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Skerp
12/30/2008, 10:52 PM
I read a post by one of the moderators or sponsers about things you need to start a reef tank on the newbie forum. He mentioned something about acrylic and if you need to scrape coralline algae off it or not. I assume it is maybe harder to remove corraline off acrylic than it is to get off glass? If you can't answer that uestion please just post your experience with acrylic versus glass aquariums.

Thanks :)

FBNitro
12/30/2008, 10:59 PM
If you have an acrylic tank, you just need to be on top of the coraline algae. When it starts to grow, get it off ASAP.

With glass (I have a glass 10 gallon tank) you can get lazy, the other day I scraped off pounds of the stuff (ok, not literally but it felt like that) with a razor blade in 20 mins or so.

ReiferMadness
12/30/2008, 11:00 PM
I've just heard that acrylic is very scratch prone. I have had glass tanks and never had a problem. The good thing about acrylic is that there are no seams. The down side is cleaning anything off of it could be touchy.

Now, I say this never having an acrylic. Could be false but I've seen some pretty scratched acrylic in my days. They tend to look cloudy but I know that there are very big proponents of acrylic.

Clear as mud? Good :)

scottsdalreefer
12/30/2008, 11:04 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14047193#post14047193 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FBNitro
If you have an acrylic tank, you just need to be on top of the coraline algae. When it starts to grow, get it off ASAP.

With glass (I have a glass 10 gallon tank) you can get lazy, the other day I scraped off pounds of the stuff (ok, not literally but it felt like that) with a razor blade in 20 mins or so.

Why do you have to take it off?

FBNitro
12/30/2008, 11:07 PM
I like to look through the glass. If you don't well... it would be a solid purple wall. I can post a shot of my back glass panel later if you like (once the problem I'm having today clears up) which I don't clear on purpose. 95% solid purple Coraline algae I'd say, and I'm not exaggerating.

WaterKeeper
12/30/2008, 11:10 PM
It might have been me Skerp-

Fiom the article Tank Selection and Placement, Reefkeeping, Waterkeeper; November 2007
We still have some decisions to make. One of those is acrylic versus glass. Here are some thoughts I had on this subject in the past and still believe they are generally true.

As any manufacturer of acrylic tanks will tell you, acrylic tanks beat glass tanks hands down. Acrylic tanks:

Weigh less than glass
Are stronger than glass
Appear more transparent than glass
Have no seams to leak
Are much easier to drill than glass
Can be molded into unusual shapes
Are better thermal insulators than glass
Help preserve the world’s ever-dwindling supply of silicone

With all these merits, we have barely scratched the surface of the marvels of an acrylic tank. Well, hush my mouth; did I say "scratched"? Sadly, acrylic tanks are scratched more easily than a three-legged horse in the Kentucky Derby; easily enough that this flaw outweighs most of their other positive qualities.

Sure, you say, "I'll be really, really careful," but the sad truth is that even the most carefully managed acrylic tank is going to scratch over time. We all think about major scratches that occur when a piece of live rock is dragged across the acrylic’s surface, but most of the scratching is far more subtle. Particles of fine sand get sucked up by powerheads and propelled into the sides of the tank. Using a magnetic scraper crushes calcium deposits contained in coralline algae into a fine abrasive powder. Kids slide their silver teething rings across the outside of the tank.

Over time, micro scratches in the tank give it a dull, cloudy appearance. One of the main reasons for choosing acrylic is its clarity, and this haze does not enhance that image. Also, the glass aquarium manufacturers are not blind to the fact that standard glass is just not as pleasing to the eye as acrylic. To counter this, they now offer tanks made from low iron float glasses. With brand names such as Starphire™, OptiWhite™ and UltraWhite™, these tanks avoid the greenish cast that standard glass imparts due to its iron content. This really levels the playing field.

I've heard mixed results on using buffing kits to remove scratches from acrylic tanks. Some people believe that all they do is trade larger scratches for lots of smaller, micro scratches, creating an overall haze. Touring various threads on Reef Central, you find many acrylic tank owners saying that their next tank will be glass. Not so with glass tank owners, who rarely want to change.

In addition, some of the other arguments against glass are also somewhat overstated. A 100-gallon glass tank, when empty, weighs about 180 lbs., and the acrylic only about 80-85 lbs. Still, when both are full of water, they end up weighing over a half-ton, so a hundred pounds here or there is not a big issue. Glass tanks do have seams, but leakage is unlikely in a quality tank, and usually occurs when you do something foolish, such as trying to move a full tank. The silicone in used glass tanks that have been stored dry can also degrade over time, but they can be repaired. On small tanks, those 20 gallons and under, the acrylic's insulating ability will help to control temperature swings. In larger tanks this effect becomes fairly moot as the water itself provides thermal stability.

True, standard glass tanks are cheap, but if you are considering acrylic, you probably can afford to get a low-iron glass tank. It is worth the extra money and really doesn't cost much more than acrylic.

Overall, I tend to be biased toward glass.
The trick on acrylic is not to grind against the panes. Coralline is gritty, somewhat like Comet cleanser, and if you rub it into a plastic tank it will eventually make thousands of tiny scratches. If you take one of those unsolicited credit cards you get in the mail then you have a good coralline scraper. Just be gentle and scrape in one direction only. Rubbing back and froth striates the plastic and makes it cloudy over time.

Skerp
12/30/2008, 11:13 PM
Ok, thanks for the replies. But i was thinking is there another way to remove it without scratching the acrylic? Like maybe just using a plastic utensil or something, or is just being careful with the razor blade the only option? Anyone with acrylic tanks who could post experiences would be greatly appreciated.

thanks :)
Matt

FBNitro
12/30/2008, 11:15 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14047281#post14047281 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Skerp
Ok, thanks for the replies. But i was thinking is there another way to remove it without scratching the acrylic? Like maybe just using a plastic utensil or something, or is just being careful with the razor blade the only option? Anyone with acrylic tanks who could post experiences would be greatly appreciated.

thanks :)
Matt

You can buy acrylic scrapers that are plastic...

Skerp
12/30/2008, 11:20 PM
Okay so disregard my last post, Waterkeeper answered all my questions yet again. :) And with that i am decided, gunna go with glass!

Thanks peeps :)
Matt

WaterKeeper
12/30/2008, 11:24 PM
The Los Vegas showgirls will hate you for that choice. :D

Tswifty
12/31/2008, 12:28 AM
You'll be much happier with glass... or should I say, maintenance will be much less stressful. Acrylic is supposed to have better clarity, but I swear it scratches if you look at it wrong.

Skerp
12/31/2008, 02:53 PM
Lol yea swifty, so i hear . . I'm really happy with myself this time around. Actually getting somewhere with all this research, i already feel like im saving soo much time and money and dead fish/corals now that im trying to be patient with this whole process. . .anyway thanks again peeps!

Matt