Just sold my 220 and 240 acrylics. I used micro fiber cloths from day one. No noticable scratches. I would never own a glass tank over 125 gallons. A well made properly cared for acrylic will never leak. I'll take peace of mind over some scratches any day. Awesome tanks and fish!

My 500 gallon acrylic bowfront no longer gets new scratches. I have learned to use magnetic cleaners with sheets of magic eraser sandwiched between the magnets. Zero new scratches in two years. I also learned how to buff the scratches out with the tank full and little disturbance to the fish using progressively finer sand paper and magnetic cleaners. Silicone on glass tanks does break down. I have had to reseal my 200 gallon glass aquarium and I can see degradation of silicone on all my glass aquariums. Time does fly and you end up with worrying about tanks breaking when they are glass. I can send you a youtube link on how to buff out acrylic scratches?

I have an acrylic aquarium my parents bought me in 1972, and they bought it as a USED tank, then. It's still in use today. No glass aquarium can match that.

nice share bro...always good to hear the good the bad and the ugly, from someone that actually has a big tank!

This is an excellent video of pros and cons. Thanks for sharing. 👍

Beautiful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL TANK! I love it man, inspires me to up my aquarium game, and did I say how being it is?!?! Seriously I give this a 10 out of 10 I give you props on your tank!

Grat video… I was split between two options and I’m sure to stay with glass… might do DIY from harden glass, but that is a new choice to make. Thank you!

I equate owning an acrylic aquarium (my 180 gallon) with my watch or car: They'll all eventually get scratched. As much as I hate those scratches, I embrace the item, regardless, because they bring me joy.

Nothing worse than a scratched tank. I hate scratches. But remember it is only us who see the scratches. In time I have learned to live with scratches on the tank, and don't fuss over it like I used to.

great info! thanks

Wow!!!! Your aquariums are incredible!!!! My dream!!!! I always go saltwater, but I haven’t had one in 10 years, and the itch is back! Only thing, I literally can’t figure out where to put a new tank! I don’t want it in my basement as that’s my studio, so, I need it upstairs. I never thought the struggle would be so hard! Keep up the great work!!

Thx for the video. I hate scratches in my aquarium too. After seeing your video. I know for sure, I'll be sticking to glass tanks.

Thanks for the info. I have a 110 glass aquarium that's super heavy so I am considering an acrylic upgrade for that reason alone!!!

Thanks for the video. I was trying to make up my mind on my upgrade and I think I just did that would bug me like crazy sorry you’re dealing with that issue .but that’s a beautiful tank . 🐟🐠

I have a large glass aquarium and it does have a couple scratches on the inside from the sand substrate from weekly maintenance, I can only imagine how many more scratches there would be if it was acrylic. It would make me crazy after spending 4x more for acrylic just to scratch 4x easier, Beautiful set up by the way.

Thanks for this opinion!

I have the same problems with my acrylic 40 gallon. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to get rid of it.

Those fish are GORGEOUS!!

Been following you for years now....I wish you more subscribers ✨

So if I have this right, you saw that the way you were cleaning your tank was scratching it, and you continued to clean it the same way every time?

Very informative man. Its my dream to one day have a tank like you bro. Nice setup

I built acrylic aquariums, custom, for a summer job......pet shop in St.Louis. There are a lot of reasons for a acrylic aquarium;MUCH clearer than glass, light weight and easy to do custom shapes/colors. We also sold standard glass aquariums. The shop had both in service for yrs....both hold up about the same. But since then acrylic has gotten a lot more expensive. I would talk to a plastic company about wiping tanks underwater....there has to be a way without scratching. We also custom built the filter on the back with an acrylic enclosure...even slid a saltwater pump into acrylic rails glued to the back. It was a three stage filter system with glass wool, glass marbles and a ultraviolet bulb.....all based on a six foot long tank.....undergravel was custom built, again with acrylic. We were pulling the water in a loop which started at the top, ran through the filter system and up through the undergravel. We had very low death rate with the salt water fish and that filter system. We used black acrylic for the back....made it look like the fish were swimming into infinity. We made tops out of acrylic that were sectional and easy to take off. We had some sort of sealed fluorescent lights that just laid on the top.....pick different color bulbs etc. Acrylic for me......

