At what point is acrylic 'better' than glass?

[BigKid4788]

So for all you acrylic people out there, who makes the best acrylic tanks? I was looking at one brand but after reading reviews of the acrylic being very thing and flexing it turned me away from the company.

I have an acrylic tank made by Titan. They do not sell direct but I’m sure they can direct you to someone. They provided my tank,sump and fiberglass stand. No regrets after 2 years

 

[Aardvark1134]

Some good places for acrylic tanks are Midwest custom, tsunami (fish tanks direct) , truvue (truvue has sucky stands )

 

[2Wheelsonly]

My tank is a truvu, no complaints and the price was more than fair too.

 

[NHgoalstop]

Some good places for acrylic tanks are Midwest custom, tsunami (fish tanks direct) , truvue (truvue has sucky stands )

Truevu are the ones that a few reviews said were very thing and had a lot of bow in them.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

I'd love to try a plywood but dang that scares me.

I agree, some of the build threads and videos I see of my most memorable tanks are the plywood ones...just amazing but I just don't trust the long term capabilities of those coatings. I have an industrial sized water fountain built into my outdoor perimeter wall near my pool and went all out coating it. Every three years it needs to be redone and I use the same stuff that goes in these tanks. Not sure if they difference is outdoor vs indoor but I just don't see it lasting for the long haul with salt water.

Corals take so long to grow, I need at LEAST 10 years out of my tanks.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

Truevu are the ones that a few reviews said were very thing and had a lot of bow in them.

My truvu is in-wall and my biggest concern was bowing; I wanted a unique tiled frame around the tank and knew that the slightest bow would create problems with the framing. After 4 years I don't have a noticeable bow to the front viewing pain but my top bracing across the top of the tank bows upwards. I don't care because it's in-wall and I don't see the top but if it was exposed on a stand it might be something that would annoy me. I can only notice when i'm on a ladder working in the tank from above.

 

[Roachbeef19]

So for all you acrylic people out there, who makes the best acrylic tanks? I was looking at one brand but after reading reviews of the acrylic being very thing and flexing it turned me away from the company.

I went with american aquariums. Tank is being built as we speak. Saw a tank they did and it was beautiful. Adam is awesome to deal with. Great guy and answered all my questions

 

[WisconsinReefing]

I would never ,, ever ,, buy a acrylic tank ,,, other than the weight issue ,, there is no upside to buying one ,, I won't go into all the down side reasons ,, that we all know , not to buy one ,, I will just give one reason ,,

I have a friend that bought one ,, a 300 to 400 gallon acrylic tank ,, made by a top of the line tank maker ,, this was a really nice tank ,, he paid good money for it ,, he had a change in his job where he was going to have to move and sell the tank ,,

He pretty much couldn't give this tank away ,, the price was eventually marked down to less than 1/4 of what the tank cost new ,, and 3 years later ,, he still had the tank ,, and may still have it to this day ,,, I have never asked him ,,

It’s night like glass tanks appreciate in value lol. The used market for most any tank is significantly less than purchase price, as it should be

 

[Aardvark1134]

The secret to less bowing on any acrylic tank is upsize to 1 thicker size than is needed. If you get the thinnest that is safe yes it bows on big tanks. If you upsize 1 extra thickness very little bow

 

[2Wheelsonly]

It’s night like glass tanks appreciate in value lol. The used market for most any tank is significantly less than purchase price, as it should be

Glad i'm not the only one who felt this way. I am sure a tank can be sold but it isn't a quick process. I had a miracles starphire 150G tank in my old house. It was gorgeous and well made, not cheap. I listed it on eBay and craigslist. No bites in 30 days, dropped the craigslist price down to $200 and not a single hit. I ended up giving it away to the first person that would pick it up as I needed to get it out for the move.

 

[hart24601]

I would be temped to use acrylic if a FW build at 300g or more, but for a reef, I don't think I would consider one. It was pretty telling to me, locally a lot of reefers bought acrylic maybe 15 years go, it was a huge trend. Not a single person I spoke with of that era was happy with the tanks. Every single one of them, 6-10 people, hated their choice of getting acrylic. That was about 6 years ago. Now I don't think a single one of those tanks is still running, they have been sold off for FW tanks.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I'd love to try a plywood but dang that scares me.

I would love to try that on a large scale....but have no space currently.

