Glass Vs. Acrylic...

[skye4jc]

HI all, been a while since i've posted... nice to see familiar "faces" again, B)

anyhow, had a customer come in today who wants me to ask you all what the differences are between glass tanks and acrylic tanks. (i told him what i thought which he seemed satisfied with, but said i would ask my experts just for peace of mind. ) whats better? whats heavier? why is one preferred over the other? whats easier to clean? what lasts longer? whats more durable and stable? etc...

anyone and everyone who has personal experience with both, (or one i suppose, which includes about 98.8% of the posters/members here! lol) please... add your two cents! i know what i would pick and why, but i first want to know what you all think.

so, have at it... which one would you choose and why?

- Skye

 

[Mr Miagi]

I would go glass, ive always been a fan. Acrylic is sposed to be tough, jurablke etc etc, but i kinda like the look of my glass tank. And i deffinately dont like bow fronts. Personal opinion only...

 

[cometcattle]

Acrylic is much lighter, and I would say stronger. The acrylic tanks I've seen were VERY expensive. Another huge drawback in addition to price, is that they are easy to scratch.

Personally, I'd only buy one if I saw a great deal on a used one.

Funny, just last week I saw an ad for a 38g(US) acrylic tank $100 (with stand).
Of course, it was already sold when I called.

 

[nc_nutcase]

Glass is heavier but I don’t carry my tank around with me very often so the weight doesn’t bother me. It’s also more fragile but after having at least 20+ tanks in my life I’ve only had one glass tank break on me. That was from thinking I could scoot it from one end of the dresser to the other without draining it… ps… never move a tank with water in it LOL!

Acrylic looks like plastic (well, I think it is sorta). I know the bendable corners are one of it’s selling points, but I think bent corners look goofy. One little kid stumbles across it with a matchbox car or other random toy and you have unfixable scratches for the life or your tank.

All in all I’d say either one is completely functional… both have negatives and positives… neither one is a waste…

I also think a lot of it is the ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it’ attitude. I’ve been doing glass tanks for a long time with no issues. Then suddenly someone comes up and says I had issues just didn’t notice and now need to buy a tank for twice as much… huh… I have 6 aquariums in my home… 5 are glass… only the 5 Gal betta tank is acrylic…

Obviously I vote glass……

 

[purple_drazi]

I've got one of each and I much prefer the glass.

Acrylic is really - no, REALLY easy to scratch. When I bought my acrylic tank I had to look at all of the tanks in the store before I found one that I could take home. I got the best of the bunch but even it had some light scratches on it, and that was straight out of the box before it had ever been used. They told me that buffing & some light scratching was normal for acrylic and that most people didn't even notice it. (I'm just a Picky, Picky customer!) To tell the truth, now that it's set up I don't notice the scratches myself unless I get right up close to the tank and look for them. If you are into putting big rocks and scratchy stuff in your tank you might end up with noticable scoring on the walls though. The bottom of my tank is frosted & textured - probably so that the scratches don't show.
otoh, the acrylic tank I have is molded in one piece, no seams to leak, and acrylic is lighter than glass so it's easier to carry and doesn't smash so easily if you drop it. oops!

 

[BettaMomma]

Hmm... what a GREAT topic.

I right now have 6 tanks. they are:
2.5G glass
2.5G glass
2.5G glass
2.5G acrylic minibow
2G acrylic hex
5G acrylic hex

I like the lightweight of the acrylics very much - particularly where bettas are concerned. They're really easy to lug around, even with some water in them. They do scratch, though - and after rustling gravel around in them every so often (as you have to do with a betta on a regular basis), they get rather nasty looking.

I do feel like the glass ones are much sturdier and will last quite a bit longer, and when you get nasty stuff built up on them along the water line, you can use a bit harsher scrubber pad to clean them off without worrying about scratching.

Of course, if I were ever to get a tank of any size, I'd most definitely go for a glass one.

 

[Matty]

glass, because I can't afford an acrylic

 

[skye4jc]

i was right along side all you folks too.

my vote was galss for all the reasons mentioned, and at least i know im not off my perch on this one now. anyone care to add anything else, feel free.

i will let my customer know on sta that it was unanimous "glass" across the board (unless someone wants to vote for acrylic! lol)

 

[abstract]

100% glass - sturdier, cheaper, more clear, more scratch resistant