traumajeff
Active Member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2014
- Messages
- 214
- Reaction score
- 100
Why I prefer acrylic over glass
- Thread starter Akida17th
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
Akida17th
Well-Known Member
Hasn't ANYONE told you that good things in this hobby doesn't happen quickly!? Be patient and think things through and maybe you won't damage your equipment lol. That is my thinking anyways...
Last edited:
Lenny_S
Well-Known Member
I've had both acrylic and glass (with and without starphire). I can tell you for me it's a toss up between acrylic and starphire, I'd never do regular glass again. Starphire is pretty soft, definitely not as soft as acrylic though. If you are very careful, acrylic is a cleaner look because it is bonded together rather than silicone. But it does scratch very easily. Unfortunately starphire does too. My poor nephew got some sand caught in his magnetic cleaner and scratched his glass, I don't think it's repairable. It hasn't happened to me yet, but if I'd did on acrylic, I think it can be repaired, although that can't be easy.
I don't know that one could quantify that glass or acrylic are better, this to me is more a personal preference.
I don't know that one could quantify that glass or acrylic are better, this to me is more a personal preference.
eatbreakfast
Fish Nerd
I think that is more for stocking a tank, not general maintenance.
Joshky
Well-Known Member
Clarity depends on the thickness of glass used, after 3/8" you'll probably want to go starphire with glass, but 3/8" and under it's kind of a waste to go starphire. Just imo of course.
Acrylic has a lot of alluring pros to it, I hope it's everything you're wanting it to be. Don't be surprised if you do scratch it, even with careful planning, accidents can and will happen. I think it's silly to think everyone who went acrylic and had a rough time with it were careless.
Acrylic has a lot of alluring pros to it, I hope it's everything you're wanting it to be. Don't be surprised if you do scratch it, even with careful planning, accidents can and will happen. I think it's silly to think everyone who went acrylic and had a rough time with it were careless.
OP
OP
Akida17th
Well-Known Member
I think it's silly to believe everyone with acrylic scratches and bangs up their tank. Renee has had hers for a very long time and has had no scratches or issues, why is that, probably because she takes great care of her stuff. Accidents do happen that's for sure. And as 3/8" thickness goes, that has nothing to do with clarity imo but the iron level itself. I have a 3/8" glass tank and it looks like crap compared to acrylic in terms of clarity. Do you think fish communicate with each other like minions do?
Lowell Lemon
2500 Club Member
Quite an expensive system for the professional ! Have you used this product on glass or acrylic or both? How did it work for you?
Bruce Burnett
Valuable Member
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2015
- Messages
- 1,296
- Reaction score
- 983
- What state or country do you live in
- Arizona
I have had a number of acrylic tanks and a couple of glass no low iron. Acrylic is lighter, stronger, better insulating but lots more money especially for bigger tanks. I have seen coralline algae get into the acrylic where a plastic scraper will even scratch it getting the algae removed. I have seen starfish, urchins and other things leave permanent marks on the acrylic. Glass tanks look good with black seams, they are much harder to scratch, none of the life in your tank will damage the glass, you don't have to worry about someone walking by a glass tank and rub up against it causing a scratch. Glass tanks are cheaper but heavy on the large ones, I would not like to have to deal with stairs as it took 4 guys to lift mine on the stand.
TylerS
Active Member
I had a question if anyone knows the answer.
There is a phenomenon with aquariums where when looking from the side into the tank the tank appears narrower than it actually is due to the density change from air to tank to water. I know the density of acrylic more closely matches the density of water (so less overall change), but I was wondering if the effect is reduced when compared to a glass tank? More like a single refraction surface (air to water) instead of two surfaces (air to tank, then tank to water) My guess is this is impossible to detect on a photo, but maybe in person it would make a difference? Or maybe it only has an effect on really thick tanks (like 4" public aquariums or something). I'll probably calculate it if I get a chance.
My question: has anyone seen a side by side of acrylic vs glass and noticed a depth perception change between the two, or just clarity?
FWIW, there is a design studio area where I work. They have a pane of starfire glass in a window so that the designers can look at a clearer and more accurate view to the outside (it's massive, something like 20' long by 12' high single pane with no seams) and it's right next to panes of normal glass. There is an amazingly huge observable difference between the view from normal glass to starfire glass in this side by side situation. I was shocked when I saw it.
There is a phenomenon with aquariums where when looking from the side into the tank the tank appears narrower than it actually is due to the density change from air to tank to water. I know the density of acrylic more closely matches the density of water (so less overall change), but I was wondering if the effect is reduced when compared to a glass tank? More like a single refraction surface (air to water) instead of two surfaces (air to tank, then tank to water) My guess is this is impossible to detect on a photo, but maybe in person it would make a difference? Or maybe it only has an effect on really thick tanks (like 4" public aquariums or something). I'll probably calculate it if I get a chance.
My question: has anyone seen a side by side of acrylic vs glass and noticed a depth perception change between the two, or just clarity?
FWIW, there is a design studio area where I work. They have a pane of starfire glass in a window so that the designers can look at a clearer and more accurate view to the outside (it's massive, something like 20' long by 12' high single pane with no seams) and it's right next to panes of normal glass. There is an amazingly huge observable difference between the view from normal glass to starfire glass in this side by side situation. I was shocked when I saw it.
x_burt
Smells like fish...
I've always had what we call over here opti white glass, low iron glass, I can see the difference for sure.
My new tank which is about 8x4x3 I just ordered in acrylic from Schuran. I chose acrylic for the weight, strength and clarity.
For the price I just paid I'm now on the look out for some kind of force field to keep the kids away!
My new tank which is about 8x4x3 I just ordered in acrylic from Schuran. I chose acrylic for the weight, strength and clarity.
For the price I just paid I'm now on the look out for some kind of force field to keep the kids away!
discus513
Active Member
They had a booth at the Chicago Aquatics Experience and where doing demonstrations, the guy took his pocket knife out and scratched the acrylic sheet, it took about 15 -20 min as he was talking me through it and boom you couldn't tell the scratch was ever there!
I am in the market for a big tank and found a 450g 1'' Acrylic that has a few scratches on it, but none too deep to where I don't think that they can be removed. I plan to purchase one of these kits and trying it out, he made it look easy!
PatW
2500 Club Member
I have a star fire tank. The glass has a slight green tint but it is not really noticeable. My QT has standard glass and the glass is much thinner. The difference is pretty big.
But even star fire does not have the absolute clarity of acrylic. Also glass has a different refractive index than water so you get more distortion. You get less with acrylic. You still get a slight color distortion. You do not get any color distortion with acrylic. But for most people that issue is moot because they are running their lights with piles of blue and purple. A little green from glass is trivial.
I use acrylic domes for my underwater photography on coral reefs. Acrylic scratches easily but it can be buffed out without any distortion. It just takes some time and effort. I would think that you would need to drain and dry a tank to buff it out if you had major scratch issues.
I would think that for aquarium photography, an acrylic tank would pose far fewer problems than a glass tank.
But even star fire does not have the absolute clarity of acrylic. Also glass has a different refractive index than water so you get more distortion. You get less with acrylic. You still get a slight color distortion. You do not get any color distortion with acrylic. But for most people that issue is moot because they are running their lights with piles of blue and purple. A little green from glass is trivial.
I use acrylic domes for my underwater photography on coral reefs. Acrylic scratches easily but it can be buffed out without any distortion. It just takes some time and effort. I would think that you would need to drain and dry a tank to buff it out if you had major scratch issues.
I would think that for aquarium photography, an acrylic tank would pose far fewer problems than a glass tank.
