Tank Choice - Glass vs. Acrylic

[jz]

Looking for some advice on my next tank. I currently have 3 tanks: 30,
75 and 120 gallon all reef. The 75 is glass. I am moving and have
finally convinced my wife to let me get a bigger tank. I am looking to
get a tank in the 180 - 240 gallon range. I will primarily have SPS
corals in the tank

So te question is . . .

Glass or Acrylic?

Thanks for the help/advice


John

[George Patterson]

jz wrote:
>
> So te question is . . .
>
> Glass or Acrylic?

Acrylic scratches more easily. Glass weighs a bit more, but it's not as heavy as
it was 20 years ago. I go with glass.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

[jz]

George Patterson wrote:

> jz wrote:
>
>>
>> So te question is . . .
>>
>> Glass or Acrylic?
>
>
> Acrylic scratches more easily. Glass weighs a bit more, but it's not as
> heavy as it was 20 years ago. I go with glass.
>
> George Patterson
> Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
> and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
> Because she smells like a new truck.
Any suggestions as to the brand of tank? The 2 I am most familiar with
are All-Glass and Oceanic. As I recall, All-Glass bought Oceanic some
years back. Did they suffer in quality because of the sale?

John

[George Patterson]

jz wrote:
>
> Any suggestions as to the brand of tank?

No, I don't. I have a good relationship with my LFS and take the owner's
suggestions on things like this. I bought my current tank about 10 years ago.
I've been happy with it, but don't know the brand. I'll check with the store
tomorrow.

George Patterson
Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
Because she smells like a new truck.

[Billy]

"George Patterson" > wrote in message
news:N2DEe.220$in2.206@trndny05...
>
> Acrylic scratches more easily. Glass weighs a bit more, but it's
> not as heavy as it was 20 years ago. I go with glass.


I agree. There's no compelling reason to go with acrylic IME. In
addition, most acrylic tanks I've seen\used have a wide 'rim', making
it tougher to reach in for maintenence, and the underside of the
'rim' get dirty, and is hard to clean off upside-down. :) A 75g
acrylic I had, I bought a large 'castle' to go in it. The holes on
the top of the tank were too small to puit the damned thing in. Had
to take it back to the store. :(

[CheezWiz]

The All-Glass tanks look great with the built-in overflows. I am planning an
upgrade to a 72 gallon bow-front from AG w/overflow. The Oceanic stands work
great with the All-Glass bow-fronts so that is what I am going for..

IMO Acrylic SUCKS! for a display tank with hard stuff in it like sand and
rock. If I had a freshwater tank with big, ugly pink gravel that never gets
hung in the magnetic scraper, then acrylic might be ok. But you start
cleaning coralline algae off acrylic and see what happens...

Acrylic is great for sumps, skimmers, Ca reactors, refugiums, etc... IMO

CW
"jz" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> George Patterson wrote:
>
>> jz wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> So te question is . . .
>>>
>>> Glass or Acrylic?
>>
>>
>> Acrylic scratches more easily. Glass weighs a bit more, but it's not as
>> heavy as it was 20 years ago. I go with glass.
>>
>> George Patterson
>> Why do men's hearts beat faster, knees get weak, throats become dry,
>> and they think irrationally when a woman wears leather clothing?
>> Because she smells like a new truck.
> Any suggestions as to the brand of tank? The 2 I am most familiar with
> are All-Glass and Oceanic. As I recall, All-Glass bought Oceanic some
> years back. Did they suffer in quality because of the sale?
>
> John

[George Pontis]

In article t>,
says...
> Looking for some advice on my next tank. I currently have 3 tanks: 30,
> 75 and 120 gallon all reef. The 75 is glass. I am moving and have
> finally convinced my wife to let me get a bigger tank. I am looking to
> get a tank in the 180 - 240 gallon range. I will primarily have SPS
> corals in the tank
>
> So te question is . . .
>
> Glass or Acrylic?

I'm not that experienced, but do have a few of both. The scratching problem is
really the biggest risk with acrylic but otherwise I prefer their advantages.
Since you have both already, is it manageable for you ? Here are some things in
favor of acrylic:

Algaes don't seem to stick to acrylic as well as they do to glass, so are easier
to clean off.

The clarity of an acrylic tank would be better than a glass tanks, especially
considering the thickness that would be required for glass in that size. Oceanic
offers Starfire glass as an option but the cost would be out of range for most.

The glass one would weigh hundreds of pounds, maybe near 400 lbs for a 240 gallon
tank. Acrylic would be less than half of that, and is not as demanding in terms of
having a perfectly flat mounting surface.

It is less likely that an acrylic tank will develop a leak than a glass tank.

Acrylic is a better insulator for heat. It might be worthwhile in terms of heating
if the tank water is kept much warmer than the room. For example, a garage in
winter.