Quick Acrylic Tank Question

[forddna]

Been out of the hobby for a few years. Are there any new gadgets or anything that have come out for cleaning acrylic tanks? I mean, has it gotten any easier to NOT scratch them up?

Just making sure before I completely nix the idea of purchasing one.

[Tigerdragon]

I use the Flipper works great

[forddna]

The flipper looks amazing. So it works well on acrylic? I'm sorry if this type of question is asked a million times. :/

[ghostman]

I hate to say the words for fear of starting another crazy thread, but Magic Erasers work great for cleaning acrylic tanks. I filet them down and use them every few days to clean surface algae. Obviously a grain of sand caught in it will scratch the tank just like any other cleaning pad. I use a credit card near the sandbed.

[forddna]

Does algae come off any easier or harder with acrylic?

There's a BEAUTIFUL custom tank setup for sale nearby, and I just want to be absolutely sure I'm okay with acrylic before I pull the trigger. There's another tank I might get instead, but I prefer this one.

Thank you!

[ReefsandGeeks]

I always thought the magic eraser things had some sort of chemical infused in the sponge to make them clean well. I've read a couple people using them now though without problems, so I'm intregued. I've gone to the cleaning section of target before to get some cleaning pads to try to rub some built up calcuim carbonate from where the water surface meets the glass. The pads I looked at were soft and chemical free, but upon reading the print on the back it said "not for aquarium use". I don't know why, maybe bits of particals get in the tank, maybe it scratches acrylic.

I hear the flipper works well on acrylic, My tank is glass though, so don't take my word for it.

[woodnaquanut]

Originally Posted by forddna

Does algae come off any easier or harder with acrylic?

There's a BEAUTIFUL custom tank setup for sale nearby, and I just want to be absolutely sure I'm okay with acrylic before I pull the trigger. There's another tank I might get instead, but I prefer this one.

Thank you!

Like most things in life, there are trade-offs.

I think acrylic tanks grow coraline much better than glass. At least my 120 seems to be a coraline growing machine! I don't have any problems cleaning it off with a Kent red plastic scrapper.

Acrylic is much easier to scratch. Regular glass is the hardest with low iron between the two. The advantage to acrylic is the scratches can be easily buffed out. This is almost impossible with glass.

The tanks also look different. Acrylic seams are almost invisible. With glass you have either a clear (sort of frosty) or black seam and fillet of silicone. Some people (my wife) really don't like the silicone.

Tank construction is also different. All acrylic tanks are eurobraced. Glass can have a frame, eurobrace or rimless.

Glass tanks tend to be a bit less money unless they are rimless.

So it all boils down to what you like and what you can afford. Both work just fine.

[woodnaquanut]

Originally Posted by devastator007

I always thought the magic eraser things had some sort of chemical infused in the sponge to make them clean well. .

There are different kinds of ME. Some do contain cleaning agents/detergents. You don't want this for the tank!

IIRC you want 'original' ME.

[kendrid]

I've been using Magic Erasers on my 125g acrylic and they work great. As an added bonus if you do make a very small micro scratch on the inside of the tank the Magic Eraser can take it out with some elbow grease.

I also use the Kent scraper with the pads and plastic. The plastic easily takes off coraline.

[rssjsb]

I use dobie scrubbers on my acrylic tank.

[forddna]

Plastic scrapers get coralline off of acrylic?? I never had any luck with plastic on my glass tank. I always used razor blades. I rigged up all of my scraper tools to have a razor on the end.

Another question. I don't remember ever hearing about an acrylic tank blowing apart. I'm primarily shopping for 180+ gallon tanks, so that is a huge concern. Is that a fair assumption that acrylic tanks don't come apart as often, or is just that there aren't as many out there so I'm not hearing about it?