Glass Vs. Acrylic

I am looking into getting a new tank, approx 150 gallon, what are the pros and cons of glass and acrylic?

 

Glass = heavy
Acrylic = very easily scratched

 

Very very easily scratched. If there will be kids around your tank go with glass the weight is worth it.

 

someone who has just taken the outside of his set up reef tank and replaced it with a new outside ( tank) can vouch for the fact Acrylic scrathes to easily and you end up with a foggy appearance due to multiple small shallow scratches

Steve

 

Well it seems like glass is the better option Other than being lighter which really isn't a concern for me, does acrylic have any other advantages over glass?

 

Its easier to drill I suppose as its softer and thus not as prone to cracking

its tougher to some degree and can handle knocks that might crack a glass tank

but the one disadvantage overrides the other advantages can be cleary seen in this photo taken before I renewed my tank recently - algae magnet and trapped sand caused these scratches and scuffs

Steve

 

I agree with the others, I would go glass, especially with larger aquariums. As that pic that steve posted shows, acrylic just scratches too easily.

 

The one major advantage to acrylic is it can be shaped to more interesting shaped. If you just want a standard aquarium shape though go with glass if you can.

 

I can't for the life of me understand why someone woke up and said "maybe I should make tanks out of acrylic "

It seems idiotic to me. The only pro I can see is the forming factor, but then again, you can drop glass on a mold and do the same thing that you can do with acrylic. I guess no one chooses too.

Acrylic is just too susceptable to scratches and that makes it a complete downer in my book. Any dust settles on the face is gonna keep scratching, no matter how much acrylic special products you may use. It's gonna be microscopic and then add up and add up and add up over time and just become more and more cloudy.

 

I am partial to acrylic. Unless you are using sandpaper your really not going to scratch it. the clarity is 10 times better and the best part is its not going to break. If and when it scratches you can buff them out and still have the clarity so ummmmmm why is glass better? My 220 is glass and im not unhappy but have a 20l that is acrylic and its an easy hospital tank and 3 frinds with 180 to 500 that are acrylic that have great luck with them. I would go that route.