Poll: DT - Glass or Acrylic?

[dbl]

Just a simple question - Is your aquarium glass or acrylic? Yes, many factors come in to play when making your decision, but just trying to get a feel of the ratio from the group. Feel free to comment on reasoning.

 

[tkiry1]

265 glass

 

[Bubs2]

Glass

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Just a simple question - Is your aquarium glass or acrylic? Yes, many factors come in to play when making your decision, but just trying to get a feel of the ratio from the group. Feel free to comment on reasoning.

I will never own another acrylic display tank, even if you're careful you'll get tiny scratches that quickly fill with algae that you can't scrub out easily. I will forever and henceforth be a glass-only type of guy for main display tanks. I would consider acrylic for a frag tank if the price was right.

 

[Captmcfly]

65 g glass. No reason why.

 

[ChiCity]

I don't think many home hobbyists rock acrylic tanks anymore.
Why?
They become hideous rather quickly!

 

[Annette Garcia]

Glass only never acrylic

 

[Rufus’ goofs]

I don't think I've ever seen an acrylic tank that didn't have odd bubbles in it, or wasn't covered with scratches.
That being said, I haven't seen more than maybe 10 and I'm certain they were all in stores.

I can't see why I would go for acrylic, except maybe for the weight reduction.
The sump would be fine, but even then, I prefer glass.

 

[DarkSky]

I don't think I've ever seen an acrylic tank that didn't have odd bubbles in it, or was covered with scratches.
That being said, I haven't seen more than maybe 10 and I'm certain they were all in stores.

I can't see why I would go for acrylic, except maybe for the weight reduction.
The sump would be fine, but even then, I prefer glass.

Considering how often people move their tanks (once during install?) I'm not sure weight is a huge factor. Cost is probably the biggest one - as you go larger, above 240g, a lot of custom tanks are double the price of a comparable glass one... at least in my experience getting quotes from various places. (72"x36"x24").

 

[Captmcfly]

Easy to drill acrylics? ?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Every acrylic tank I've seen has funky waves and distortions in it and they are ALWAYS scratched. I'm a glass only guy, preferably low iron glass.

 

[zieg9479]

I prefer to rock glass but I have done acrylic. One possible pro for acrylic is..I don't know if it is impossible with glass, but I have seen more custom shaped acrylic tanks.

 

[oceanfreak09]

Every one of my tanks are glass.

 

[Landams]

I have one of each, 75 glass and 120 acrylic, and already looking to replace the acrylic after only 6 months. The glass tank is so much clearer than acrylic. Also the acrylic is very distorted and scratches way to easy. Nothing is near as pretty through the acrylic.

 

[Rip Van Winkle]

Have an acrylic QT because it's an AIO. Other than that I'd pretty much never go for an acrylic DT. All my tanks are custom and silicone & glass give me more satisfaction to work with than acrylic when looking at the finished product. I really like using glass that is slightly thicker than normal or standard and for display refugiums, I prefer it being all glass, no bracing on top (40g & 60g cubes).

Maybe corny thing to say but a tank made out of acrylic - on the smaller sizes like < 30gal - is something that makes me feel like it's a kid's toy and not a "real" aquarium. But yeah there are many differences between acrylic and glass that in certain situations make acrylic easier or more practical to work with than glass.

 

[mlivvy]

Bought a custom made acrylic and never again. It just doesn't look as clear as glass.

 

[van7271]

Glass. It doesn't get those tiny scratches and it keeps it look over time.

 

[paphater]

I went with acrylic because I built the tank myself. I did not like the idea of handling an 8' sheet of glass. I looked in to having a glass tank built but shipping would have been a third of the total cost which I couldn't swallow. If I had a local builder I may have went with a glass tank.

 

[Humblefish]

I used to be all-glass, but my last DT was acrylic. It was a love-hate relationship for the entire 4 1/2 years I had it. I got used to being more careful whenever I would wipe down the panels, but would also come home to encrusted coralline (that was next to impossible to remove without scratching) if I travelled for too long.

I don't think I would go out of my way to buy another acrylic tank, but I also wouldn't shy away from a good deal on one if it came along.

 

[DarkSky]

I used to be all-glass, but my last DT was acrylic. It was a love-hate relationship for the entire 4 1/2 years. I got used to being more careful whenever I wiped down the panels, but I would also come home to encrusted coralline (that was next to impossible to remove without scratching) if I travelled for too long.

I don't think I would go out of my way to buy another acrylic tank, but I also wouldn't shy away from a good deal on one if it came along.

That's the thing - every quote I've gotten for a glass aquarium has been 3x as much as an acrylic one. That in of itself is a good deal. Haha.