Crystal clear: What is your opinion of acrylic reef tanks?

[Turbo's Aquatics]

which micromesh do you use? do you have a link?

in addition to magic eraser sponge, do you use any scraper?

manufacturer: https://micro-surface.com/product-category/products-by-type/kits/
Where I bought it last: https://www.sisweb.com/micromesh/

 

[Reeflix]

Bowing is minimal if you have proper thickness of acrylic

i dont know... i am just attracted to low iron rather than acrylic. just a personal opinion

 

[italquam]

i dont know... i am just attracted to low iron rather than acrylic. just a personal opinion

I would say low iron varies in quality also , if you look at a video of Aquaforest aquariums , they point out that they use Pilkington Optiwhite and they place it next to low iron glass. What a difference

 

[KrisReef]

Not true. Can buff with everything in it. Wet/dry sandpaper attached to your algae magnet. Start with 3000 grit and go down to about 12000-15000 grit. Comes out like new.

Yes, some people have the talents to do this correctly. I did an empty tank a long time ago and it came out very nice. I’ve tried it a few times later in life and I don’t have the patience or visual acuity to do that now.
I have seen a number of acrylic tanks that were ruined by folks who tried to polish them and failed miserably. If you are using dry buff processing and high speed power tools these tanks can be destroyed by starting crazing of the acrylic, and the tank will slowly get unviewable with expanding scratching-haze.

Don’t try repair on a scratch until you have a good understanding of how to polish acrylic properly.

I don’t trust silicone seams to hold forever and a badly scratched acrylic tank will keep holding water, the primary purpose of a tank is to hold water and not release it.

 

[1979fishgeek]

I’ve owned a few acrylic tanks and I’m stilling running a 250l acrylic column aquarium, same issue always with them they scratch so easily

 

[bakbay]

This thread is very timely. I'm looking at a 96x48x24 (~479g) acrylic tank. All sides are 3/4" except the top & bottom at 1/2". I'm looking to do all sizes 1" but it's cost prohibitive. Would 3/4" be ok at this size? Any concerns with the top & bottom being 1/2"?

 

[WilGao]

As with everything, there are pros and cons. Acrylic tanks have better aesthetics, are more transparent, lighter, they can be molded in various ways, the joints between one panel and the other are almost invisible, and they are better temperature insulators, the downside is that they scratch very easy and are much more expensive than glass. On the other hand, glass tanks do not insulate the temperature as well, they are very heavy, they cannot be molded like acrylic, the silicone that joins the panels is visible, they have a greenish tint (unless you buy extra clear glass), the advantage is that they are not so expensive and it is more difficult for them to get scratched, but can break easily.

 

[C_AWOL]

Anything under a standard 180 is glass for me due to the fact that it's generally a lot less expensive.
Anything over will be 1 step up on thickness acrylic to reduce/eliminate any bowing. No bow/less bowing = way less stratches in my experience.
Being able to really sleep due to a really huge decrease in physical tank disasters is an enormous plus as well.

 

[C_AWOL]

This thread is very timely. I'm looking at a 96x48x24 (~479g) acrylic tank. All sides are 3/4" except the top & bottom at 1/2". I'm looking to do all sizes 1" but it's cost prohibitive. Would 3/4" be ok at this size? Any concerns with the top & bottom being 1/2"?

I assume this is going to be a one and done upgrade? If so, saving money to cut corners is a big no in my opinion.
I did 1" all around with no regrets on my 450 but iirc height dictates thickness more than width.

 

[albano]

I did 1" all around with no regrets on my 450 but iirc height dictates thickness more than width.

Not (officially) an expert, but I believe that you are correct… my 500g acrylic tank (6’x5’x 25”h) is 1/2” thick on sides, and is fine, because it is 25” tall.
Tank was purchased in 2016 and is still in perfect condition.

 

[bakbay]

I assume this is going to be a one and done upgrade? If so, saving money to cut corners is a big no in my opinion.
I did 1" all around with no regrets on my 450 but iirc height dictates thickness more than width.

As you know in this hobby, there is no such thing as "one and done" right? Who knows -- I might want a 1,000g in a year? Again, still dreaming -- I have the space for it but balancing the budget with my other expensive hobbies.

Question is - is 1" all round that much better in terms of structural integrity? Understand that it's peace of mind knowing that it will be protected for the next 20+ years.

EDIT: essentially, it's something like this:

Tsunami 440 Gallon 96"Lx48"Wx24"H Acrylic Aquarium

Fish Tanks Direct specializes exclusively in freshwater aquariums and saltwater fish tanks. Buy your aquarium fish tanks direct and save with free shipping.

fishtanksdirect.com

 

[JGT]

@Tenecor Aquariums
Time to bring in the experts.

 

[albano]

EDIT: essentially, it's something like this:

Tsunami 440 Gallon 96"Lx48"Wx24"H Acrylic Aquarium

Fish Tanks Direct specializes exclusively in freshwater aquariums and saltwater fish tanks. Buy your aquarium fish tanks direct and save with free shipping.

fishtanksdirect.com

Fish Tanks Direct built my 200g and 500g, plus 2 other 450g tanks for friends, definitely get my recommendation.
Among my many other tanks, I still have a 120g 4’x2’x2’ Tenecor tank with 1/4” 1 piece sides and front, that still looks like new, that I had custom made in approx 1994! Would also recommend them.

 

[BillFish Coral Lover]

To anyone who can keep an acrylic tank without serious scratches, please accept my humble respect.

 

[Lowell Lemon]

This thread is very timely. I'm looking at a 96x48x24 (~479g) acrylic tank. All sides are 3/4" except the top & bottom at 1/2". I'm looking to do all sizes 1" but it's cost prohibitive. Would 3/4" be ok at this size? Any concerns with the top & bottom being 1/2"?

The thickness calculator indicated .708" material for this tank with a maximum inside water height of 22". When you subtract the top and bottom you are at 23" and then the overflow may lower the actual water column at least an inch.
.708 material is the actual thickness of standard acrylic sold as 3/4". So yes this checks out as the minimum gauge material for this tank.

 

[italquam]

As you know in this hobby, there is no such thing as "one and done" right? Who knows -- I might want a 1,000g in a year? Again, still dreaming -- I have the space for it but balancing the budget with my other expensive hobbies.

Question is - is 1" all round that much better in terms of structural integrity? Understand that it's peace of mind knowing that it will be protected for the next 20+ years.

EDIT: essentially, it's something like this:

Tsunami 440 Gallon 96"Lx48"Wx24"H Acrylic Aquarium

Fish Tanks Direct specializes exclusively in freshwater aquariums and saltwater fish tanks. Buy your aquarium fish tanks direct and save with free shipping.

fishtanksdirect.com

You should reach out to a company like Tenecor or Midwest Custom Aquariums......also the member Lowell Lemon is a great source and builder

 

[KrisReef]

As you know in this hobby, there is no such thing as "one and done" right? Who knows -- I might want a 1,000g in a year? Again, still dreaming -- I have the space for it but balancing the budget with my other expensive hobbies.

Question is - is 1" all round that much better in terms of structural integrity? Understand that it's peace of mind knowing that it will be protected for the next 20+ years.

EDIT: essentially, it's something like this:

Tsunami 440 Gallon 96"Lx48"Wx24"H Acrylic Aquarium

Fish Tanks Direct specializes exclusively in freshwater aquariums and saltwater fish tanks. Buy your aquarium fish tanks direct and save with free shipping.

fishtanksdirect.com

The long stretch across the front and back tend to bow towards the middle, and the sides @ 48” tend to bow half as much (non experts/ non- material engineering mathematics) as force across distances is where bowing exhibits itself. On all four wall, the bowing from water weight is exhibiting more towards the bottom of the tank, but is equal vector on all walls.

The joining of the walls to the bottom creates stressing on that thin bottom pane and if you make it really thin it will deform more, possibly fail just from filling related stress. The extra thickness on the bottom could reduce the deformation at the bonding areas.

I am not an engineer but I have owned a few acrylic tanks and have observed the resulting deformation from water mass. I would guess that 1” front and back panels with 3/4” sides and bottom would be not likely to have noticeable deformation when filled. A Thinner top for bracing might make more sense than a thinner bottom, but all of these things are going to cost you more initially but 45 years from now when your kids move it out it will be worth a lot more than a thin walled tank that has deformed and bowed with time.

You should maybe start a building thread and get some quotes and recommendations from a few manufacturers to document those recommendations and the outcome of your efforts to provide a great pathway for others to follow.

 

[miran2782]

Transparent Aluminum will hold a couple of whales in an aquarium.

Not to mention survive time travel and a crash landing.

 

[C_AWOL]

As you know in this hobby, there is no such thing as "one and done" right? Who knows -- I might want a 1,000g in a year? Again, still dreaming -- I have the space for it but balancing the budget with my other expensive hobbies.

Question is - is 1" all round that much better in terms of structural integrity? Understand that it's peace of mind knowing that it will be protected for the next 20+ years.

EDIT: essentially, it's something like this:

Tsunami 440 Gallon 96"Lx48"Wx24"H Acrylic Aquarium

Fish Tanks Direct specializes exclusively in freshwater aquariums and saltwater fish tanks. Buy your aquarium fish tanks direct and save with free shipping.

fishtanksdirect.com

Thicker material should be a lot more structurally sound. To what degree I can't answer, but the use of 3/4 on the 2 side panels/top + bottom as others mention (from a quick skim) doesn't sound bad for the height you're going with.

 

[Pridedcloth3]

Don’t want a glass tank for free! Been using acrylic for about 35 years, have tanks that are over 20yrs old and can look brand new!
IMO, most people that don’t like acrylic have never had one, while acrylic owners have had glass, but now would never go back.
Glass scratches are forever!

I gotta disagree, I got an acrylic tank and after a year I gave it away and went back to glass. Literally I set it out front with a free sign on it.