acrylic or glass...that is the question...

[surfn]

so, i've been researching on buying a new cube (I cracked the oceanic cube when placing it on the new stand I built).

my stand has a footprint for 24x24, so I figure I am just gonna get a tank that is 24x24x18, or 24x24x20.

i had my heart set on glass as always, maybe even starphire. but i can't find too many places that can custom make something like that with both good reputable workmanship AND for a good price. and then theres expensive shipping b/c of the weight.

that, and with my luck of breaking tanks...I figure I just may go acrylic as I'll have alot easier time finding a place to custom make one for a good price, and good quality (possibily even local). Not to mention alot cheaper to ship b/c of the weight. just seems like its gonna be alot less of a hassel to deal with.

for those that have acrylic tanks...any special care needed? i heard they are a pain to clean. is there any special types of acrylic that are clearer than others? do they need to rest on special surface like some sort of foam?

 

[Raptor]

I have always had glass tanks 20+ years worth. I have my first acrylic tank, and i love it. Now it is more work to keep up, and extra care is neede to clean, But if you do it right you'll be much more happy with it.
Doby pad on the mag scraper on the inside, and a cotton diaper on the mag outside the tank so you wont get scratches. A all plastic and rubber squeegie for the tops salt creep and underneath the top frame.
And a plastic scraper for the bottom of the tank near the sand.
I have 2 scratches in my tank, But i was careless, and they are minor.
I have scratched the hell out of glass, and starfire scratches almost as easy as acrylic so dont get your hopes up too much.
They make underwater polishing kits for acrylic so you are not all doomed.
If you cant devote time to keep the walls clean once every week then you should stick with glass. The thing is to keep the coraline from getting bad.
The dobie pad will pull off the coraline without scratching the acrylic.

 

[twon8]

do you have a link to the doby pad?

 

[Raptor]

There every where that sells cleaning supplys, Meijers,target ect. Just look in the cleaning section. It is a sponge encased in a plastic scouring material.
Its tottaly safe for acrylic, and tough. I cut one end and pull the sponge out and pop the magnet in its place. Here it is at the top of the link

http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/scotchbrite/products/scrubbing_cleaning.html

 

[Raptor]

Its also great for glass too.

 

[twon8]

thanks, i'll have to check that out. i pretty much agree that acrylic is better, and drilling it yourself is a breeze compared to glass.

 

[minibowmatt]

Acrylic is far clearer than any glass, even starphire. I love the fact that I could easily drill and customize my acrylic tank. I had glasscages build it to my specs, then I customized the hell out of it. I also find it does take ritual maintenance to keep it clean. I dont trust mag cleaners as they have the chance to pick up sand if they get close to the sandbed. I am working on a round mag cleaner that will minimize the possibility of the cleaner making contact with the sand, that will help if I get it to work right.
Once a week I dive in up to my shoulder and wipe it down with a white "acrylic" scrubber. I keep the outside clean with acrylic polish.
NEVER use windex on acrylic, it can/will fog it....especially if it is extruded acrylic.

 

[AngieN.]

I really like cube tanks, but don't have any experience with acrylic.
There is a local guy here that has an acrylic tank/stand similar to what you are talking about (he also has a larger 4x4 cubish tank from the same supplier). It was also made locally. It is really a nice setup, wish I had the $$ to buy it

http://www.fishheads.org/viewtopic.php?t=13466

 

[Azurel]

I like acrylic much more then glass myself, I built a 45g corner tank with bent corners for my brother in-laws restaurant that I had a service job with for awhile. They do take a little bit more care but in the end the positives out way the negatives. I can carry this tank by myself where as most tanks of certain sizes you need help because of the bulkiness. I had this tank made out of UV resistant Museum grade acrylic. It is the clearest acrylic you can get and will not fog over time due to UV. The place I had the materials from suggested that and that is what they made all of their tanks with. It will be much cheaper if you have somebody cut the acrylic to your specs and you put it together. I saved over $150 by me putting it together and this allowed me to spend the money for bent corners which really looks good cause you don't see any seems in the front. Acrylic has doubled since I have built mine, I was looking at building a 34x34x34 with 3/8-3/4 inch acrylic and I about crapped at the cost of acrylic now at least local anyway. Surf you will be-able to built yours out of 1/4 due to the measurements and as long as you have a brace around the top you will have no issues with bowing. My 45 gallon corner tank is 22'' tall with the front pane of the tank measuring something like 28''w x 22''t and I get no bowing at all. It is built out of 1/4'' acrylic which saved me a bunch of money.....Here are some pics
of it about 3 months of it being installed.

 

[surfn]

wow, didnt know you can't clean acrylic tanks with windex...would a regular surface cleaner work? like 409?

if anyone has a good link to some places that make custom acrylic cubes for something other than insanely expensive prices send me the links so i can start comparing prices etc.

 

[Azurel]

NO it has to be made for acrylic...Blue zoo aquatics has one of the best cleaner polishes I have used yet plus it smells like strawberries. I would look local first in fact I think you could make that cube out of 1 sheet of acrylic. They usually come in 4'x8' sheets, I will call around tomorrow and see what I can get for those pieces cut out of 1/4'' and get a price to give you an idea. If you can get way with it being cut out of 1 sheet then you looking at about $120 for materials only.

 

[surfn]

NO it has to be made for acrylic...Blue zoo aquatics has one of the best cleaner polishes I have used yet plus it smells like strawberries. I would look local first in fact I think you could make that cube out of 1 sheet of acrylic. They usually come in 4'x8' sheets, I will call around tomorrow and see what I can get for those pieces cut out of 1/4'' and get a price to give you an idea. If you can get way with it being cut out of 1 sheet then you looking at about $120 for materials only.

what does a 1/4" piece of acrylic cost compared to a 1/2" piece in a 4'x8' sheet? just curious.

 

[twon8]

you need to use novus products to keep acrylic clean, there are three different cleaners/polishers, i use number 1 the most, never used 3, 2 only twice.

 

[minibowmatt]

I wouldnt try it. Maybe try on some scrap. Just get a good polish, its available at many LFS' and online. I use Novus 1 : http://www.kc-store-fixtures.com/acrylic_polish.htm

 

[twon8]

I wouldnt try it. Maybe try on some scrap. Just get a good polish, its available at many LFS' and online. I use Novus 1 : http://www.kc-store-fixtures.com/acrylic_polish.htm

i recently bought a half gallon of novus 1 on ebay for 8 bucks, great deal, you are welcome to fill up a spray bottle next time you come through.

 

[Azurel]

Well When I wanted to build my 36x36x36 I was going to use 3/4'' or 1/2'' acrylic. For just the sheets they wanted $900+. So I called a few other places and the cheapest was $876 for the sheet of 1/2''. There is an online site I found that will cut any thickness to your specs and ship it to you, this will probably the route I go when I'm ready. For 3/8'' to 3/4'' the online site quoted me about $389 to $450 for the materials.....I send them the sizes I want and they cut it and ship it.....Much, Much cheaper then local....

 

[surfn]

Well When I wanted to build my 36x36x36 I was going to use 3/4'' or 1/2'' acrylic. For just the sheets they wanted $900+. So I called a few other places and the cheapest was $876 for the sheet of 1/2''. There is an online site I found that will cut any thickness to your specs and ship it to you, this will probably the route I go when I'm ready. For 3/8'' to 3/4'' the online site quoted me about $389 to $450 for the materials.....I send them the sizes I want and they cut it and ship it.....Much, Much cheaper then local....

ok, so I asked this local guy who just opened up a saltwater specialty store near my area. he built a 400g and 850g tank for his own system out of acrylic, so I figured I'd ask him to see if he wants some business.

he sent an email this morning with a quote. the tank would be 24x24x20 (or 24x24x18 once I made up my mind). it would probably take 1 full sheet of 3/8" acrylic (not sure how big a full sheet is, or what type of acrylic it is). plus some 1/4" black acrylic for the internal overflow. he would also polish the corners etc, all for around $400. and since he's local he doesn't have to ship it to me.

so here are some questions...should the back wall be done out of 3/8" black acrylic? or is it just cheaper/easier to paint the back wall black?

he offered to do an external overflow, thought that may be cool to do. any suggestions?

about the curved front corners...i dont think he knows how to do those..but will ask. BUT, i was thinking about it...and wouldnt curved front corners be very hard to clean? i mean, you couldn't exactly get the scraper around a curved corner. so you'd be forced to stick your entire hand in there and clean manually with your fingertips. not sure i like the idea of having to stick my hand in it to clean since i'm sure my tank will be packed with sps.

i will also ask him about this UV resistant Museum grade acrylic. i asked him if there were different clarities of acrylic, and he said he didnt think so.

any other suggestions?

 

[surfn]

I don't know if I would go with the curved corners, I would be affraid it would cause the acrylic to prematurely craze. I would go with the black acrylic, vs painting. I'm not sure if there is special acrylic paint, but you have to be careful of what you put on it to avoid clouding and crazing. The external overflows are cool, unless you want your tank right up against a wall...

what do you mean by craze?

i'm not sure where i would put the tank yet. i originally was going to stick it in a corner of a room (caddy cornered), which means having an external overflow wouldn't matter. but then i figured i may want it next to my chair, which would mean i would need it flush with the wall.

decisions...decisions...lol

 

[minibowmatt]

I have curved corners on my 50G inwall. because I went in wall, I actually have the tank backwards in the wall. I painted the back with Rust-oleum black paint for plastic. No problems there. the curved corners will only craze if the tank is made from extruded acrylic, and even then, it may take many years. If he is using good cell cast acrylic it should be fine. If your doing acrylic, why not go with an external overflow? I have pics of mine, but their arent loaded online yet.
Basically just route a slot at the top of the tank, and build the box on the outside and attach it with weldon. I will upload some pics if ya want..

 

[Azurel]

Crazing usually happens when the acrylic used is not the proper thickness and the water pressure will put to much stress on the acrylic. I had mine up for 2 years and had no crazing at all. It is also a combination of things too that will cause it a large open panel with no support and begins to bow will cause it to happen also, SO I made a top brace(euro) for mine and because it has bent corners and is not very tall compared to width along with the bent corners there is no bowing what so ever.....I used a acrylic pad made by some company i can't remember that was made for corners so it wasn't a big deal at all. One of the things I liked about the bent corners is that the whole front and side panels were one piece it make for a very top quality look to it, very clean. I know the thicker you go the harder it is to bend the corners properly, the place I used charged me $50 a corner because they had to spend like 2hrs each corner because they heated up the acrylic very slowly so it would keep it clarity and strength.... Coralnuts is right thought I forgot to mention crazing, but it is possible even with seamed tanks one of the draw backs of acrylic.....Either way I think you will be very happy with it as long as you take care and remember to not get sand in the scraper(acrylic specific). Of course there is always a chance of getting a scratch in any tank....