Great video. I have the same tank based on one of your videos. Still love mine. Its been set up just over a year. I have a few minor scratches. I use Fritz acrylic cleaner with a microfiber cloth on the outside. Check out the Tunze Care Magnet. There is no way to get sand trapped in there to scratch it.

I use Mr clean magic eraser sheets with magnets. You do have to be careful with sand though. I push all the sand back from the edge of the acrylic before cleaning the glass down low.

How many tanks do you have? Exactly I have 2 one acrylic one glass. I take my time cleaning and still looks beautiful no scratches yet. I'm sure you can't take the time I can to clean.

I prefer acrylic. Everything looks better in an acrylic. I don't have many scratches in my acrylic. I love how light weight the acrylic is. The only thing I don't like is acrylic is 10 times more expensive than glass.

How do you feel about the Waterbox aquariums I’m debating purchasing the reef LX 320?

I have owned two since I live in a travel trailer and wanted the more even temperature fluctuation and lighter weight. I just use a microfibre cloth in Circular motions and have kept scratching to a minimum thankfully.

I've had my acrylic tank a few months and no scratches but I don't have sand in mine. I'm just really careful and I do daily water changes. I use suction cups with no problem.

I love seeing all of your wet monsters in that 350! Especially love the Viejas. I’m inspired by your success & hope that I can mix some Vieja species myself & have some semblance of peace or power balance in my tanks too. Good luck with that Ich. Have you ever used any Fritz Copper safe Ich treatment? Just curious.

Thank you! I’m only looking to get a 40 gallon and was considering changing from my glass cube to acrylic because I heard acrylic is safer and I’m worried about possible leakage. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for this review.

can you show us how your filter works? Thanks, i like your setup looks cool!

Im sure you have figured this out but take a scraper and scoot your sand over from the side of the glass then let the sand settle for aprox 30 minutes then clean the bottom of your tank

What kind of sand did you use?

I’ve bought quite a few used tanks, and scratches are the main reason I decided to buy my 210g brand new. So no I don’t think you’re crazy lol. I fully understand the annoyance of cleaning algae out of scratches.

That tank is awesome...

Ahh I can't say this enough man you have always inspired me with your fishes! And thanks for you and your video on how and where to look for driftwood and how to cure it I have found some amazing specimens! By the way how is the red devil doing?

Yea my ocd wouldn’t allow me for a scratch magnet like that. They do look nice though. But def that view you showed the scratches, it drives me me nuts

Your frickin awesome!

For me the best point of an acrylic aquarium is that plastic "sheets" are not glued or siliconed, they are kind of soldered, so there are no joints, another story is if under heavy stressful forces the plastic would break, but in that case it would rather break in the middle or close of a flat panel than in an edge. Asuming that the unions are correctly done. But for normal weights the acrylic is safer than glass. Another point, yes, acrylic scratches much easily than glass, but acrylic can be fixed and look like new while a scratch on glass will stay there forever. It only needs a mistake using somethig with a grain of sand to have a line that won't ever go away. Acrylic is also more transparent than glass, even than that so clear glass. And that so so so clear glass, according to the experience from a colleague, scratches easier than normal glass, acrylic still scratches easily but he threw two aquariums because of that, without doing anything out of normal, nor having any incident. And without the aim of giving a lesson, but with shrimp, some fish and snails, plus UV light, plusless nutrients in the water, maintenance is very reduced. Add plants, many, to get rid of the excess of nutrients floating in the aquarium so water also looks nicer.

Which brand acrylic did your purchase? Maybe you mentioned it in the video. The thought of the safety of reducing the chance of leaking glass seams is SO desirable.

Acrylic is the absolute best ! Definitely the most bang for your buck, HANDS DOWN.

I am considering this same tank. I actually like acrylic tanks but was wondering if you’ve had any trouble with it bowing?

