what material for tanks?

[michael]

Ive always prefered glass aquariums always thought they looked better especially for shrimps. Last night I came home and discovered one of my tanks had a cracked base and was nearly empty. I was lucky enough to save the shrimp . But now I have the fun task of transfering everything to a spare 2 foot tank (lucky I have one) and starting it again. Im about to build a new rack as some of u might have read in other threads. Should I use glass aquariums or should I opt for the far more expensive option and build my own acrylic tanks. I have worked with it before and they are stonger and lighter but im not sure which way to go.. any thoughts or opinions on what material makes a better tank acrylic or glass?

[amkr]

acrylic is prone to scratching and can look quite hazy with the accumulation of micro-scratches.

Glass shatters, acrylic scratches.

Tough call :p

[KiwiBigD]

Like Amkr says acrylic is prone to scratches. I've had a couple and both ended up in the bin, literally! It makes cleaning on the inside

pretty much impossible within anything abrasive so would not recommend at all. Glass may crack but you can clean it without harsh scratching ;-)

[amkr]

Yeah, cant razor the inside of an acrylic tank like you can a glass tank.

They recommend 'plastic' blades to clean the inside of acrylic tanks, but all it takes is a bit of gravel or sand between the blade and the tank and you're gouging big lines through the tank.

If it was my pick, I'd smash 5 tanks in a row and still get a 6th glass tank. glass 10 times out of 10.

[michael]

I know exactly what u mean I also like the look of glass. My main concern was for my shrimp. I dont want to come home and find an empty tank and dead shrimp.

[2OFUS]

I know exactly what u mean I also like the look of glass. My main concern was for my shrimp. I dont want to come home and find an empty tank and dead shrimp.

Get your new tanks for the rack 10mm

10mm is pretty thick and is much stronger then 5/6mm standard glass size

[ineke]

Maybe it wasn't level or not enough cushioning underneath . I've had glass tanks for years and never cracked one, hope I haven't jinxed myself:D

[michael]

Me either ineke . That was the first one ever. Its sitting on 12 mm mdf with a 10mm polystyrene sheet on top. So there should hsve not been any issue. Thanks for the reply 2ofus I was planning on 10mm after this happened but then I also know how much it weighs lol. Thats why I thought about acrylic cause it only weighs a fraction of glass. But I think im being swayed back to glass

[ineke]

Glass does stay crisper longer. Does seem strange about it just cracking but it seems to happen a lot, often see quick fish sales on gumtree because tank is leaking.

[michael]

Wish I knew what happened that way I could prevent it happening again. I thought about temp I know that if ur shower screen is cold and u put hot water on it it can crack but the temp in my tank is consistent so I think I can rule that out

[amkr]

whats the frame like under the MDF, 12mm MDF can and will bow under heavy weights. Is there a chance its bowed and caused excess strain on the bottom glass?

[michael]

Its a 90 x 45 mgp12 frame with 75mm bugel screws holding it together. 2 center suports at 300mm centers here is a pic befor I moved it and added the polystrene. It was the bottom left tank

[michael]

I almost forgot the front has a double thickness support I did this to ensure that it woildnt bow as the entire length is only 1260mm

[newbreed]

,Hey mate, sorry to hear this has happened. I have always had glass only tanks. Your stand looks great.

[Squiggle]

I've built & installed lots of both & still to tis day prefer glass, first thing about acrylic is you have to have double the thickness you would with glass, so if you have a 10mm glass tank, it has to be 20mm if it's acrylic. Next thing is acrylic can get crazing, little tiny stress cracks that look like crap. Also, as already mentioned, it scratches easily, look at it the wrong way & you'll scratch it, lol. Glass is much easier to work with, can repair cracks pretty easily by getting a glass patch & silicone it in place over the crack, can't do that with acrylic, it's a throw away if something happens. Glass is much better & my favourite thing about glass is you can just touch it & you get an idea of the tank temp :victorious:

[michael]

Thanks for the points all valid. Im pretty sure the end result us hands down glass the people have spoken cant argue with that lol

[shrimpstan]

this might be random but is it possible to make a tank with a combination of the two materials?

for example the base, back and sides could be acrylic while the front could be glass?

me personally i only clean the front glass and leave the rest for algae to do its thing so the scratching aspect wouldn't be as detrimental.

the benefit i see is the insulation properties of acrylic vs glass. during winter the heaters would definitely run less in acrylic tanks yeah?

any thoughts?

[michael]

You certainly can some people use perspex as the base with glass sides and ive also seen the back and sides done as u said with a glass front and they were done out of black perspex

[Squiggle]

My only concern with you idea is how would you join the two materials? Silicone doesn't adhere well to acrylic & Acryfix doesn't adhere well to glass :confused:

[KiwiBigD]

Get your new tanks for the rack 10mm

10mm is pretty thick and is much stronger then 5/6mm standard glass size

Gotta agree with Garry, all of my tanks bar one is 10mm glass, its tough, can take the hits and cleaning is a breeze