Glass or acrylic for 245 build

fishnerd1 · Mar 5, 2011

Need your opinion/experience with starfire glass vs acrylic tanks. Looking to have a 72x30x26 built not sure which way to go. I understand the pros of acrylic with the big con of scratching. I've searched the threads and see multiple references to starfire glass being very easy to scratch - maybe not as easy as acrylic but the gap between them seems small and glass can't be buffed out like acrylic. The big negatives with glass are weight, which IMO doesn't matter after the tank is in place, and loosing the seal/leaks.

What's been your experience with large tanks made of glass and acrylic?

How easy/hard is it to remove scratches inside and out on acrylic. I know glass is not possible but generally much easier to avoid.

skinz78 · Mar 5, 2011

I would always go with the glass, I look at acrylic and it scratches.

Troylee · Mar 5, 2011

Buy a micro mesh kit and a acrylic tank will last for ever..." granted it's built by reputable builder" it should come with a life time warranty... Glass is nice also it's more just preference than anything... This thread could go on for ever...
The trend I have seen is glass for anything under 300 and acrylic for anything over 300gal...

Monroereef · Mar 5, 2011

I have been researching the tank for a few months now. I heard so many bad things about glasscages.com so did not want to go with them.
I did order a custom tank (glass). I think acrylic for a DT is a risk. Scratches easily. I have friends who said the fish can scratch it easily.
I went with starfire 3 sides.

LMK if you are looking for custom stuff. I can hook you up. They ship all over US I think.

Sunny

Troylee · Mar 5, 2011

Fish scratch it????? Maybe a urchin but not fish that I know of... I have owned acrylic my whole life..

Monroereef · Mar 5, 2011

A niger trigger took a swipe at it believe it or not.

fishnerd1 · Mar 5, 2011

Right now I'm leaning toward GLA with starfire face for in wall install. I like the extra clarity of starfire but the sensitivity to scratching is a concern. I agree with the quality acrylic never leaking, this is a big advantage over glass. Looking for actual honest experience with both acrylic and starfire tanks to help clarify what's real. Cost is not that much different now, yes acrylic is more but the gap is much smaller than it was a few years ago.

mdb_talon · Mar 5, 2011

Only way i would go is acrylic. At least in my experience with glass tanks it is too high of a chance of seal blowout. i had about 30 tanks when i bred cichlids and over about 15 years had 3 glass tanks have major leaks. Was not a huge deal they were in basement and minimal livestock loss. In a large reef tank like that with thousands in livestock i would not risk it on a large tank. Never had a scratch in my acrylic that i could not remove fairly easily

fishnerd1 · Mar 5, 2011

"Never had a scratch in my acrylic that i could not remove fairly easily."

How'd you remove the scratches. It seems like a time consuming problem and really hard on the inside. My biggest concerns with acrylic are large scratches with rock inside and surface scratches on the outside.

mdb_talon · Mar 5, 2011

i have a set of polishing pads of various grit. Only rarely do i ever need anything but finest pad though. You have to leave room just like an algae scraper between glass and coral. As for rocks other than when first putting them in the tank i have no worry. If they fall against the side after tank is set up i would rather have them hitting acrylic than glass....

i do have glass reef tanks also but any new ones i get are always acrylic.

fishnerd1 said:
"Never had a scratch in my acrylic that i could not remove fairly easily."

How'd you remove the scratches. It seems like a time consuming problem and really hard on the inside. My biggest concerns with acrylic are large scratches with rock inside and surface scratches on the outside.

nixer · Mar 6, 2011

Troylee said:
Fish scratch it????? Maybe a urchin but not fish that I know of... I have owned acrylic my whole life..

puffers

rkaires · Mar 6, 2011

Having owned both low iron glass and acrylic I prefer acrylic. I have a 60 x 24 x 24 euro braced built out of 1" acrylic. I use mighty magnets to clean and have not scratched it in the 9 months it's been up. Scratches are relatively easy to remove. My low iron tank on the other hand has a scratch in the front pane and there's nothing I can do to remove it.

hawkfishman · Mar 10, 2011

when you go to seaworld or say the denver zoo, you will not see 1 glass tank ? Acrylic RULES! so easy to buff out, but if your careful you'll never scratch it in the first place.