Hi ,and thank you for your great advice ,and awesome looking fish, I was wondering aside from the scratches ,is an acrylic tank stronger ? I have a 100 gl. Glass tank for my Cichlids ,a green Texas cichlid ,a Jack Dempsey,and a Convict ,I just recently moved ,and had to remove the the fish for the transport ,the fish survived, but I noticed the tank is showing signs of minor leaks , I found a 100 gl. Plexiglass tank for online for 80 dollars ,but not sure if it's safe ,since I don't know the difference between acrylic or plexiglass ,and if they're the same ,any advice you could give ,the glass is not leaking real bad ,and I could probably be alright for awhile ,the water here in Arizona is real hard too ,so it creates alot of calcium ,thank you

I owned an aquarium shop for 7-8 years back in the late 80s and early 90s, had both glass and acrylic tanks, fresh and salt. No scratches except where big coral heads got knocked over. We were cleaning those tanks all the time, but we used the acrylic safe pads. The saltwater tanks were loaded with crushed coral, so we’d just be careful when working down low.. fan it away, clean the spot, fan it back. I used to have people tell me all the time they’d never get an acrylic tank because of the scratches. I had a keyring with about a dozen keys on it and I’d pull it out of my pocket then I’d lob it at an acrylic tank, not super hard but not super soft either, and then I’d pick it up off the floor and rub the tank with it, not super hard but not super soft. Then I’d say ‘I’ll never try that on my glass tanks”. Never scratched until some guy said “Yeah, but what if you hit it with something sharp like the blade of a scissors?”. Well you know what? It cuts like butter. I had to sand it out. From straight on it was hard to tell, but from an angle there was an obvious spot the tank had been worked. After that I’d say just don’t hit them with a razor blade or those pad cleaners for glass, use acrylic safe cleaners. Can’t say if people had luck with my advice or not, but I’ve seen plenty of scratches on glass tanks over the years, and those generally aren’t readily buffed out.

Thanks.. Your tanks look nice..I've had probably 50 tanks in various sizes, since the 1980's. In my experiences all glass tanks will eventually leak, or break. I eventually went to all acrylic. Yes the acrylic scratches very easy, but just don't get grit get in your cleaning tools, and be careful moving things near the plastic. And although it scratches easy, if a rock falls/rolls into the panel, it won't shatter like glass. If you keep salt tanks, salt creep is much more manageable with acrylic too. And as far as fading/discoloring, In my experience, only poor quality Mexican acrylic does this.

Usually green pads are for glass, white pads are for acrylic, that one you showed looks like a glass algae pad, weird it was labeled for acrylic. Buffing out the scratches is a royal pain in the ass, almost not worth the work. While I've never had a glass tank bust or leak, after having my 75g for 25 years, I am thinking about going acrylic for a 280g just for piece of mind there. Not being able to use a razor blade to clean hard algae, and cleaning near the sand has be on the fence though cause I know what it's going to be like. I used to do aquarium service for a living.

I scratch my glass tank. Clumsy Oaf. 😂😂 I have thought about acrylic as they hardly ever leak or explode. That's a big plus.

I agree with you this why I have all glass. And salt water don't mix to well

What about if you catch the algae early before it builds up and clean the inside of the tank with a soft sponge, weekly? I’m getting an acrylic Fluval flex 123L. I’ll probably test what clean cloths work best on a single piece of acrylic before I clean my tank so I know what works best. What some people find helpful is to have clean up crew, snails and other things that will eat the algae. Would be hard to have them with your selection of fish. I’m going to go with dwarf African cichlids. I wouldn’t want an acrylic tank with large cichlids and the fish you chose either, the kind you have like moving rocks and gravel around so scratches would come about quite easily. I had many of the fish you have in your tank over the years and I know how messy they can be.

Your setup is beautiful you definitely know 100% what you’re talking about I love the way your tanks look so natural proper beautiful no other channel has natural looking beautiful well-kept Environments like you you’re a credit to the hobby dream fish room keep it up Son 😳🤙🏼

Try NOVUS 1,2, or 3. It’s a cleaning product meant for removing scratches in plastic. But a rotating brush on your power drill and apply the product with that. I know you don’t want to drain the water but you could drain it 1/4 and test it out on some of the scratches near the surface. If you want perfection you gotta put in the work 🤷🏻‍♂️

I can deal with some scratches. Just had a glass 125gal start cracking on me.

