Acrylic vs glass tank upgrade..

yea that was one concern i had also. I also think the middle brace would cause a dim sort of "triangle" darkness in the middle of the tank...

 

not so much just put your less light needing corals in the middle. I had a 45g acrylic before and it had the middle brace and I just suspended the halides about 10" away and it was fine.

 

do you notice any sort of difference in lighting with the center brace? also, how did u keep yours from getting too hot?

 

Not really, just make sure you clean the brace often to remove haze and water splashes to keep it clear. I had it installed on to the canopy and had a fan on the back to keep the halide cool. Do you have a canopy? You need at least 10" to 12" clearance to be safe. If it's suspended from the ceiling I would use the same distance. The key is the fan.

 

i will be hanging my kit from the ceiling, dont really want a covered canopy while using a halide, im paranoid of the heat. If it hang it 10" i will likely get two small plugin fans (just in case 1 craps out) and maybe set them on a timer to go on when the light goes on. However, if the heat did sort of warp the middle brace, shouldnt the tank be fine? I thought those were not the main structural strength in tanks..

 

Yes I had mine on timer as well and I don't think the middle brace will warp that bad unless it was sitting 3'' above which in your case its not. Hope that helps.

 

well. i think im set on acrylic finally. its going to be $180 dollars instead of $100 for glass, but that 80 dollars is going to save me a huge headache if one of my friends throws a beer can across the room while were drunk....

 

;D lol you won't be disappointed with your choice. good luck and post pics

 

will do, i will likely do a new thread to show the build. going to do a 2x4" DIY Stand.

 

awesome!