 

[daftwazzock]

There’s no question glass is more common for modestly sized tanks. I do wonder how many of the folks that trudge out the typical cons have actually owned and operated an acrylic tank. There are advantages and disadvantages, most are well covered in the many threads here at R2R on the topic. For me personally, the advantages of acrylic trump glass at the very large sizes (300 and above). Also depends a bit if you’re buying or building. If I were building a very large tank I’d go plywood with a glass panel.

Gotcha, this is what I was thinking but was looking for someone with more experience to confirm it. It would be a really, really big tank. I just got a bluespot watchman goby and he's only 4 or 5 inches long but it looks huge in my 75 gallon display, so I'm already looking to make a big upgrade when I move house. Think I will get in touch with a good LFS to help out.

resale value doesn’t even make the cut as far as my personal pros and cons. I assume every tank I buy is a total loss if it doesn’t work out. I am 4 years in on my current and first acrylic tank. I have always gone with low iron glass, I miss my crisp sharp photos and would say that’s my biggest downside. I heard that acrylic is more clear but I find that to be the opposite. There is something about the material that slightly washes out the colors.

I went away from glass due to weight and fear of seams bursting on a larger tank (96x30x24). I want something that’s going to last 10+ years min.

having scratched my old glass tank I was worried about scratches. Got a huge one the first year and was able to sand it out; I feel the whole scratch thing is blown out of proportion. The mighty magnet in tank sanding kit works very well and I don’t have issues. I do have to be careful cleaning the tank but it’s not that hard with the right magnets (mighty magnet with mesh bag). Even though I can sand scratches, I don’t want to be doing it all that often.

All in all, I wouldn’t have any issues going acrylic again esp since if I do get another tank it will be 1500G minimum.

That's around the size range I thinking of planning for too. And if the mighty magnet is too much trouble, you can always rent that acrylic polishing drone ;Hilarious

 

[Aardvark1134]

In my life I have had like 20 tanks. Never had a used one and not sure I ever will. Even if it were free if it had something wrong I would have like 20k in damages to my house and I would have to hire movers just to get the thing

 

[hllb]

I would be temped to use acrylic if a FW build at 300g or more, but for a reef, I don't think I would consider one. It was pretty telling to me, locally a lot of reefers bought acrylic maybe 15 years go, it was a huge trend. Not a single person I spoke with of that era was happy with the tanks. Every single one of them, 6-10 people, hated their choice of getting acrylic. That was about 6 years ago. Now I don't think a single one of those tanks is still running, they have been sold off for FW tanks.

Curious what their reasons are. I bought acrylic 15+ years ago. Had the tanks up maybe 6 years before exiting the hobby when I had two small kids. Still loved them (and sold my tanks at decent prices) at the end.

 

[albano]

There’s no question glass is more common for modestly sized tanks. I do wonder how many of the folks that trudge out the typical cons have actually owned and operated an acrylic tank. There are advantages and disadvantages, most are well covered in the many threads here at R2R on the topic. For me personally, the advantages of acrylic trump glass at the very large sizes (300 and above).

+1... have had acrylic tanks since ‘91... still have 3x 120g acrylic tanks over 20 years old (didn’t ‘yellow’) and can look like new...’nicest’ thing that I can say, is that: anyone that buys a large glass tank, deserves it!

 

[Reefer Reboot]

All arguments here have validity to them, both pros and cons. So instead, let's talk remedy. If you go with acrylic and get a scratch there is no need for a hours long work out to buff it out. Just work smarter, not harder. Magnetic scraper, melamine foam (Magic Eraser), a little bit of velcro strips to hold in place, a routed out block and a drill. Quick and easy.

Edit, should have added that there are products on the market that you could put in place of the melamine foam for buffing out larger scratches. You can do it without emptying the tank.

 

[Aardvark1134]

You could not pay me enough to put a MarineLand deep demision glass tank in my living room. I know 3 people who had one explode

 

[NHgoalstop]

All arguments here have validity to them, both pros and cons. So instead, let's talk remedy. If you go with acrylic and get a scratch there is no need for a hours long work out to buff it out. Just work smarter, not harder. Magnetic scraper, melamine foam (Magic Eraser), a little bit of velcro strips to hold in place, a routed out block and a drill. Quick and easy.

Edit, should have added that there are products on the market that you could put in place of the melamine foam for buffing out larger scratches. You can do it without emptying the tank.

That's glorious.

 

[Rjramos]

A good sign of a reef tank doing well goes hand in hand with encrusting corraline algae growth everywhere. Magnet glass cleaners and plastic scrapers are not very effective at removing corraline, only a metal blade type scraper is. For this reason alone, I started with acrylic in 1995, and have never had another one.