 FishTankWarehouse.com has been temporarily shut down awaiting new management. If you have a passion for tropical fish and aquariums and have a desire to turn your hobby into a profitable business, contact us about owning and operating this e-commerce site. | ||||||||||
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About FishTankWarehouse.com Like yourself, we love fish. And perhaps like yourself, we were confounded by the lack of websites that met our basic expectations for an online aquarium store. Those basic requirements were: Unable to find such a site, we decided to build one ourselves. We set out in search of unique aquariums, stands, and accessories. We studied the qualities of other great online stores. We put in place all the policies and procedures that we would demand if we were the purchaser. The end result is the site you have before you: FishTankWarehouse.com. Operated by a small staff from Plattsmouth, Nebraska, we stock some of our own products, but we've also made arrangements with several name-brand manufacturers to ship the products directly from their warehouse. By employing this method of fulfillment, it allows us to effectively offer more products, yet keep our prices extremely low - and our customers love us for that! While we've taken great care to provide superior products and a pleasant shopping experience, we know that success is a journey, not a destination. If you have suggestions for products, site features, or anything else, we'd love to hear them! To give us your feedback, please click here. About Our Aquariums "Help! Acrylic or glass?". This is the question heard around the world when exploring the options for bringing an aquatic environment into our home or office. We find varied opinions and advice on this subject, and sometimes walk away more confused with each new kernel of "knowledge" we gather. The debate, however, can be boiled down to one main issue - cost versus quality - or "you get what you pay for". Acrylic aquariums are more expensive than glass aquariums, however the Return On Investment of an acrylic aquarium provides an explanation. When using the formula of Life of Product + Aesthetic Appearance + Safety / Consumer Cost, an acrylic aquarium holds the higher ROI value. A number of advantages support this conclusion, and account for the increased cost. The aquarium hobby is very unusual, since not many people really want an aquarium . . . what they really want is an aquatic environment. To have an aquatic environment you need a box that holds water - an aquarium. Over the years, aquariums have been constructed from many materials, including concrete, fiberglass and wood to name a few. The traditional method involves attaching glass panes together using either brass, aluminum, wood or plastic frames, or in some case no frames at all. All had one thing in common - dissimilar materials trying to seal well enough to keep the water in and the fish wet. It all worked well until the sealer dried out or cracked, and someone or something bumped the tank too hard (whoops, crack, splash!). Somewhere, someone decided to try and build an aquarium with acrylic, after all it was much lighter and stronger, and construction techniques allowed for seams that were virtually leak-proof. Special chemicals are used to weld the acrylic together to provide crystal clear, very strong seams which are stronger than the material itself. In the old days, acrylic did have its drawbacks - it tended to scratch easily and over time sunlight caused the material to yellow. Acrylic has been improved over the years and the earlier drawbacks have been all but eliminated. Scratches can be removed or lightened from acrylic however, whereas a scratch on a glass aquarium can never be removed. It is now much harder to scratch and modern acrylic is made with a process called UV stabilization. Clear material stays clear, and black stays black. Sunlight or medications such as malachite green have no effect on the acrylic or the seams. Acrylic is 17 times stronger than glass and will flex instead of shatter - practically childproof - giving your fish a better chance to survive an earthquake (or a rampant three-year old with a baseball bat!). A blow that will break a glass aquarium may only scratch an acrylic one. Because the seams are stronger and the aquarium is more flexible, you can count on having an acrylic aquarium longer. It takes less energy to maintain stable water temperature in an acrylic aquarium due to it's superior insulation factor. Fish in a glass aquarium will get chilly when a heater goes out, while the fish in an acrylic aquarium will remain warm and toasty for a much longer period. Less than half the weight of a glass aquarium, an acrylic aquarium is easier to transport and setup. Additionally, the safety and sleek design achieved from bent corners and fewer seams are only possible with acrylic. Acrylic aquariums come with a full hood and fluorescent fixture because of their design, so remember to add in the cost of the hood and light fixture to a glass aquarium when comparing glass and acrylic aquarium pricing.
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