wanna upgrade my tank...

[ssophi80]

Hi everyone, I am looking to upgrade my tank to a larger size and need some advice. Can anyone tell me which is better, acrylic or glass and why? And here's the big one- I'm trying to find a stand that looks good and is sturdy. I see a lot of nice looking stands out there, but when you read the fine print they are made of particle board. To me, that just seems like a disaster waiting to happen! Does anyone know where I can find a good stand in the Birmingham, AL area? I'm looking at getting a tank in the 50 - 70 gallon range. Thanks!

[sdlTBfanUK]

The easiest way wouod be to go to an aquarium shop and get a tank with a cabinet made for that tank, as that should be able to support the weight, as water in any large quantity is very heavy. I suspect it would have to be a glass aquarium at that capacity, otherwise the plastic would have to be very thick.

It is possible to use a non aquarium specific piece of furniture but as you say it is quite risky, though I did help a friend do that by strengthening a nice decorative piece of furniture they had that they wanted to put a 350L tank on. It has been doing the job for 10 years but also bear in mind water marks, and we had to varnish many coats to make sure water doesn't soak into the wood etc. Its not really worth it in reality, it cost a lot of money to buy all the wood/stuff to strengthen it so was probably no cheaper, and a lot of time doing it.

It may be dearer to get a combo tank and stand but much much easier and safer, and only you can know what ones you llike the appearance of? I would start off going to local stores and seeing if they have any you like, and even if not it will give you ideas?

[jayc]

8 hours ago, ssophi80 said:

Does anyone know where I can find a good stand in the Birmingham, AL

Sorry, I'm not in that area. 🙃

 

I prefer Glass tanks. Acrylic scratches way too easily. Often while cleaning algae off the sides. And once it's built up enough scratches, viewing gets obstructed. 

 

Often going with LARGE tanks, you start to fall into custom built stands. So don't be surprised if you cannot find anything suitable. 

 

Edited June 22, 2022 by jayc

[Moul1974]

For beginners and smaller tanks, I recommend glass aquariums because of their affordability and scratch resistance. For larger, more advanced aquariums, we recommend acrylic because it's lighter and easier to repair than glass.

Edited December 5, 2022 by Moul1974
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