acrylic aquariums?

[txg8gxp]

Looking for alittle advise here. Acrylic or gl***** I like the acrylic for weight and drilling, but easy scratching sucks. Glass well just heavy, visible seams, plus a risk to drill. Any input would great. Thanks,stephen

[justahobby]

Pre-drilled glass. It's heavy but how often do you plan on moving? From what I've seen, the only real way to fix scratches on acrylic is drain the tank and buff them out.

[Mike]

As you have said, both have their advantages. I would say our preference is glass over acrylic due to the scratch factor. Just don't get tempered glass and you should be fine with the drilling. Several sponsors and some other people on MAAST can do the drilling for you, just ask around when you are ready.

[txg8gxp]

Ok, thanks. Well, what do you guys think about brands? Will I get alot more from someone like oceanic or will I just pay for a name? Of coarse starfire glass tanks will be better than a standard aga. But It is really worth the extra money to get a higher end tank with new glass or stick with traditional glass tanks?

[corruption]

it really depends how much you're looking to spend when building... if you're looking in the sub 150 or so gallon range, IMO you're money's best spent going standard and drilling for needs... much larger, theres a lot to be said for the benefits of having it right from the start... How big are you looking to go here?

Like Mike said -- plenty of advantages and disadvantages for both.. one of the nicest to me on acrylics is the shapability of it -- much more difficult to make a tank thats built for a downward-angle viewing panel out of glass than it is with acrylics.... but as soon as a scratch appears, removal is a real pain...

-Corruption