Glass vs acrylic tanks

[backpack]

You cant use a mag cleaner with acrylic unless you want scratches. I use a cleaning pad for acrylic and a ment for laying down vinyl signs. But my favorite tank would be a swimming pool. Because a pool just isn't cool without a reef in it.

 

[EW_Fish]

Krystal Klear glass is by far the best glass for viewing corals..

 

[larangcon]

I used to have an acrylic tank; no matter how careful I am, there are always scratches. Glass all the way baby....

 

[ETORRES477]

I am a glass man myself, standard glass at that. I used to go to a LFS that had 2 120's side by side, one Starphire the other standard, my eye never really picked up on the higher clarity of Starphire, the only difference I saw was the slightly greener tint with regular glass. I would go and stare at the 2 tanks at least once a day when I was deciding on what kind of tank to purchase lol. With that said, I prefer the higher durabilaty of standard glass.

 

[vlangel]

Glass, hands down!

 

[tigerdragon]

For me i have both. 180 acrylic and a 90 glass. Although glass may be clearer have no problem with acrylic. I have built tanks out of glass for me in glass anything over 100 gal had better be 5/8" thick or thicker. Glass will also bow on bigger tanks esp if not braced through center sections. Simple physics. I have looked at euro bracing still no bracing in center front to back to prevent the eventual bow. The ability to move your tank around by yourself is a plus esp when doing a build.

 

[Bjaeger7]

Acrylic for some reason seems clearer and is lighter, but it sure scratches easily...

 

[Eienna]

I'm beginning to hate acrylic. If they go out, they can downright explode.

 

[ifarmer]

I think you should go with acryllic.
Glass is heavy but chance are it's something that will not want to move around alot . With glass, it's clear and you do not have to worry much about scratching
For the sump, I always vote for acryllic

 

[Spiderguardnano]

def low iron glass

 

[berbotty]

I love my 150 acrylic - I use mr clean originals to get rid of the toughest coraline

 

[Newmariner]

LOL ask in a few years. Im setting up a 478g acrylic tank. I went with acrylic due to weight, and for the fact is I don't trust silicone to hold the seams together in this big of a tank. Acrylic's seams are chemically bonded. Meaning they are less likely to fail. As for the clearness, Ive never had a tank with the clarity of this tank. I had a 180g Oceanic tank that had a nice green tint. It really didn't bother me, but comparing that tank to this tank is night and day.

 

[zibba]

Having both a low-iron glass and an acrylic tank set up currently, I'll never do acrylic again unless it's a strange custom build that would make the price more than 1.5x the cost to do it in glass.

For the 0.75/1.25" acrylic tank, I use a algae free magnet cleaner (the "Great White") with a dress sock over the outside magnet and a thinly sliced "Magic Eraser" sponge over the inside -- works great but isn't as convenient as a cheap magnet cleaner + razor blade on the glass tank.

 

[danangelo]

Glass Dt and acrylic sump for me..

 

[mgdmirage]

Starphire, love glass until it gets a scratch and you can never get rid of it :(

 

[Reefing Madness]

Starphire, love glass until it gets a scratch and you can never get rid of it :(

Sure you can. But its just like acrylic at that point, ya gotta break down the tank to get that scratch out, if its on the inside that is.

 

[RedReefer]

Glass only for me.

 

[Kbdeprima]

I like how the acrylic tank looks on my freshwater tanks. Haven't tried it yet with saltwater.

 

[reefer Ard]

I am on the fence on this topic. I like the weight of acyrlic but the look of a glass tank. Personally I would only do glass but after helping move 200 gallon glass tank and a 200 gallon acrylic tank, I do prefer the weight of the acrylic.

 

[labas39]

Acrylic for fish only and glass for a reef. It gets too hard to clean the calcareous algae off the front of an acrylic tank without scratching the heck out of it.