[eagleANTH]

ok im brand new to this, and as some of you may have read on another post i had ordered a 50 gal to start my first FOWLR tank. unfortunately i got the news today that the particular tank i ordered from a particular unamed website was cancelled today as they came out with a new tank and the one i ordered was "end of life". The new model costs 150 bucks more and somehow the shipping costs 50 dollars more and its the same weight, sounds fishy. Anyways I am looking for a great place to purchase a 50g acrylic tank and if anyone has good recommendations for a place to get a wet/dry that would be awesome too!

also at this time i would like to formally introduce myself. My name is Anthony Smith, i am from Sioux City, Iowa, i enjoy the outdoors: hunting, fishing, camping, any excuse to get out. I recently have become enthralled with a buddies new reef tank and wanted to get into the hobby and i wanted to start out with a FOWLR. and hopefully i can get to know the most of you as this seems like a pretty well knit group of folks we have goin on here, seems we have a very knowledgable support group for newbies like myself and i would like to say i appreciate that. SO THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!

 

[fishfinder]

One caution about larger acryllic tanks. I had a 49 gal and loved it. Acryllic is fairly lightweight, and that's a plus. But it scratches easily. Also, they usually have cross bars on the top to stabilize them because they are also fairly flexible. I only ran the light in the hood that came with the tank. But, the heat from the light warped the cross bars after only a few years. I finally tossed the tank. You may wish to consider an all glass tank instead.

Oh, and welcome!

 

[eagleANTH]

Thanks alot for the information, I was looking for an acrylic due to the soft edges and the fact that i dont have to worry much about breaking the tank. I would much rather scratch the aquarium than shatter it and end up with 50 gallons of salt water on the floor in my 5 story apartment. lol, the landlord would love that. As far as the lighting goes I am not going to need anything serious as I dont plan on having any live corals or anemones just yet, and if so i will get the glass lid to avoid direct light onto the acrylic. thanks for being the first to welcome me.

 

[Imaexpat2]

I admire your thinking. I only wished everyone getting into this hobby went to the lengths you are. Allow me though to make a few comments having owned both Acrylic and Glass tanks.

- Unless you got kids running around the house that like to get "wild" a Glass tank is unlikely to crack or leak anymore than Acrylic.

- Youd be suppirsed at how little wattage from a light fixture can create enough heat to warp a Acrylic tank top. If you are bound and determined to get an Acrylic tank elevate your lights several inches. If you will eventually be getting corals you might as well "build your set up" with that in mind from the get go becuase signifacant wattage in lights will be involved and this translates to heat. A sheet of glass on top will matter not. Its a lot cheaper, unless you just got long arms and deep pockets and dont know what to do with it all.

- I too like those soft clean corners. Thats the problem though. Those rounded edges are a serious pain to keep clean of algae build up and coralline algae in them is very difficult to get off the sides with out scratching or dulling up the surface.

- It will get scratched. Just wait until you start putting some live rock in there!!! It wont bug you at first but it wont take long to irritate you beyond words. This will also be where algae will grow and cleaning it off to make the scratch less obtrusive is near impossible.

- The repair kits they make to "buff out scratches" aint what its advertised to be.

- Acrylic tanks are a pleasure to work on as far as plumbing and what not goes. 1 drill, standard hole saw bit and a little water and childrens playdough you can easily drill a hole in a Acrylic tank like a Pro on your patio.

Now for sources...I had my last 240 gallon RR tank custom built and drilled and plumbed to specifications by a local builder who specializes in custom tanks in the Seattle Tacoma area. But your LFS should be able to order one from the two major manufactures. It will just cost a little more due to the middle man that will now be involved. I have also used several Tru-Vue tanks and they were okay quality wise.

As for sumps...I build all of mine. I often build them from scrach out of acrylic. Just depends on the size of tank I am dealing with and what size sump I want. On bigger applications its usually much cheaper to get an old 55 gallon tank and use a few parts from Oceanic and silicone a few panes of pre cut ordered glass. Such a sump can be easily had for under 200.00 fun dollars completely assembled and you get a sump thats divided up and sectioned off the way you want it done so you can use the equipment you want intead of buying the pieces that fit the space available.

Just some thoughts to ponder...

BTW...WELCOME to the forum!!!

 

[marlenez]

I have a CADLights 34g cube that is glass with rounded corners. I'm sure there are other tanks out there that are glass like that as well. It is a bit of a pain to remove algae from the corners but not really a big deal though I use a razor blade which you cannot do on acrylic. What it really comes down to is you should have the tank that you like!

 

[eagleANTH]

Well thanks alot and after a few reads about cleaning the rounded corners i am starting to lean towards a glass tank. i have no kids just yet or atleast none i know of, lol. the poopy part is that I was really liking the idea of an internal overflow but i cant have that with glass because i dont trust myself to drill the hole for the stand pipe or the holes for the return lines. I guess its because of the poor reviews on those surface skimmers that the syphons tend to break and the lines tend to fill with air over time. As for my sump im probably going to use a 20 gallon tank and i have a nice tube of silicon glue i can use to put in some partitions i was hoping to have live rock and macro in my sump to help with the filtration. as for the scratches on the acrylic i wouldnt mind as long as they remained on the back of the tank i just dont want to create any from the viewing angles whilst trying to clean the corners because that would irritate me the second i noticed it. thanks everyone for your input though im carefully considering this and i will probably give it a day or two before i go to the LFS and decide. I have one here in town thats called Noah's Ark and he sells both a stock of acrylic as well as glass and his glass tanks are a bargain. Whats a good brand to go with when in comes to glass?

 

[JIM]

*w2 to the site, always glad to have another hobbyist, try this link for a well known tank. Prices seem fair as well.Glasscages.com - Home

 

[Chickadee]

Welcome to the site and we hope that you will take the time to stop by the Member Introductions and Welcomes Site and give us all a chance to welcome you properly. It is just a formal thing we do. But I do want to say that it does sound like you have quite a project going there and it is always nice to welcome another member from the midwest. I am from Southeast Nebraska but have been to your area a couple of times.

Rose

 

[eagleANTH]

Thanks alot again guys! This place is awesome! I did decide on a glass tank, my apt said the biggest i could have is a 50G but i went ahead and got a 55G (hoping they wont notice, lol.) Anyways I am off to take Chikadee's instruction and head to the Member introductions forum.

 

[Imaexpat2]

Glass tanks can be ordered from the manufacture that have over flow in them already elimenating the need for you to drill your tank. It will cost more but its well worth the added cost to have it made this way than it is for you to make it this way after the fact.

 

[eagleANTH]

yeah its too late now I already bought the aquarium, I am actually debating on how i cam going to get the water down to my sump right now I just posted a thread in the Begginers forums regarding this issue actually. Contemplating drilling the back of the tank.