Glass Vs Acrylic

[Alin10123]

Hey guys,
Tried doing a search for glass. However, it turned up a bunch of irrelavent results. My 55 gallon was inherited from my parents house since i was the one taking care of the fish when i lived at home a while back. The tank is acrylic and has a bunch of scratches from them attempting to scrape off the algae after i left. Anyways... i was looking on glasscages.com and noticed they were coming to a show near me within an hour with driving distance. So... i was looking on their website and found a glass replacement for only $60 and they are going to be within a couple of hours drive of my place. So... i figured i'd take the plunge and redo it. What do you guys think?

$60 isn't too shabby for a 55 gallon tank. So... my question is... any downsides to a glass tank besides the fact that it's much heavier? Why would someone buy acrylic over glass?

thanks

[DUSTIN323]

Acrylic sometimes can look cooler than glass & it don't have seams nor molding. But it is lighter but scratches easier.

[TheOldSalt]

Being relatively unbreakable and much lighter, acrylic has it's uses. On the other hand, it discolors over time and scratches very easily, and is a lot more expensive than glass.
I like glass.
The spectrum/refractiveness of light is different between acrylic & glass as well, with wach tending to grow different types of algae as a result. Not a big deal, really, but a nifty trivia tidbit.

[Alin10123]

Originally Posted by DUSTIN323

Acrylic sometimes can look cooler than glass & it don't have seams nor molding. But it is lighter but scratches easier.

Hmm.. strange... the 55 gallon i've got now that's acrylic still has some seams in it. lol I guess it depends on the tanks.

What do you mean looks cooler though? Can u actually tell the difference by just looking at it?

[Alin10123]

Originally Posted by TheOldSalt

Being relatively unbreakable and much lighter, acrylic has it's uses. On the other hand, it discolors over time and scratches very easily, and is a lot more expensive than glass.
I like glass.
The spectrum/refractiveness of light is different between acrylic & glass as well, with wach tending to grow different types of algae as a result. Not a big deal, really, but a nifty trivia tidbit.

Well... as long as i dont break the glass during moving... it should be ok if i'm not touching it right? Will the glass be thicker? Or distort the look of the fish while looking at it from the outside?

And in regards to the algae... you mean the glass reflects light differently that i currently have inside the tank? Or reflects light differently from the outside into the tank? Does that mean that the tank will grow algae easier? or just a different type? If i dont have algae now, will my glass one be fine in regards to algae?

Any particular reason you like glass?

thanks

[TheOldSalt]

I mean that the different ways light is filtered through glass & acrylic results in different types of algae growing better. It's not anything to waste brain cells worrying about, so forget it. If you don't have it now, you probably won't have it later, except for the usual new-tank algae.

Glass is cheaper to buy, cheaper to repair/replace, cheaper & easier to reseal, always stays the same color, and it doesn't scratch so much. It doesn't distort anything. The only reason people like acrylic is because it's lighter in weight, which is important for really huge tanks, but not for anything under 200 gallons.

[leveldrummer]

acrylic is easier to shape too, so when you see some crazy shaped fish tank, (i mean really crazy shaped, like a sphere or some other hard to make shape) they are usually acrylic, because glass has to be sealed with silicone, and acrylic is chemically bonded together. those are the seams dustin refered too.

[Alin10123]

Thanks a bunch guys.

Found a brand new glass 55 gallon for $70 on glasscages.
Since i'm replacing an acyrlic setup i wont be needing the wooden hood or the wooden stand because i'll already have all of that stuff. So $70 is a steal to me. Then i can start putting in my plant lighting and actual plants.

Is glass a lot thicker than the acrylic? Or is it pretty much the same?