Tank Material... Glass or Acrylic?

[The R/C Man]

Hi Everyone!

Ok I was curious to find out who has glass and who has acrylic tanks. Please give your reason for choosing what you did and if you regret your decision or not.....

Thanks!

 

[The R/C Man]

I'll start....

I currently have a glass tank and sump. Personally I regret the decision. I have had to replace the main tank once due to the side panel shifting from the pressure which caused the top support to crack. The sump had a leak on the bottom back seal. I had to move the inhabitants into a rubbermaid container while I repaired it.... All acrylic for me from now on....

 

[dnjan]

Acrylic - easier to get custon dimensions locally.

 

[johnsmb]

I'm one of those unusual people that prefers glass. I am also unusual in that I did not want a sump - so no real need for acrylic. But mainly, I don't want to have to worry about scratching the acrylic.

 

[Illusion]

I have had both Glass and Acrylic... I was totally against Acrylic tanks until I kinda was handed my new Acrylic tank... I can say that Even though Acrylic Scratches easier you can Still get scratches in Glass... Only problem is when you get scratches in glass you are stuck with them for life... With Acrylic it may take 45mins to get a small scratch out but Hey atleast you can Remove it... After having Acrylic now I would never go with Another Glass tank Again... Just get a good scratch remover kit and call it good... Micro-surface.com has the nc78-1 scratch removal kit cheap and its fairly simple to do... Another Plus is Glass is extremely heavy...

James

 

[wrightme43]

I have glass, My next tank will be acrylic. I want a closed loop system. I like that glass is harder to scratch, I dont like the idea of my niece knocking the glass with some hard object. LOL My sump is glass, my next sump will be acrylic. I want to get a 96"x24"x24" 240 gallon acrylic tank, with a 60 gallon acr. tank made in to a sump underneath it.

 

[reeffan]

I have glass tank before and switch to acrylic. The only downside of acrylic is getting scratches easily. But then again, you can buff the acrylic while the glass can't.

reeffan

 

[coralseas]

glass is nicer,but hard to costomize, acrylic is e z to customize but is sorry
glass dose not bow much ,acrylic dose
but both can be broke e z under presher.
i wish glass was less work,

 

[johnehr]

I've heard too many stories of glass seals breaking. Thank god that it happened when people were home, otherwise good-bye fish and hello water damage.

Honestly, I've scratched the hell out of my acrylic tank. Eventhough I've done this, I would never trade it in for a scratch free glass tank. I just couldn't trust it. I guess I might use a glass sump because its cheap and wont kill everything by busting. It would just break my heater (or melt some tubes...)

 

[Llarian]

The tank I'm building now is glass, and I have an acrylic nano.

For a larger tank, I would go acrylic simply for the ease of installing a closed loop. I'm having a jump through a lot of hoops to get one working on my glass tank.

-Dylan

 

[WaterDogs]

My last two tanks have been acrylic, very strong, light, and easy to drill.

Dwaine

 

[NaH2O]

I have an acrylic tank. I was pro-glass tanks, until I wanted a fancy closed loop. However, glass tanks are very nice. I was too whimpy to drill mine.

A couple of things to consider: Cost, drilling/plumbing needs, and in some cases - weight.

 

[snobanker]

I have glass right now, but I'm going acrylic on my next one for sure.

 

[The R/C Man]

Wow it's a dead heat so far!
Hmmmm. I actually thought acrylic would be out front. I guess considering a majority of tanks available at large pet stores are glass I should have known. I have compiled a list of pros and cons for both and acrylic wins out. I will post it later. Maybe you guys can help me add some I missed...