and removed 99% of why canisters have a bad name.

However I have the ability to sump later with a shallow sump on this build if I feel necessary.

I have 8X3X3 acrylic, lesson learn is anytime you put pressure to clean hard algae is when scratch usually appear. The best scraper on the market for acrylic hard coralline algae scraper is Max Flipper with the metal blade. It's counter intuitive but the metal blade make quick work of hard algae it won't scratch. However be careful with the foam feet, there is a chance sand can stick to it and will scratch the acrylic.

 

[piranhaman00]

^^ya probably not. Flippers are known to scratch even glass with ease.

 

[Jubei2006]

I use a mighty magnent on my acrylic tank. Works great, except for the plastic coraline algae scraper. All the scratches on the tank are from that one pad. So now I just use the algae mesh pad and foam pads. Credit card for scraping coraline

 

[lubeck]

Good luck with the new tank. I’m debating doing a 8x5x3 acrylic over glass. Joe will be one of the bids we get.

 

[rexzilla_03]

Good luck with the new tank. I’m debating doing a 8x5x3 acrylic over glass. Joe will be one of the bids we get.

Hey thank you!
That sounds like an incredible tank!

 

[lubeck]

Hey thank you!
That sounds like an incredible tank!

This thread helped so thank you. I used the calculator and it says I would need 1.5” acrylic braced.

be sure to post back on this thread with pics.

 

[wjm6449]

I asked my lfs about me making a tank, he said he felt I was insane for considering it as once you scratch it, if coralline algae gets into the scratch it begins to eat away at the tank and you’ll never get it out. Is this true?

 

[rexzilla_03]

I asked my lfs about me making a tank, he said he felt I was insane for considering it as once you scratch it, if coralline algae gets into the scratch it begins to eat away at the tank and you’ll never get it out. Is this true?

I’ve never heard about coralline eating acrylic, considering I’ve seen acrylic reefs in service over 20 years no drama, use a credit card to scrape it. You won’t wake up one morning with a tank fully covered in it, get after it while it’s forming, part of the maintenance, instead of a razor, you use credit card.

 

[wjm6449]

I’ve never heard about coralline eating acrylic, considering I’ve seen acrylic reefs in service over 20 years no drama, use a credit card to scrape it. You won’t wake up one morning with a tank fully covered in it, get after it while it’s forming, part of the maintenance, instead of a razor, you use credit card.

Yeah. I’m debating how much to trust him. He’s knowledgeable but clearly out for his money when it comes to gear. He was charging 1k for a 125 drilled tank, $10 a pound for dry rock etc.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Yeah. I’m debating how much to trust him. He’s knowledgeable but clearly out for his money when it comes to gear. He was charging 1k for a 125 drilled tank, $10 a pound for dry rock etc.

This thread helped so thank you. I used the calculator and it says I would need 1.5” acrylic braced.

be sure to post back on this thread with pics.

Just wanted to share … I accidentally dropped coral glue residue from the coral on the side. It hardened up so quick I thought I was doomed. See pictures below of what acrylic tanks can do for you with a simple sanding

Glue was hardened

After removing it it was blemished and blurry

Here it is today after polish

 

[rexzilla_03]

Just wanted to share … I accidentally dropped coral glue residue from the coral on the side. It hardened up so quick I thought I was doomed. See pictures below of what acrylic tanks can do for you with a simple sanding

Glue was hardened

After removing it it was blemished and blurry

Here it is today after polish

Damnnn it’s crazy how fast it hardens on acrylic, so awesome you were able to make it new again.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Damnnn it’s crazy how fast it hardens on acrylic, so awesome you were able to make it new again.

It is this one. My heart rate dropped I knew instantly that this Coral glue hardens quick. If you ever use it and it gets on your fingers it’s going to need dove soap and scrubbing.