acrylic VS starfire...

[Ed Hahn]

Ok, as some of you may have read on the classifieds. Susie's 300 gallon cube is up for sale. I have 3 people interested. So good chance it will be gone this week.

I have been looking and comparing new tanks and materials.
From what I have seen acrylic seems more expensive than glass.
I know acrylic is lighter- well maybe unless you have ultra thick acrylic.
Susie's ol cube is pretty heavy.
The other factor is clarity. After seeing a friend's cube last month. I could not wait to pursue the route of a custom starfire tank. It seems acrylic can distort view.

After more research I found people in areas with possibility of earth quakes or lots of vibration all favor acrylic for its flexibility concerned glass would break under same circumstances.

What are you experiences?:welcome:

 

[Scooterman]

After having both I prefer glass any day, just my opinion though.

 

[reedman]

I had 2 glass tanks make it through the "big" earthquake we had here in western Washington. I wouldn't be worried about the tank because of the glass, but rather for the quality of the build. A good build should be fine.

 

[mfinn]

Earthquake survivor here, and glass all the way.

 

[Ed Hahn]

I know I want stability. A concern for me with Glass and I do want Starphire, would be the seals wearing out, longevity, Temperature swings because glass does not have same insulation properties as Acrylic. So I am thinking more energy consumption. I am wanting to go with LED's. But I know temps will still be a issue. I would need a heater with controller to keep temps stable as possible.

 

[Scooterman]

Acrylic vrs glass can go on forever, how many threads of glass joints leaking after many years, same goes with acrylic, the joints can leak over time. The glass will not insulate as well as acrylic but how much that affects cost may be difficult to prove. You can drill all over the acrylic, where as glass you might have some limitations. Acrylic will get scratched, lots if issues If you want to keep a pristine acrylic tanks over the glass, which can easily be cleaned and much harder to scratch.

Here again just an opinion!

 

[Pablo Mithels]

distortion

My brand new 20 g Acrylic is distorted in 3 areas in the front alone, this is my first and last acrylic tank, jmo

 

[Frankie]

Being a clean freak glass has always held up to my cleaning behaviors. I had an acrylic tank once and it didn't last to long before it got all marred up from cleaning. I'll tell ya though, I got very good at polishing acrylic scratched out
I replaced my front pane on a 120 with starphire and to be honest,unless you were looking at a regular glass tank next to a starphire you wold not have known the difference. So I would also suggest going with regular glass and saving a ton of money.

 

[Aquanaut]

Check out Deep Sea Aquatics and get a price on just front/viewing panel being Starfire and the rest regular glass. If going custom, go with them. If looking for a deep dimension, try Marineland deep dimension that has a standard front starfire for an exceptional price over truly custom. I'm getting a 250DD this week. Got tired of not being able to maintain acrylic free of bullet-proof coraline lol. Talk to Jonas at Renton Blue Sierra, he arranged mine to have a custom overflow instead of corners.

 

[Ed Hahn]

I used Mighty magnets adaptors and scratch repair kits. I do not think anyone would have that much issues with acrylic anymore even in deep tanks with Coraline. Acrylic is not that hard to repair. I can understand the slight distortion in acrylic. But I do not agree with Starphire vs leaded Glass.There is a big Difference between Green colored water compared to clear Especially with bright lights! But if you want to look through green more power to ya. I am just a little bit pickier about my colors. I want my water as clear as possible without looking into a white bucket.

 

[mfinn]

I saw a big difference in my new tank ( Starphire glass ) over the regular glass of the old tank.
There are a couple threads on other forums where people talk about how easy Starphire is to scratch, but I haven't had that problem. Except when doing some rearranging, I did drag a large rock against my front glass and left a scratch in it. I would bet it would have happened even if it had been regular glass.
To clean my front glass I use a plastic utility knife blade holder (with steel utility knife blades) attached to a wood dowel and a Tiger Shark Float cleaner.
After 4-1/2 years, I'm still happy with the appearance.

 

[tamarindthai]

all i have is glass tank i am happy Starphire even better than regular glass,,,,plastic no no no,,, i stay away from

 

[Myteemouse]

my acrylic doesnt distort AT ALL. but if I would do it again I would go star fire. Regular glass puts to much "noise" in pics from my camera!

 

[mfinn]

my acrylic doesnt distort AT ALL.

Your tank is a good arguement for going acrylic.

 

[Ed Hahn]

What about attachments? Having a some experience with Acrylic- the thing I liked was being able to mount stuff like seaswirls, brackets, DIY items a lot easier than to glass. I removed a few scratches from Susies Old Cube last night. Clarity would be a good arguement with some tanks.

 

[Scooterman]

One thing about acrylic you can do almost anything you want with it, lots of options, I think this is a big plus.
If you can get that cube for a good price, why not go that route, hard to compare New vrs a great deal. LOL
Now this wouldn't necessarily be true when going all new IMO.

 

[Frankie]

I always have liked the clarity of acrylic over glass, even starphire.
Very good points on the topic by all.