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Hi! I currently have an empty 20 gallon long aquarium that I will be filling up soon But there is one slight problem. Because the tank was secondhand when I got it, I don't know if it's acrylic or glass. When I tap on the sides it sounds like glass, but not as "glass" sounding as I would think...Can anyone tell me how to tell if it's acrylic?

I can't really relate the differences between the feels of glass and acrylic online, but I can tell you that the great majority of fish tanks are glass. Usually acrylic tanks are made in nonstandard shapes, and do not require the seam/joint structures that glass tanks do. If you have a typical twenty gallon fish tank, chances are that you have a glass one.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I would agree with sirbooks.

Look at the seams of the aquarium. If there's this soft, squishy stuff sticking the pieces together (silicon), you've got glass. If it's secondhand, the squishy stuff may even be stained blue or green or something from aquarium medications. Acrylic pieces are directly bonded together, thus making silicon unnecessary.

The other thing is that acrylic is much easier to scratch than glass. MUCH easier. On the other hand, acrylic scratches can be repaired much more easily than glass scratches, so I hear.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Okay, because my tank DOES have black silicon joining the sides together. So do you think it's safe to assume that the tank is glass? (I'm just worried about if I should use a glass algae scrubber)

A used acrylic tank will have scratches. That's pretty much guranteed unless the person was extremely careful with it and if they cared that much they probably wouldn't have sold it. I even scratched my acrylic tank just wiping it with a papertowel. Acrylic scratches are pretty easy to fix though.

Yeah then I'm pretty sure it's glass now because when I first got the tank, I had to scrub it for 2 days with calcium deposit remover with a sponge. And there aren't any significant scratches either.

If the tank you have has the joints sealed with black silicone I can pretty much guarantee that it is a glass tank.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Thanks!