Acrylic Lids vs Polycarbonate Lids?
Many hobbyists are unaware of the distinctions between these materials, thus we aim to assist you in making the most informed purchase decision, regardless of where you buy.
There are actually more than two materials when it comes to these plastics. You have extruded acrylic, cast acrylic, and polycarbonate (Lexan) commonly used for lids in the aquarium hobby, or glass as a plastic alternative.
Polycarbonate is often preferred over acrylic in the aquarium hobby due to its lower tendency to warp or discolor. Polycarbonate is stronger and is less prone to warping or discoloring, most vendors will cut the center out and use netting to also help prevent warping while allowing more light to pass through. Extruded Acrylic is a cheaper material and most prone to warping and discoloring. Cell Cast Acrylic is less prone to warping, but should not yellow due to the U.V. inhibitors added during the manufacturing process.
With that said, we do use high-quality cell cast acrylic for our products and we personally have not seen any major warping with our lids or discoloring. Some of our lids have been on aquariums for several years. Warping has been noticed in some cases, but only minimal. We typically try to cut enough material out so the humidity and temperature is equalized as much as possible on both sides of the material. More solid pieces of acrylic like ATO lids where the material cannot equalize on both sides will warp very noticeably, if the piece needs to be solid it is recommended to fasten it in some fashion (glue or hardware).
We offer acrylic as an alternative to polycarbonate, some people to do not care about slight warping as long as it looks good and does the job intended. And acrylic is also usually a more affordable alternative than polycarbonate so it helps some hobbyist save the money while still having a good product.
We hope this helps our customers and sets expectations for moving forward so you can make the best decision for your needs. Please reach out to us if you have any questions. We are always happy to help!
