Coryd55

Has anyone ever made or used an aquarium out of plexiglass/acryllic. Do they really scratch that bad? My grandmother(lives across the street) wants a large display tank but can't really afford a glass. It is just her and her significant other so no one will be scratching at it or constantly touching it. Would it still scratch bad? Also she wants one fairly large (100+ gallons.) Any suggestions or comments are appreciated.

Chief_waterchanger

Dino and I have a 112g acrylic that I think is a good tank aside from the fact that we can't use an over the side filter on it. Otherwise it looks nice and functions greatly.

TheEssigs

We have both glass and acrylic... and I prefer glass.

Acrylic looks great, is light weight, but will scratch very easily, and often times inadvertantly. I used a papertowel to wipe up water that ran down the side of the tank and it left tiny hairline haze scratches. Forget about what my ring did.

You need to purchase cleaners and equipment for acrylic use only... and even then, use with caution. I used an acrylic mag float for algae removal and it left a mark...

If you go acrylic, just remember to use caution...

≈ D ≈

When you say can't afford a glass one are you talking about a new one? If so, try your local Craigslist as you may find a nice one at a good price - even if it is a tank only. That is how I get my tanks (anything above 10g) as new ones are a bit pricey for me at the moment.

You could always build a stand and hood for her or you may know someone that could build one to your specs.

Personally, I'd go with glass as it is much easier to care for IMO.

Just my

MissMTS

In my area, the acrylic tanks are a lot more expensive than the glass ones. I would reccomend craigslist too.

ER9

i make acrylic furniture, boxes and such all day at work and before i ever bought an aquarium i swore i'd never buy an acrylic one. in fact my current one is glass. it takes attention to maintain its finish and appearance.

because i spend alot of time trying to repair damage people unwittingly do to their acrylic furniture i always thought it was to much of a pain. that being said it has its tradeoffs. the tanks...especially the heatbent ones with the rounded front corners are geourgous. i think they look alot better than glass because of their clarity. they are lighter and also alot of times cheaper. if you are carefull cleaning them they can maintain a beautifull finish. but as was eluded to in an above post...something as simple as picking one up or rubbing up against one with a watch or wedding ring can cause damage.

you do have to learn how to clean them properly as well. in our shop we use nothing but cheesecloth to clean plexiglass and it always has to be moist...even dry cheesecloth will scratch plexi. very soft (used, worn out) cotton or flannel are alternatives to cheesecloth. there are many plexi polish/cleaners on the market as well and i highly recomend using one every time you clean exterior surfaces. we use Novus #1 and #2 for general cleaning. also MeGuires makes excellent cleaners/polish for plexi. for the interior of tanks i would recomend nothing but a scrub by hand with clean cheesecloth, cotton or flannel as previously mentioned.

very mild dishsoap and water are alternatives for the outside of the tank to get off any grime. windex can be used occasionally for stuborn grime as can pledge for general polish/cleaning. pledge is actually a decent polish and i use it frequently in a pinch.

under the circumstances you mentioned it would be used i'd say it probably would be a decent choice. especially if its significantly cheaper.

sirdarksol

Acrylic isn't cheaper than glass, at least not in my experience. I've looked at a dozen or more suppliers of acrylic, and have come to the determination that the internet guy who says you can make a big tank for under $100 is full of it. Even stuff off of eBay costs more than buying a new 100g glass from Petsmart, let alone checking out Craigslist.