Acrylic Vs. Glass?

[ranhi3]

I want to upgrade to a larger tank and have found a gorgeous acrylic for a very reasonable price although i heard acrylic was not as good as glass..any suggestions? opinions?

 

[bae1994]

well it is stronger than glass and is visually the same easier to lift but can get scratched alot easier

 

[Paradise3]

I have a small acrylic tank and trust me never again. I took extra care with it and only used the soft sponges to clean it but it's still scratched up.
I can still see through it so it is used to hold fry till they grow up a little bit.

Xxx~misscosmo~xxX

 

[ranhi3]

I have a small acrylic tank and trust me never again. I took extra care with it and only used the soft sponges to clean it but it's still scratched up.
I can still see through it so it is used to hold fry till they grow up a little bit.

Xxx~misscosmo~xxX

I was told to never use sponges when cleaning acrylic tanks, did you ever try using a soft cloth like a special polishing cloth? and it still scratched it? I heard there are many that are designed specifically for use with acrylic tanks.

 

[jimv8673]

Even glass tanks will scratch sometimes, i thought the magnet cleaners were the greatest thing since ice cream, til i used one in a glass tank that has a pool sand substrate, somehow i managed to pickup a grain or two of sand while cleaning, and before i knew it ran a big scratch, right across the inside front of my glass tank Grrrrrrr but the moral is that any tank will scratch, acrylic is just a lot more likely to.

 

[thedc5]

scratches in acrylic can also be polished out easy though

 

[demasonisrule]

So basically so far the only thing people have mentioned is that acrylic scratches more easily than glass, but keep in mind that it is much stronger, so harder to actually break, and it is lighter so its easier to carry.

 

[kelly528]

Acrylic is something like 10x stronger than glass and also clearer when it is new. Of course the drawback is the easy scratching (I have a used one with infinitessimal little marks all over the tank from the teeth of a pleco) but this is not as apparent when the tank is full. Minor scratches can be removed either by sanding or by a polish such as Novus Acrylic Polish and Scratch Remover.

Scratching will also result if you use a pot-srubber or razor to remove algae, ro if th esubstrate is ground against the tank wall while you are vacuuming. I have had success scrubbing algae off mine with a toothbrush and there ar ealso a number of commercially available 'acrylic-safe' algae removing tools.

Many acrylic tanks are mostly seamless and paired with their resistance to breaking it makes the tank very strong, a definite plus if you are, say, a college kid like myself faced with the threat of drunk friends careening into the tank or moving apartments on a yearly basis. Furthermore they are popular with monster keepers again for their suitability for 'tank busters' and also because glass tanks of more than a few hundered gallone are rather rare.

So in conclusion acrylic tanks are definitely function over form and if you are looking for a good, cheap durable tank acrylic is the stuff for you.