Which do you prefer and why? I am trying to decide what to buy. I have a glass tank at this time.

Thank you,
Donna

acrylic looks better, more expensive, but scratches more easily - but the scratches can be fixed.

Thanks Ira.

Bump

I agree, acrylic looks MUCH nicer. I don't have acrylic though :-(

Acrylic is nice because there's less distortion and it is SO much easier to move. I recently had to move my 125 GLASS tank and oh lord I've never been happier to know so many strong guys. Acrylic can scratch easily if you use the wrong thing to clean it, but there's an easy solution to that - don't use the wrong thing to clean it. You also have to be careful of what chemicals you use on it, but for the most part you probably wouldn't use anything that would cause it to discolor on your tank anyway.

Glass is less expensive, but that's the only real benefit IMO. I've had acrylic tanks for years and none of them are discolored or damaged/scratched.

Amen to being more expensive. I have been looking into 150 gallon acrylic and they range just under $3,000.00. That is with built-in filtration, stand and lights, but it is still very pricey. Hahaha, isn't that an understatement? I think it is because of the shape I want ... long and higher with less depth. I wish I would come across a sale.

Donna

Yep, less expensive... even if that's the ONLY benefit, that's one HECK of a benefit, huh?

glass is better. It doesnt scratch so easy. Nor does it bend, wrap or discolor. arcylic is used for tiny 2 gallon tanks I believe

Acrylic is also used for much larger tanks, they just aren't as commonly seen in the aquarium hobby because they are more expensive. Most public aquariums use acrylic because it is much more durable than glass. I think acrylic gets a bum rap. I have had acrylics for years and none of them are scratched, warped, discolored or damaged in any way, they have a lot less distortion than glass (esp. when comparing the bigger tanks where thicker glass has to be used) and I've never had one leak or crack (unlike my glass tanks). There are ways to ruin an acrylic tank the same as there are ways to ruin a glass tank - you just have to be mindful of how you treat it.

Happy Goldfish--

I want to get an acrylic tank one day. I currently have 2-3 inch river rock on the bottom of my glass tank. When I vacuum once/week the rocks scrape around on the bottom. If I upgrade to acrylic will I have to amend my cleaning policy, ie not allow the rocks to scrape around?

If the rocks aren't pointy, probably not. I haven't given any special care to not shove gravel/rocks around the bottom of my acrylic tanks during maintenance, and I haven't noticed any scratches, so if they're there they must not be too obvious.

Thanks! I got my GLASS tank secondhand and it is pretty scratched up so I figured acrylic would be even more sensitive. I have no idea how the glass got so scratched. Maybe it was filled with diamonds :pigs

Ooh, diamonds would make beautiful substrate!

I know of several people who scrape the algae off their tank walls/bottoms with razor blades and scratch their tank all up. Some are really awful. It seems that cleaning it with a razor could be a fair misjudgement at first, but then if they see their tank getting all scratched up, you think they'd stop. Maybe the person you got your tank from was one of those nutsos.

I have a 55 gal acrylic in the basement I emptied a few months ago. I took a look at it, and the bottom does have a few slight marks on it (not really scratches/grooves though). Often with acrylic, some marks you see when the tank is dry you no longer see when it's filled. I had regular gravel in this tank when it was last set up (not rounded river rocks) and the tank is at least 5-6 years old.

Maybe...at least it doesn't leak! ;-) Unless I find any good used deals it will probably be another year before I can go acrylic. But when I do...!!! :-)

I have decided on acrylic too. Thank you all that gave your opinion and help me make up my mind.

Donna

I think you made a good choice! Good luck with your new tank :-)

Thank you all
Last week I bought a new glass tank from
my lfs that's made by Marineland, I was
doing some hard thinking about an acrylic
tank but I was a little apprehensive about
the scratches. I will be taking back the
glass tank today and I will be out later
this afternoon to buy a new acrylic tank.
The tank is 30g with light fixtrure for about
$85.00, when I add in the cost of a new
filter it will be less expensive than the
glass tank that I'm returning.

id love an acrylic tank. i worry so much about the glass one.. I honestly have never seen an acrylic tank that is bigger than 10 g's around here. maybe if I ever change I should order offline and get an acrylic (if its not too expensive)

I wonder if anybody ever tried to built an acrylic tank themselves? I mean, HomeDepot has all the ingredients for it, except maybe the aquarium sealer. How hard can it be? And it would come cheaper than buying one, never mind all the shapes you can do yourself....

Please correct me if I'm wrong...aren't acrylic tanks "seamless" aka all in one piece? I thought that was part of why they are so expensive...

Melle,

Yes, they are, but the way I thought it worked is ... The seams are molecularly bonded, which makes them seamless and stronger. That was a finger full. I am not even sure I am right. LOL