Just found your video. Great but I have one question. The last section with those beautiful cichlids. The orange fish could you actually tell me what it is please. Mainly because I acquired 2 Light coloured convicts and it they were the spitting image of your gorgeous fish. If it is a convict sorry for wasting your time. Thanks from the UK. Mark.

Based on all your concerns, I won't invest my time & money on acrylic aquariums. However, I've never noticed the numerous scratches until you made them seen up close & personal🤣😂.

I've always been of the mind that when you go large you go plywood and put in glass viewing panels, you can move 1 panel at a time to your desired location, build everything in place and use the weight of the glass as an advantage for holding itself in place while the silicone cures.

may i ask how much ish the 350 g acrylic costed ? i got my 190g glass for 200 dollars ( used ) , and its about 3k dollars almost brand spanking new... ( just the glass + stand not including pumps + fish )

What chemical was that u used for ich? Couldn't see

Have you tried the magic erasers? They're terrific for removing algae and won't scratch. I find them at the dollar store for pretty cheap.

I use a lot of heavy Texas Holley rock. I love to change things up bit. If one big dense rock slips it would kill an acrylic tank.

Awsome

You have to use an acrylic sponge, found in dollar stores, or a rag for cleaning vinyl records-high-end. The rag works better but you have to use more elbow grease. Not a microfiber rag because it will scratch records and acrylic- a special vinyl cloth. and continue to rub. As you rub you have to rinse the sponge or cloth outside in clean water occasionally, otherwise the algae itself will scratch the glass. Also be diligent about not getting sand between the cloth and acrylic. Buffing out scratches should be done by a professional IMHO. These days people only want to argue but if your actually thinking of getting one this is a best practice.

The dealbreaker for me now on an acrylic fish tank is the scratches and dealing with the maintenance like you were saying and then none of the equipment being able to suction cup that’s a bunch of bullshit man well luckily my 210 is glass😮‍💨😮‍💨

Bro sand substrate can scratch glass glass let alone acrylic gotta be careful when cleaning near the sand bed. Other than that love the tank set up and the filtration, that some decent engineering!!

Will a pleco scratch acrylic?

I did calculations to build. 1500 gallon starfire aquarium and I am to understand you can go with 1 inch glass tempered! Now here is what I e found out! The 1 inch glass tempered is as strong as 4 inch non tempered correct? And push that bad boy to 2000 Gallons! Let me know, you kick ass and any help would just be awesome!

They are easily scratched. The clarity is unmatched though. I have a 50 Gallon SeaClear and I am noticing Bowing on the back panel. Is this normal or should I be worried?

No one likes a scratched tank. I never considered one I don't like the tops on them. Glad the camera doesn't show the scratches LOL. I hope you have no issues with the ick 😣 I don't know how you do it with those monsters, I'd stress to much 😅 I good with all my nano tanks and fish 😉

I don’t think the cleaning pad you’re using 4:53 is acrylic safe. I’m using seachem algae pads and don’t have any scratches.

My acrilic tanks are 6 years old and not scratched up. I have internal filters hanging off the acrylic with section cups along with the usual heater.

Mr Clean magic erasers are the best! Sand is always gonna make it a little difficult.

Acrylic aquariums are way better than glass they don’t have to be resealed they are ten times stronger they are way lighter they insulate a lot better they are clearer and you can get scratches out don’t use sand

you can polish out scratches mate

You can polish the scratches out of course.

HOLY SMOKES THATS AN EPIC ROOM!!!

The bad thing about big glass aquariums is, they always run the risk of an old one busting a seam. I had a 125 bust a seam one time and flood me dining room.

idk, I'm more scared of a seam leak... I mean, I can't imagine that amount of water dumping onto the floor... Think of a car leaking oil after about 10 years/100K miles, it's more or less expected right? Except usually when glass tanks burst, they burst, an all-or-nothing affair... I think I would live with scratches...

