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.