Glass or acrylic which is better?
- Thread starter Shadow1
- Start date
- Tagged users None
427HISS
2500 Club Member
First of all, you lucky SOB ! lol
Must be nice to be able to choose such larger aquariums.
I prefer glass as acrylic scratch's easily, but light in weight. Glass is very heavy but if weight is not,....a problem, get the glass.
Must be nice to be able to choose such larger aquariums.
I prefer glass as acrylic scratch's easily, but light in weight. Glass is very heavy but if weight is not,....a problem, get the glass.
I prefer Starfire Glass, if of course you have that choice. Glass won't scratch as easliy, and with that you won't have to buff out all the scratches in 10 years time. If the tank is going to be on the first level of a house then you have nothing to worry about with weight.
427HISS
2500 Club Member
Be very careful either way with the tanks on the main floor, as 300-330 gallons of water is pretty heavy even if you choose acrylic. If you get glass and have a basement, be smart and get some pole jacks to support the weight. Depending on the salinity, one gallon can weigh around 8.5 lbs. and add in the weight of the tank, sump (with water) and all equipment, even if the tank is acrylic.
I have no idea how much a acrylic or glass tank weighs, so below add in the tank weight.
300 gallons of saltwater apx. 2,550lbs.
Stand apx. 100 lbs (+)
Rock (if you'll be using I assume) at least 300 lbs. (if 1 pound per gallon)
Corals, fish, (sand weighs a lot) apx. 300 lbs (+)
75 gallon sump apx. 75 lbs. Plus 60 lbs. of seawater apx. 510 lbs/
Misc. equipment (plumbing, pumps,skimmer etc) 50 lbs. ect......
You can have over 3,645 lbs of weight, without the tank..... (+)
Now, all of us could have a pow-wow all day about the total weight, but lets keep this light and not take over this thread arguing about it.
My intension is just to say, that a 300 g. tank when all said & done, is going to weigh a crap load, so don't dismiss this, even if it's a acrylic tank and sump !
My 200g fish only tank was in the living room and I bought 4 of these pole jacks and used 2- 4"x4" wood beams to spread the load across the floor joists in the basement. Worked great with no deflection.
I don't want to scare you away from such a great tank size because of the total weight, but you have to support such a load. If in doubt, call a engineer or
qualified builder for advise.
Tiger Brand Super "S" 8 ft. 4 in. Jack Post-J-S-100 at The Home Depot
Kevin
I have no idea how much a acrylic or glass tank weighs, so below add in the tank weight.
300 gallons of saltwater apx. 2,550lbs.
Stand apx. 100 lbs (+)
Rock (if you'll be using I assume) at least 300 lbs. (if 1 pound per gallon)
Corals, fish, (sand weighs a lot) apx. 300 lbs (+)
75 gallon sump apx. 75 lbs. Plus 60 lbs. of seawater apx. 510 lbs/
Misc. equipment (plumbing, pumps,skimmer etc) 50 lbs. ect......
You can have over 3,645 lbs of weight, without the tank..... (+)
Now, all of us could have a pow-wow all day about the total weight, but lets keep this light and not take over this thread arguing about it.
My intension is just to say, that a 300 g. tank when all said & done, is going to weigh a crap load, so don't dismiss this, even if it's a acrylic tank and sump !
My 200g fish only tank was in the living room and I bought 4 of these pole jacks and used 2- 4"x4" wood beams to spread the load across the floor joists in the basement. Worked great with no deflection.
I don't want to scare you away from such a great tank size because of the total weight, but you have to support such a load. If in doubt, call a engineer or
qualified builder for advise.
Tiger Brand Super "S" 8 ft. 4 in. Jack Post-J-S-100 at The Home Depot
Kevin
Last edited:
