Plastic Or Glass ?

S

Shaun

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Mar 16, 2003
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Berwick-upon-Tweed area of Northumberland (UK)
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Hi
Along time ago I used to have fish now my son has shown an interest so I have once again got the bug. My question is plastic or glass, the new idea seems to be to use plastic for tank construction and I was wondering is it strong enough? Does it discolour, go brittle and can you clean it or over time does it go opaque. Lots of questions I know but in my day it was all glass (I know it says junior but I am really a 40+ but not to good with computers) Any help woul be apreciated
Thanks
 
If you have algae eaters or large snails, they will scratch the sides of the acrylic. Also, if you use inappropriate cleaning solutions such as ammonia/Windex or alcohol, these will make the surface opaque.

HTH
 
Personally I like glass. Less prone to scratching. Scratches in Acrylic can be fixed however, glass isn't so easy (not sure if they can be?). Acrylic is lighter and the seems are stronger. I believe acrylic is clearer also, but this shouldn't really be a concern unless you're getting a large tank with thick walls. Acrylic is more $$$. You may try pricing two tanks of equal size and see what the difference is in price. Bottom line: they both hold water. :)
 
Plastic tanks don't break like glass tanks. For a decent sized tank think of the cleanup involved if you shatter the aquarium glass. Think 50+ gallons of water on the carpet.
 
Acrylic just cracks really bad, then bursts :D

Acrylic catchs fire and melts pretty badly too.
 
Thanks for your reply’s , I was thinking of constructing the tank my self slightly deeper than the 2' we seem to have in England so I could have 4'x2'x 2.5' deep and was thinking about cost and ease of construction. Any sites that help with this? Thickness required etc. Sorry to be a pain but hopefully I may be able to contribute in the future keep up the good work.
 
Shaun, you're not a pain!! The more questions the better. Maybe for someone who has done it all *cough*slip*cough* there is some redundancy, but for us newer members, we can learn through others.

Here is your first helpful thing to do (do I feel dumb!), answer this question...

Is an English Foot (ie 1') different from an American Foot (ie 1')? Yes I'm serious!! It's late, that's my defense! Slip is messin' with my head and he don't even know it.:confused:
 
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