Between two tanks

First I would like to start by saying that I am new to the saltwater world and I am looking at picking up my first tank. I am currently between two tanks and I was looking for some advice on what you all think.

Before going to my local fish store I had my heart set on picking up the coralife 29g biocube for a few reasons. I liked how everyting was built in, everyone told me that it was pretty much set up and instantly start setting up the tank( minus fish and other things because that takes around 4 weeks). Also I liked the fact that it was acrylic because I would have to move the tank 2 times a year from my college dorm room and I heard acrlic was stronger. The final thing I liked about acrylic was it had a 1 year warranty with the biocube...something that really made me feel safe if something happens

With all that being said I went to this store and the guy seem very quick about his stuff. He knew what he was talking about but I wanted to make sure that I was getting a second opinion before making a decision on a $300-$350 tank.

He told me to highly consider looking into the nuvo Innovative 30 gallon fish tank. He said that acrylic scratches easier and over the course of 2 years there would be so much scractching it would be harder to see through and it wouldnt look as nice as glass. Also he said cleaning it would be easier with glass.

I could understand him being biased about the tank thing if he had one for sale but he knew I wouldnt but the tank from him so I was wondering what you all thought of this advice.

Some questions I had about this is

1) If I had to drain both tanks completely to move(which I will have to Im fully aware) which is more likely to be shattered or broken or messed up during the move?
2) What do you think the best option is out there or do you know of a better one besides these two?

Please help me

 

I agree about the acrylic scratching easily. You can transport a glass tank well if you wrap it really well - as far as which tank to get, there are quite a few biocube owners on here and I'm sure someone can jump in to give you advice about which one would be good....

 

I think the glass tank would be more fragile, but I would still choose glass over acrylic. Ive moved many tanks now and never had any issues with glass breaking.

 

I've moved glass tanks too much to count - just put it in the back seat area and lean the passenger seat back against it and put some other things to the side of it so it can't move around. Acrylic if anything may be harder to move because you will have to worry about scratching it. Glass tanks aren't exactly as fragile as wine glasses.

 

Moving a tank 2 times a year I'd imagine would be stressful on the fish, assuming you're doing fish only. Anyone move tanks around twice a year?

 

I have, once was legit move when i bought my house and the next was when i wasnt happy with its location in the house.

 

I have helped my friend move fish 4 times a year for 3 years, never lost a fish from a move. She never had some of the more fragile wild caught fish though. A lot of wrasse etc wouldn't do well, I believe.

 

+1 on glass just wrap it with blankets

 

Acrylic does scr atch easily but many people have been happy with their biocubes,you just have to be careful with it.The innovative 30also looks nice but for about the same price does not include lighting.You could also keep an eye on craigslist for a good used cube,some people start out with these and soon want to upgrade to a bigger system.

 

very interesting thoughts the glass thing makes me way more relaxed about it and I am glad to see so many opinions. Lets get some more thoughts in here I love the opinions