Habitat - Indoor :: Acrylic vs. glass aquariums

[forlogos]

I'll be needing a new aquarium to house my turtles soon. Based on what I've read, an acrylic aquarium seems like the way to go as they are lighter and more durable than glass.

Does anyone have any advice regarding this? Will turtles claws be able to scratch and mark the acrylic?

[octpusgirl8]

I've heard that a turtle will scratch the acrylic. I have no personal experience on the matter though.

[Deezer]

I think glass is better. Many reasons. Mainly acrylics are more scratchable than glass (not only on the inside by claws but also on the outside). I think that turtle claws will most probably scratch the aquarium. And look at the aquariums of most of the members of the forum - glass.

[megcornell]

Acrylic tanks certainly are lighter than glass ones, but in my experience at least, I rarely ever move my tank-- only when I switched apts between years in college, so that's not really a huge benefit. In stationary tanks, the water still is a huge weight, so you're not really cutting down on stress put on a stand or the floor.
Turtles can easily scratch acrylic, especially when they're splashing around begging for food, so if aesthetics are important I'd go for glass.
I'm not sure what you mean by more durable... in terms of if you drop it I can certainly see acrylic winning, but in terms of strength and durability in holding water I'd say glass is equal if not stronger.

I think overall glass is better for turtles.

[forlogos]

I guess glass it is...I had no idea whether it would be easy for a turtle to scratch acrylic.

by durability, I meant the strength of the material against impact, like say if a shopping bag hits the aquarium if you're in a hurry or if there is a ball bouncing around in the room. While I don't forsee a lot of clumsy accidents like that happening, I already have a crack in my current glass aquarium...

[steve]

Glass tanks also hold their value pretty well. I wouldn't dismiss acrylic altogether, especially if you can score a huge deal