Pros and cons of acrylic v. glass tanks...

[Virginia Reef]

I am planning a 240g in-wall to replace my 90g glass tank. I need some help in considering the merits of glass v. acrylic. This includes appearance, durability, cleaning, cost.

I know that an acrylic tank is easy to drill for closed loop systems. In fact, I could drill it myself as part of the setup process. I suppose that I could order a custom drilled glass tank.

After 3 years of a glass tank, I have some minor scratching problems from a Mag Float scraper and other things. How do people with acrylic tanks handle cleaning and maintenance without major scratch problems? Are scratches on the inside invisible since they are underwater? Can external scratches be removed with proper sanding and buffing techniques? How do you keep corraline and other tough-to-clean growth from the inside front of the tank?

How does the cost compare? Who are some reliable vendors?

Thanks.

 

[Len]

Acrylic pros:
easier to modify/drill
more transparent
usually cheaper
lighter

Acrylic cons:
much easier to scratch
attracts coralline growth on it
does not handle high heat as well as glass

Glass pros:
scratch resistent

Glass cons:
heavy
more expensive
harder to modify

I've heard of both failing at about the same rate, but provided you get your tank built right, both are unlikely to fail on you. I've heard good things about Envision Acrylics for acrylic. For glass, the usual suspects are Oceanic, AGA, Interamerican, and Leemar. I got mine from a Canadian company named Aquarium Obsessed, though I haven't received it yet. I'll leave it for others to recommend more manufacturers.

You can buff out scratches in both acrylic and glass tanks. They make scratch remover kits which are made up of different grades of very fine sandpaper. Light scratches in acrylic are invisible, but the chances of deep scratches is more likely with acrylic then with glass.