glass is the way to go on small tanks however when tanks get large unless you have very deep pockets its just not cost effective for a large tank made of glass. For my tank I think I purchased it 4-5 years ago..... and it was $3,000-3,500 for the tank delivered to my door from the manufacturer in Arizona (who is now out of business). I considered a glass tank however shipping was approx 3 times the price of the acrylic tank, it was going to be in the $10,000-12,000+ area for a comparable glass tank and that not even considering how difficult it would of been to get into my house, present tank came in through a window.
Some people are just totally clueless on how to clean a acrylic tank, seen it many many times where people are careless and scratch the tank. The V tank at Kettering hospital I helped a friend install the thing and would visit when he would service it due to being fun.... he got tired of driving from Columbus for servicing the tank and someone else picked up the job, if I recall it was either one of the sponsors of this site or their X employe..... I forget. Anyways, I went back to look at the tank a few months later and the thing was trashed..... they did what so many people do and take the scraper into the sand bed then up and down the side of the tank..... Every see LA fish guys, they did something similar and more stupid
He would put the cleaning bad into the sand to stir the sand up then clean the acrylic.... and stated in the video they have drained it a few times to remove scratches from the acrylic.
A few months ago I did put a pretty big scratch on my tank
I was cleaning the tank and wasn't paying attention. The lid which is probably 30x24in and .75in thick slipped out of my hand, fell into the tank and hit the front of the tank very hard. If it was glass.... my bet is the tank would of cracked from the impact.... I have to deal with a acrylic to acrylic scratch mark thats a few inches long... I should be able to remove it though
Yes corraline is a PITA to remove if you do not stay ahead of it. Keeping ahead and cleaning the tank weekly its not a problem but waiting weeks is a big no-no.
I do not use sand but crushed coral which can still stick to the cleaning pad. I just stay 1-2 inches above the substrate with the pad and all is good... then use the scraper for the bottom inch or so.
One thing that glass has that hopefully someday will be available on acrylic is the robosnail. Automated glass cleaner would be AWESOME! I would throw two of those on my tank in a second if they wouldn't mark up the tank and let them clean the tank daily.....
For sharks/Rays..... either material would be fine, its really more a matter of what type of sharks and rays that you want. Sharks gets quite large usually 2ft long as a min as a adult with most if I recall being 4ft or longer.... thus a standard 8ft 240/300g would not be a good choice for them.
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