Acrylic vs. Glass

[boozeman]

Originally Posted by Dragon Wrasse

I also have both tanks on wheels, the glass tank does take six casters verses the Acrylic only needing four........

cool...lets race 'em

[corallimorph]

I can't stand acrylic...however hold in my hands the receipt for my new acrylic tank?...go figure..it was just such a cool shape that i had to get it.....
Boy,.....i hope you acrylic folks are right ....now i want you to be!......
My biggest fear is what I've seen in others tanks(acrylic) were they buffed out a scratch,... and now there is(although slight) a noticeable distortion in the viewing plane(like the fun hose mirrors,but not to that extent).
I guess I'll just have to be extra careful with the aquascape process.

[Dragon Wrasse]

Originally Posted by corallimorph

On wheels Dragon,?....do you take them "on tour" or somthing?...or is that just for cleaning?

Just for cleaning.....its great to be able to get the tank away from the wall, when I do a full maintenance on the tanks....and a month ago, I had to move the softy tank to another room and just rolled it down the hall....real slooow..

[Dragon Wrasse]

Originally Posted by boozeman

cool...lets race 'em

Ok...but I get the lighter, faster, Acrylic tank.....I'm sure I'll be able to get the hole shot on you and take you in the 1/4 but you might take me in the 1/2 mile with that big block glass tank........

[corallimorph]

Very cool ,thanks Dragon!

[Charlie97L]

something that no one has mentioned as well is that acrylic doesn't transfer heat like glass does... so your tank temp should be more stable, if your heating/cooling is setup correctly.

also, having both glass and acrylic... just PLAN and leave it alone.

i know like, one of the fun things about this hobby is aquascaping. YES.

all the really nice acrylic tanks i've seen, the owners have aquascaped ahead of time on paper, at least a rough layout, and played with it and played with it, until they liked it.

i feel like reaquascaping regularly is very stressful to the inhabitants... obviously, as things grow, you have to make adjustments, but i think acrylic really lends itself to planning and leaving it alone.

if/when i ever get a big tank (6'x6') that's what i'm going to do. plan everything out. when you think about it, reaquascaping say a 75gallon, vs. a 400 gallon is totally different.

anyway, i'm rambling. but i know an acrylic fabricator who definitely confirms that the newer acrylic is much much better and stronger than the old ones. he's even mentioned to me that manufacturers are working on a totally scratch resistant coating for it. i love my glass 90, and i can't wait to see what my acrylic 20 looks like.

[corallimorph]

Charlie,
Why do you re-aquascape your tanks once they've been set up ?

[fishheads]

i am just way to careless to own acrylic.....i use my cleaning magnets.....it doesnt matter how clean i think they are there is always a piece of sand hidden deep in there.....SCRAAATCH!!!!JUST NOT FOR ME

[PhilOlsen]

Glass over acrylic, I really like the way the acrylics look but as already mentioned, its the easy to scratch problem that bothers me even though it is (supposed to be) easy to buff out.

[ludachris]

Since im new to the hobby and on a budget i will go with glass. Its much cheaper which helps me get started in this wonderfull hobby.