First of all, in the following piece of text, there is a brief overview on Acrylic, as a material in general. Acrylic is a different name for Poly Methacrylate, which is a sort of transparent thermoplastic. It is known to the general public as Plexiglas. This material has proven to be a very good substitute for glass. As far as aquariums are concerned, in this article, I will state the reasons why Acrylic is a much better choice of material then glass.
When one is looking to purchase a fish tank or an aquarium, it is advisable that he or she knows that, besides the shape and other features that are in it (the light features, the pump, the water filters, etc.) there are three most important properties that one has to look out for. These are the transparency, the hardness of the material used to create it, and the ability of this material to keep heat. In all three aspects, Acrylic has proven itself to be better than glass, or any other transparent material for that matter.
Transparency
Acrylic is about 25% more transparent then glass. When one is taking up fish-keeping, he or she, naturally, wants to be able to see his or her fish as clearly as possible. So, it is much better to have a more transparent material. Acrylic is, therefore, a much better solution material-wise for an aquarium and any sort of fish tank, for that matter. If one thinks that being 25% more transparent than something else is not sufficient enough, then he or she is wrong. As far as transparency is concerned, 25% is considered a very big difference. This way more light rays will be able to enter an aquarium, and this is not only good for plants that one might have within the aquarium, but also for the fish’s health and well being.
Hardness
Acrylic is 10 times more durable then glass, which means that, in order to break Acrylic, the force of impact on it has to be 10 times larger than the force used to break glass. In plain words, Acrylic will not break that easily if it falls on the ground. Durability is considered to be a very important aspect of aquariums. Since they can be very expensive, it is advisable that one purchases an aquarium that is made out of Acrylic. This is because there are several situations when an aquarium is prone to breaking. When this happens, he or she has to go and buy another one. That can be a big expense, so keep in mind that this is one of the very important reasons why Acrylic is better than glass. Furthermore, the fish are safer in an aquarium made out of Acrylic, naturally. If one is into fish-keeping he or she should care about the safety of his or her pets as much as possible.
Heat Isolation
Acrylic can retain heat 20% better than glass. This is important for two reasons. Firstly, electricity is required in order to heat up an aquarium. Since Acrylic keeps the temperature for a longer period of time than glass, it is logical to conclude that one will, as time progresses, save money in terms of electric bills, since less energy is required to heat an Acrylic aquarium than a glass aquarium. Secondly, the heat is very important for the well being of the fish. As stated above, of one is keeping and looking after fish, he or she should do as much as possible in order to make the living environment for his or her fish be as good as it can, so that the fish can have the longest possible lifespan.
So, to conclude, after reading everything above, one should be able to see that Acrylic is in every way a better choice than glass, when aquariums are concerned. Some might say that it is too expensive, but actually this is not true. When one calculates the amount of money he or she will spend on maintaining a glass, marine coral reef aquarium, and the amount of money that will be spent to maintain the Acrylic aquarium, he or she will realize that Acrylic is actually a money-saver, above all. Feel free to ask around or check on the internet to see whether all these claims are valid. I personally guarantee that they are.