Maximum glass tank

[ReeferBean]

Keep in mind 6 strong guys can bring a 400 gallon acrylic though a standard door without much trouble. If you try that with a glass tank wow is that sucker going to be heavy. But buy the type you want as both are a lot of money and it will be your tank.

6 of us carried my 300 AGE 3/4" tank with steel bracing, with only four of us lifting it through the door way. We about died.

 

[Aardvark1134]

I use a mag float acrylic version but I don't have sand. If you have sand you will want to make sure its not magnetic before getting a mag float near it. You can really use anything that is marked as acrylic safe. They even make the razor blade style with plastic blades.

 

[Aardvark1134]

Just for moving advise I looked up a 400 gallon acrylic and a 400 glass for weight comparison. The sample acrylic is 482 lbs and the sample glass one is 886 lbs. Weight will vary by brand and thickness.

 

[EmptyWallet]

I recently moved house and went from an 8x2x2 glass to a 6x3x2 acrylic tank. Ignoring weight and clarity advantages, my heaters turn on half as much due to the superior 'thermal insulation' properties of acrylic (I keep in cold rooms ~ 10 Celsius when I'm away). BUT I struggle to clean the algae off the front. My Flipper Max with acrylic blade is practically useless, I have to go up/down/side to side, round and round just to get the brown algae from each spot. It generally leaves 'tyre tracks' between clean and brown based on the teeth design of the blades - it's a bl**dy good workout, 30 minutes easy to wipe 1 week old brown algae off 6ft. Some spots are more than 2 weeks old and I have to write them off - they simply can't be cleaned. I just got in some Magic Eraser which I hope makes it easy. Back in the Glass Tank days the algae had no chance against the steel blades and an 8ft panel took less than 1 minute.

 

[Duane Fagan]

I recently moved house and went from an 8x2x2 glass to a 6x3x2 acrylic tank. Ignoring weight and clarity advantages, my heaters turn on half as much due to the superior 'thermal insulation' properties of acrylic (I keep in cold rooms ~ 10 Celsius when I'm away). BUT I struggle to clean the algae off the front. My Flipper Max with acrylic blade is practically useless, I have to go up/down/side to side, round and round just to get the brown algae from each spot. It generally leaves 'tyre tracks' between clean and brown based on the teeth design of the blades - it's a bl**dy good workout, 30 minutes easy to wipe 1 week old brown algae off 6ft. Some spots are more than 2 weeks old and I have to write them off - they simply can't be cleaned. I just got in some Magic Eraser which I hope makes it easy. Back in the Glass Tank days the algae had no chance against the steel blades and an 8ft panel took less than 1 minute.

So do you regret acrylic?

 

[EmptyWallet]

At this stage, absolutely! BUT acrylic aquariums are very common and other people don't seem to have the same problem I do. Not being able to clean algae off the front panel is a show stopper for me - that can't be a common problem. I 'googled' and found Magic Erasers (original type) are generally what people use. Some just arrived by post so I'm hoping this will solve all my issues. It's a second hand Acrylic Tank too - perhaps existing scratches \ micro defects are helping the algae stick which you wouldn't have with a new tank. Apart from ease of cleaning the front pane, IMO Acrylic is heaps better! The Clarity comment might be unfair too as I'm talking in contrast to normal glass (green tinge) not starfire which is much better than standard glass

 

[Duane Fagan]

At this stage, absolutely! BUT acrylic aquariums are very common and other people don't seem to have the same problem I do. Not being able to clean algae off the front panel is a show stopper for me - that can't be a common problem. I 'googled' and found Magic Erasers (original type) are generally what people use. Some just arrived by post so I'm hoping this will solve all my issues. It's a second hand Acrylic Tank too - perhaps existing scratches \ micro defects are helping the algae stick which you wouldn't have with a new tank. Apart from ease of cleaning the front pane, IMO Acrylic is heaps better! The Clarity comment might be unfair too as I'm talking in contrast to normal glass (green tinge) not starfire which is much better than standard glass

