Aside from their propesity for scratches, any other complaints about your acrylic tank? I'm waivering back to a chunky arylic tank for my new setup. Ya, I know .... i'm so wishy washy. I've appreciated all the previous input for glass; it's just acrylic does everything else I want it to with the one (big) drawback of scratches. Any other drawback(s) I'm missing?
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Acrylic tank owners
- Thread starter Len
- Start date
davidmohr":1tob9amw said:8O :?: 8O :?:
Bowing, seam splitting, melting from metal halides. Nah, I can't think of anything.
Based on your remarks, I'd guess you've dealt with (or only heard of experiences with) some incompetent and/or fraudulent acrylic tank makers. If you could give their names and specifics of what you know, we'd all be better off. While the details of a badly build glass tank would be somewhat different from the details of a badly built acrylic tank, not having the tank built well will always cause problems, no matter what the material selected. Your criticisms are of poor tank design and construction, not poor material selection.
Serious bowing can be the result of incompetence instead of an intent to defraud, but if any bowing is noticable when you look at the tank at typical angles, someone (ultimately you, the customer) didn't specify the right thickness of acrylic.
Seam splitting is either a result of extreme bowing (see above) or poor glue-up techniques. Importantly, poorly glued-up seams don't look attractive and extreme bowing is plainly noticable while filling. This early visibility should give you an opportunity to make your concerns known to the builder before there's a risk of XX gallons of water on the carpet. With glass, you just hope it holds and that there isn't a hidden stress point just waiting to fail under full load.
Melting from metal halides. It is true that if you put 400W of MH a few inches above a piece of plastic: yes, it will melt. Don't do that. It is always important to design a lighting system suitable for the tank. Haphazard assembly of components will almost never result in satisfaction. The location of acrylic cross braces should affect light placement on an acrylic tank just as much as the location of opaque braces on a glass tank. Also, if your HID bulbs are that close to the water's surface, you're very likely going to have trouble with effectively illuminating the tank, so you've got bigger problems with your lighting long before you start to melt the bracing.
IMHO, the acrylic tendency to scratch is the downside. Durability, impact response (cold molding instead of breakage), weight, clarity, join appearance, modifiability, etc. are the upsides. I have both glass and acrylic tanks now and based on my experiences with both, my next (big) tank will be acrylic.
Regards,
Ross
I have a 180 acrylic from Clarity Plus. I have 2 issues with it.
First, the tank is constructed so that the top is almost completely sealed. It has 2 small openings (about 14"x24") that are covered by removable doors. I am having trouble keeping the tank cooled due to lack of surface area for evaporation. I also had to drill out feeding holes in the top near the back to perform feeding and water testing (see below). Maybe this is a construction issue, but I have not experienced the bowing that I have heard about before.
The second issue is not with the tank itself, but the matching acrylic hood. The tank, stand and canopy were all custom made, when the canopy came in there were no doors or access points on the front or top. When I inquired as to a hinge set up I was informed that the weight of the canopy would prevent hinging it to the tank. I now have to disconnect the lights and fans and completely remove the canopy to gain access to the tank (for cleaning or adding new livestock). Again, this is an issue with the canopy, not the tank.
I love the look of the tank, the clarity is incredible - much better than my glass 120. Not sure if this will help you, but I believe my next tank will be starfire glass.
Chris
First, the tank is constructed so that the top is almost completely sealed. It has 2 small openings (about 14"x24") that are covered by removable doors. I am having trouble keeping the tank cooled due to lack of surface area for evaporation. I also had to drill out feeding holes in the top near the back to perform feeding and water testing (see below). Maybe this is a construction issue, but I have not experienced the bowing that I have heard about before.
The second issue is not with the tank itself, but the matching acrylic hood. The tank, stand and canopy were all custom made, when the canopy came in there were no doors or access points on the front or top. When I inquired as to a hinge set up I was informed that the weight of the canopy would prevent hinging it to the tank. I now have to disconnect the lights and fans and completely remove the canopy to gain access to the tank (for cleaning or adding new livestock). Again, this is an issue with the canopy, not the tank.
I love the look of the tank, the clarity is incredible - much better than my glass 120. Not sure if this will help you, but I believe my next tank will be starfire glass.
Chris
my Nano seems to work like a greenhouse if I am not careful. Being only 10 gallons, it heats up quickly, but I think that because it does not conduct heat well, that it holds the heat in more than glass would. That is about my only complaint.
On the up side it is extreemly clear, it almost looks like a cube of uncontained water if positioned where there is no glare on the plexiglass.
On the up side it is extreemly clear, it almost looks like a cube of uncontained water if positioned where there is no glare on the plexiglass.
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