Glass vs Acrylic - pros and cons

In planning my next tank, I'm looking to build a 150 DT (or larger). I've always had glass tanks, my current tank has starfire front and I like the clarity. I'm trying to figure out if I should go glass or acrylic on the next tank. I know it scratches easier, that's the main reason I've never tried it, I also read somewhere that it refracts light more making it harder on the eyes and when taking pics.

Just want to make sure I get the facts and I'm not missing anything, why would I choose an acrylic tank over glass? Please share your pros and cons.

 

Glass
Pros
Solid
Cheaper
Doesn't Scratch Easy
Cons
Weight
Looses its strength in seams

Acrylic
Pros
Lightness
Easier for bigger tanks
Stays solid
Cons
Price
Easy to scratch

I usually recommend glass on anything under 180, but your call.

 

I would have the starfire front and the rest plexi glass for the rest.
plexi glass is lighter,flexible, easier to drill, and clearer than glass
starfire glass is very clear, otherwise I know nothing about it
glass is heavy,less clear, more durable,not as easy to drill,etc compared to plexi glass.

 

Do they even make plexi tanks anymore?
I don't think you can combine glas and acrylics, different adhesive.

 

My new setup is my first foray into acrylic. Scratching is the biggest downside to acrylic. In my case I went with acrylic because I wanted bullet-shaped tanks (curved on one end) and glass would have been twice as expensive.

After I got the tanks, the lighter weight proved to be a godsend as I have a non-standard stand setup and messing with a 300lb glass tank would have been a major pain.

Acrylic is clearer, in general, than glass, but there are numerous glass types (e.g. Starfire) that are extremely clear.

Acrylic is far easier to work with if you ever need to modify your tank.

Glass and acrylic have different structural strengths. I live in an earthquake zone and am happy to have acrylic because it won't shatter or split at the seams like glass could.

Acrylic tends to be more expensive in smaller tanks, but it starts to even out the bigger you go.

 

Thanks for the input everyone, you confirmed what I was thinking. I would most likely go with glass just because of the scratch issue with acrylic. Just wanted bounce this off you to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything.

 

Scratching is easier with acrylic yes but is also easily avoided, for an ounce of patience is worth every break free day. Using acrylic safe scrubbers helps alot if you like the mag float style scrubbers they come in acrylic safe but just make sure you don't push any snails around on the acrylic also avoid getting close to sandy substrates. So long as you baby an acrylic tank you'll be scratch free!

 

Plexiglass IS acrylic. And it will NOT bond to glass, ever. So an acrylic tank with starfire front is impossible.

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There is a tank builder who has developed a glass / acrylic hybrid tank design.. The name escapes me but it is done.
I think for the most part I'd always use glass. Acrylic tanks are beautiful but I personally like the safety of glass against scratching. If I were going to try acrylic, I'd start with a small one to get the feel of it...

 

Every acrylic tank I've seen has scratches. Not only that, if you use the wrong cleaner for acrylic, you will fog it up. Some animals can bite holes into the acrylic and you must clean the inside everyday so no coraline builds up. I know acrylic is stronger, but most look like hell after a while...atleast the ones I've seen.