Habitat - Indoor :: Glass or Acrylic?

[emma]

which do you like better and why? Also, do turtles nails ruin acrylic tanks?

[Pito007]

I like glass because you can see through it, and it dosnt scratch as easily as acrylic.

[scripta_elegans]

Turtles do tend to scratch and scuff acryilic tanks. They are not as delicate as glass though, and unlikely to injure your turtle by breaking. They are light and more portable than a glass counterpart as well. They are also the most expensive of the list. Glass looks the best in my opinion, but there is the danger of breaking, and the price is better than acrilic, but gets more and more expensive as the tank gets bigger. Stock tanks and rubbermaids are fine for a less expensive enclosure, but it takes real creativity and placement to make one look nice in a house.

[SpotsMama]

I personally like glass because I love to sit and watch Spot. Sometimes I think he enjoys looking out at us. A glass aquarium with a nice stand can be very beautiful too.

A rubbermaid or stock tank would be my second choice. They are sturdy and make nice naturalistic habitats. They are easy to move around. I love that you can put the lid on a rubbermaid and protect your turtle if need be. But like scripta said, it's challenging (but not impossible!) to make them look good inside.

I understand acrylic scratches easily. I would hate to have spent a lot on a nice setup and then have it ruined by scratched up or clouded tank walls.

[megcornell]

I think tank selection depends on your resources and your expectations.
In my opinion glass looks the nicest but is also expensive.
If you're creative you can make a stock tank look nice, but I feel like you need a spacious home to make it work inside.
Rubbermaid is a fine alternative if you're on a budget, but because it can leak, I really see it only as a last resort.
Finally, acrylic is more durable than glass, but I agree with spotsmama that it's too expensive to have it get scratched by a begging turtle.

If I were to get a fish tank I think I'd go acrylic, but for turtles I'll stick with glass.

[DavidY]

Actually acrylic is a more expensive material than glass and acrylic tanks cost 50% to 100% more than the same size glass tank. And in addition to what Scripta mentioned about acrylic being lightweight and practically unbreakable, most acrylic tanks also feature seamless curved corners for a much nicer view. Acrylic is also clearer than glass since the standard type of glass used for aquaria contains iron and other elements that give the glass a slight green tint whereas acrylic has practically no tint. And glass refracts light waves which can distort your view when looking through the tank at an angle, acrylic does not. But the biggest con against using acrylic tanks for turtles is that they scratch easily but only if the material is harder than the acrylic. I wonder if the turtle's claws could actually be hard enough to scratch the acrylic. I remember at least one or two people on here before mentioning that they kept turtles in an acrylic tank with no problems before. I'm tempted to experiment with the idea.

[SpotsMama]

If I had to bet I'd bet that a turtle's claws would be too soft to scratch acrylic. However, the heaters, basking dock, rocks and cleaning equipment all could potentially scratch it. In Spot's tank, things never stay where I've put them - he's always pushing things around and banging them into the walls and other things. Compared to cleaning a fish aquarium I would think that cleaning a turtle tank would be more frequent and intensive which means more opportunity for scratching things up.

In my household I think acrylic would get pretty scratched up after a couple of years. That might not be true in somebody else's household, of course.

[Kallistos]

I like glass, acrylic scratches. Rubbermaid is fine as long as you brace it. Stock tanks are also good. It's your preference whether or not you'd like to be able to see your turtles through glass.

[oobie58]

I prefer glass. No scratches, very clear, easy to clean.
Johnny

[grey goose]

Glass all the way!

[marisa]

I could afford glass, but I prefer stock tanks---the most natural look for a turtle home IMO.

[Weirdkid]

I would like a stock tank, I probably would have gotten one for my turtles if I didn't have a 55gallon glass tank laying around. When I upgrade, I will most likely go with a stock tank

[FLhaven4strays]

I had to say 'other' because I love my pond so much. We have my son't hatchling in a rubbermaid container because we had one around the house, but I like glass for an indoor tank of any kind.