Acrylic and Puffers

[chasekwe]

I was reading through a thread further down in this forum and somebody mentioned offhandedly that you cannot put puffers in an acrylic tank. Is this true and if so, why?

Also, are there any species of fish or other creatures that cannot be in an acrylic tank?

[T-T-Trigger]

anything that might scrape the acrylic, some puffers (s&s esp. imo) will scratch it with their teeth. Other than that I can think of no reason.

[chasekwe]

That's really a problem? Wow acrylic must be softer than I thought.

[VolitanLioness]

Acrylic can scratch no matter what, I know sand can scratch it if it gets in-between your magnet. I have read urchins can scratch it but never removed mine....lol I would not worry about it as long as the tank is big enough to house the puffer.

Kaye

[ledford1]

anything that might scrape the acrylic, some puffers (s&s esp. imo) will scratch it with their teeth. Other than that I can think of no reason.
My puffer will do that to. He loves to run his teeth up and down the glass when someone get close to the tank. I think it's part of begging for food, or he's just excited to see people.

[chasekwe]

Does it make the tank look bad when he does that? My goal is to create a tank that is as flawless from the display side as possible. I don't watch scratches (or at least not ones being formed regularly making fixing them a constant upkeep issue) and I don't want to be able to see any fixtures.

Thanks for the responces btw, they've been helpful.

[Petstorejunkie]

yes, puffers, triggers and other big toothed fish and inverts can cause huge scratches in the acryllic. i also deter people from owning acryllic if there are small children in the house becasue one unattended moment around the aquarium and before you know it there are scratches all over the front from little jimmy's hot wheels! not to mention it is also a good idea to remove any metal from your person before cleaning the tank becasue you could accidentally rub a belt buckle or keys up against it and scratch it.
i personally hate acryllic, and even more i havete cleaning acryllic tanks. not to mention they also have a track record for hazing up after about 8 years.
the main resons that people are sold on acryllic is for the clarity and the fact that they are lighter weight. well hopefully you will only have to move the tank once, and if you are really concerned about the weight that much you probably bought a really large tank and can afford to have someon else install it. oceanic makes a glass tank that has no greenish tint, pure clear glass!
if you like agressive fish, then stay away from acryllic!

[stevebydac]

You had probably read one of my posts on the subject. I've never had an acrylic large tank, but have heard the horror stories firsthand. Having owned big puffers and triggers, they are often in the habit, as others have stated, of biting at the display panels to get your attention or to nip off stray bits of microalgae, etc. Think about this happening every day for several years.

You can hear such activity from another room. If a trigger's or puffer's teeth can crunch up shells and pieces of coral rock, they certainly can scratch up acrylic. They won't take bite-sized pieces out of it, but they will scratch it. Thankfully, glass is harder than their teeth though.

[capt. insano]

I have had my S&S puffer in my acrylic tank for 4 years now.....and yes, he makes very long, light scratches in the acrylic when he gets excited and flails back and forth when I approach the tank (he is always hungry)

you really cannot see the scratches until you get up close and specifically look for them. With regular viewing, you can't even see them, but they are there. Fortunately, the are only near the top where I feed. I also have to keep up with algae sweeping, because algae hits grows in these scratches first, thus making them much more visible

[Petstorejunkie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6608625#post6608625 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capt. insano

I also have to keep up with algae sweeping, because algae hits grows in these scratches first, thus making them much more visible

this is exactly why i hate acryllic tanks! you will have to scrub algae about every four days is you are using RO!