I've also read posts of people using the eraser.... Good luck....
I'm with you the thought of not cleaning the panel sucks plus the anxiety of scratching it [emoji22] [emoji22] [emoji22] [emoji22] [emoji22] [emoji22]

 

[joseserrano]

You can get a tank as big as you want. It will just be crazy expensive. My buddy got a quote on a 10x 3x3 curved tank. Curved glass in 1 piece. I believe he was quoted around a 100k

 

[EmptyWallet]

I've also read posts of people using the eraser.... Good luck....
I'm with you the thought of not cleaning the panel sucks plus the anxiety of scratching it [emoji22] [emoji22] [emoji22] [emoji22] [emoji22] [emoji22]

Watch a youtube or 2 of a glass tank exploding and that will make you anxious too

 

[Duane Fagan]

You can get a tank as big as you want. It will just be crazy expensive. My buddy got a quote on a 10x 3x3 curved tank. Curved glass in 1 piece. I believe he was quoted around a 100k

I know it will be expensive but your buddy is being robbed for a 12x4x4 is between 35-55 depending on who makes it

 

[Duane Fagan]

Watch a youtube or 2 of a glass tank exploding and that will make you anxious too

[emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23] You got me there

 

[joseserrano]

I know it will be expensive but your buddy is being robbed for a 12x4x4 is between 35-55 depending on who makes it

No. This is a curbed glass. To curb a 10 ft sheet is not something that is cheap

 

[Duane Fagan]

No. This is a curbed glass. To curb a 10 ft sheet is not something that is cheap

Good point my bad

 

[Stigigemla]

In my opinion around 400 gallons is the maximum size of a glass tank to buy ready made. And it must not be wider than the door openings.
Anything bigger should be build on place. In Europe max size of the glass sheets are about 14 feet so that limits the length of the tank.
If the tank is longer than about 8 feet You will want to shift watching positions in order to look at the whole tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

What do you use to clean it

I just set up my 660g acrylic and was deadly afraid of the risk of scratch and have found, it takes a lot to accomplish this. I have had a few near hits and upon inspection- No scratch (relief),
As for cleaning, I am using the Great white magnet which for my 1" thickness is almost Too strong but does the job.

 

[Duane Fagan]

I just set up my 660g acrylic and was deadly afraid of the risk of scratch and have found, it takes a lot to accomplish this. I have had a few near hits and upon inspection- No scratch (relief),
As for cleaning, I am using the Great white magnet which for my 1" thickness is almost Too strong but does the job.

Finally a hands on opinion thanks. It really baffled me that everyone says it get scratches from you looking at it but I go to the aquarium of the pacific and they don't look that bad and that's a lot of touching by kids and such

 

[ca1ore]

What do you use to clean the acrylic I hear that the inhabitants can scratch the window (probably bull) and it turns color over time what say you

My tank is not that old, so cannot say whether it will yellow or not. I suspect more urban myth than reality, but we shall see. Most ‘normal’ inhabitants will not damage the acrylic, though a buddy of mine says that a parrot fish scarred his. I’d probably steer clear of urchins too. I bought a mighty magnet cleaner designed for 1” thick walls. They make algae dozer pads that make shirt work of any algae spots. Not cheap though.

 

[Smarkow]

Thanks dude did you get the H2overflow? Are they loud?

I had custom aquariums do my 210 and was basically really pleased. Like you I was concerned re noise, so I just had them drill for the synergy ghost shadow. That thing is DEAD silent. Like hunt for red October silent.

 

[Leslie Tabor]

I hear ya it's that acrylic scratches
easily thing I can't get over

I dunno, I manage to scratch glass pretty regularly too...

 

[Duane Fagan]

I just set up my 660g acrylic and was deadly afraid of the risk of scratch and have found, it takes a lot to accomplish this. I have had a few near hits and upon inspection- No scratch (relief),
As for cleaning, I am using the Great white magnet which for my 1" thickness is almost Too strong but does the job.

What is the Lxwxh