Acrylic or Glass

[ladyoutlaw50]

I have never had anything but glass aquariums -- would someone be so kind as to tell me the pros and cons of acrylic comapred to glass!! I have heard that acrylic is more expensive - why is that??

Thanks in advance :19:

[gm72]

Acrylic requires more extensive bracing than does glass. It scratches more easily but won't crack as easily. Acrylic is easier to work with than is glass as a DIY person.

I won't own an acrylic unless it's one of these little 2.5 gallon jobbies.

[ladyoutlaw50]

I have always had great luck with glass -but have been hearing alot about the acrylic and was just wondering.

[Lady Hobbs]

A glass 75 gallon is about $130 (tank only.) Same size in acrylic is around $600.

[ladyoutlaw50]

A glass 75 gallon is about $130 (tank only.) Same size in acrylic is around $600.

:18: wow that is a big difference in price!! Why is there such a difference? sorry if this question is really dumb -- but really don't know!!

[The Wedge]

If you're adding any kind of rock structures at all I would go glass...acrylic scratches so easy. I scratched my aquapod by accidentally picking up a grain of substrate with my magnetic algae scraper :(

[Incredulous_Ed]

I would so go with acrylic. They are much, much stronger, and if they break, they will crack, not shatter like tempered glass will. They do scratch. and are more expensive.

[Dave66]

In larger tanks, in the hundreds of gallons, acrylic is less expensive than glass, as glass has to be much thicker to hold a given body of water than acrylic does.
Acrylic also transmits over 95 percent of visible light; glass, a bit over 70 percent. Thus, acrylic tanks are much clearer and the fish can appear to be swimming in a very clear ice cube in them. Acrylic is also much, much lighter than glass. I can move an empty 220 gallon acrylic aquarium by myself. Take at least two guys with a third to help guide it to the stand in glass.
Scratches on acrylic can be easily polished out, but for more money, you can have a special kind of acrylic which is highly resistant to scratches.
If your careful with them, an acrylic tank should last a lifetime without scratches. All my tanks over 75 gallons are acrylic.

Dave

[ladyoutlaw50]

that is very interesting to know. I eventually want to get a 90 gal. tank -- so you think I should check into the acrylic for that?? Do I need to invest in any different equipment or can I use the same as I would for glass??

[NickFish]

Dave said it all!

My 460g is acrylic, which is the only reason I was able to move it. It's so much clearer than glass, if I could afford/find smaller acrylic tanks, all my tanks would be acrylic.

They are great if you can find them, and like Dave said, they do scratch very easy but most scratches can be polished out, it's only the giant scrapes that are hard to get off.

And no, you can use pretty much the same equipment as in glass.

[ladyoutlaw50]

Thanks -- then when I begin my search for my 90 gal I will look for acrylic. I have not seen it in the lfs -- will I need to order it? I would imagine if ordered online the shipping would be less as it won't weigh as much