Is this tank over stocked? It looks a bit overstocked in my opinions…

High clarity glass all the way, can’t agree more!

well, at least it looks good on camera! I was looking into getting a 4ft acrylic and now I really dont want to. Itd bother tf outta me

Half my tanks are acrylic, I agree with all of the things you said. My least favorite thing about acrylic as someone that breeds, sells and trades a lot of fish is the way the tops are cut. You have to net the fish differently and in my experience takes twice as long at least.. Glass tanks are way easier for netting fish. Have a great day🤙🏽

I am with you on the acrylic cons. Also, if you have hard water, it leaves a calcium crust line which I have found absolutely nothing can erase. After many years, my acrylic tanks got so opaque that it was hard to see the fish. So, to acrylic, I say no thanks. They could be good for growing live food but who wants to spend that kind of money to grow daphnia, scuds etc when a 5 gallon bucket works just fine.

Your not supposed to use magnet algae scrubbers I know that much if it were me I would find either a very big actual algae eater or try pathos plants in the filter somewhere paired with a Uv clarifier should keep algae out

Prefer acrylic but the cleaning is definitely a pain versus glass. The selling point for me was the durability and the insulation it provided for temp heating and stability

Acrylic is worth it just for the weight savings. Moving large glass tanks is awful

I can't see the scratches when you are filming the tank unless you go close up. The clearness of the tank when you are filming it is incredible. Those scratches would annoy me as well. I have done some calculations and I estimate that acrylic tanks would be a weight saving of around 25 percent over the glass equivalent that is provided they use the correct size thickness of acrylic. Some manufacturers go very thin on that and don't leave much safety margin.

Glass looks so much more crisp too

You need snails, shrimp and pleco and they'll keep your entire tank clean - no scratches and almost no maintenance needed. You also need more pothos - there's too much nutrient in the water.

You don't use algae magnets on acrylic. Never. Personally, I wouldn't use it on glass either. It takes one little microscopic piece of sand and you have scratches, and it can happen both on the inside and outside. I know that from personal experience. You only use acrylic-safe pads. Luckily you can remove scratches on acrylic.

They make scratch kits you can use in a stocked aquarium!

I really believe you don't like scratches on your tank! I really do!

Next time you get itch in your system crank the heat up and do a bunch of water changes and salt it works way better than medicine

I have faced Ich but it has been years.

I was considering an arcrylic tank, I think I will stick with glass, thank you!🙂⭐️

And that is why you have a bare bottom tank if you have acrylic, get some nice tile and put that in and the tank will still look good and you won't have the sandpaper to scratch your aquarium that comes from the sand substrate. Don't blame the aquarium for your issues.

Ich is a living organism… raise the temp up over 82 (I think) and it’ll kill the parasite off

Tengo un hermoso pequeño acuario acrilico con los cantos curvos, es como mirar dentro de una gota de agua, y viene con filtro y calefaccion interna, hasta la fecha ni una raya, lo compre usado por 150kr suecas 13.79 usd en suecia. Al pareser el acrilico en pequeños acuarios o bien nano acuarios som mas faciles de mantener sin rayas, son como hermosas gemas con vicion HD ;)

very good video 👍🏻273, likes, greetings, for my friend

Throw a couple Pacu or a red-tail catfish in there and see what happens. We made a homemade diatom filtration system using Oase filters for both 275 gallon tanks. never have a issue with Ick, in thirteen years. The strangest is our tank with a Golden arowana(has brought us no good fortune), four tiger oscars, a humongous plecostomus, a dozen discus of the green & cobalt variety, mass amount of driftwood and Amazon plants, which hides the 18-inch zig-zag eel. Tank 2, has local fish(trout, pike, bullhead, perch), so don't let the DEC find-out. Have always kept to glass aquariums. And keep all in our basement(man cave), just in case of flooding, which we had a plumber install drainage holes. The Oscars leave the Discus alone, but tend to bully the arowana, especially when the oscars have eggs to attend to. Awesome aquariums you have, and admire that filtration system.

I have two 50 gallon acrylics. I bought them used. Both were in great shape. I can move them around myself. Unfortunately, I thought the magic erasers were okay, and when moving one tank for a painting job, I decided to really scrub the algae off thoroughly. Now it is kind of cloudy. 😳 I still use it, but would like to fix it. Any suggestions? Also, there is some crazing in the older one. Can anyone tell me if this is a leak risk.