90 gallan super tall plans.

[Moby the Goby]

Hey my follow addicts,

My plans for a 24x24x36 with a 5" center overflow (2" drill hole) are on their way. I have submitted my design to aquariumdesigns. Richie was very helpful in answering many questions and also gave me more great ideas. He's trying to sell me on the acrylic for many reasons. the look and quality of the seem without silicone, that acrylic is clearer than glass, it doesnt shatter. He said either 3/4 or 1". It seems that most hobbiest talk about glass aquariums for scratch reasons. Namely the sand in your magfloat scratches. Is acyrlic good to use for my plans? Should I proceed or find someone else who deals with glass? does it even really matter? Im lookin at around $1700 for tank only.

[salvini55]

WOW thats a pricey tank! IMHO save the money and buy a regular tank and put the rest towards good equipment

[elk]

If he can afford 1700 just for a tank,I think he would buy top quality equipment.

[salvini55]

good point 

[jimskoi]

Buy the acrylic and put it together yourself.Its not hard.
I sold a guy the acrylic to build a 180 with a 125 gal sump-$1200

[Hookup]

You've got the arguments right there.  Acrylic vs Glass is like Canon vs Nikon or Rogers vs Bell, etc..

If you're extra careful with the acrylic, really careful, it has advantages.  I've heard it can be scratched by using a credit-card to scrape the acrylic clean of algae, which to me is way too soft.

Know, even glass will get buggered up if you put gravel in your mag-float and scrub... but Glass + Razorblade  to scrap = success that is easy... do the same with acrylic and you'll have to be extra careful.

There are many tanks that are acrylic; but the ratio is very low.  I'd wager there are more starfire glass tanks than acrylic tanks... and consider starfire somewhere as the best of both worlds.  Clear like acrylic, and hard like glass (not as hard as regular glass, it still scratches, but not like acrylic).

I would check out, just for pricing, what a starfire glass tank will cost.  I'd imagine it wouldn't be that big of a difference however, as you/aquairumdesigns point out, the corners are more visible than acrylic.

[jimskoi]

Acrylic is easier to scratch but,you can buff them out.Glass you can not.
Acrylic is lighter but costs more.
Glass is harder to scratch but they can not be removed.
Glass is cheaper to buy.

[Brine]

Acrylic is easier to scratch but,you can buff them out.Glass you can not.

The one thing about buffing the scratches is that you can't do it underwater without messing with the water chemistry. So if the scratch is inside the tank you'd have to drain the tank and remove the stock etc.
One other advantage of acrylic is that it can be formed. So you can make a ten foot long bowfront if you want to. Not cheap, but it can be done.

[Vincenzo.]

it's personal preference. in all serious building your own tank is not hard. but you have to weigh in all the factors. like.. time, materials, cost of gas for traveling around, your personal labor, tools, equipt... it might be the same in the end. but if you have most of the stuff kicking around, diy is always fun.

[Canoe]

Doesn't seem that pricey.
I was quoted $2900 for a 48x24x31 with front & sides Starfire.
One kids throws the wrong thing and I've got a flood and the livestock is toast.
I'll be getting a quote for acrylic before I go ahead.

[Brine]

You can also build a large tank out of plywood with only the front panel made of glass. It is considerably less expensive. There are a few sites that explain the process. Here is one I found
http://hubpages.com/hub/Building-a-Plywood-fish-tank
Here is a video of a smaller wooden tank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Krdp0Jm2HOo