Hi! Thanks for the welcome. Well, you caught me reporting hearsay on the glass seams. Your witness there is probably better than mine, 'cause I was referring to the tank of a friend who had to re-seal his, and several other people I met who had the same problem. However, I can't tell you how old those tanks were.
My acrylic tank was actually not cheap, because I am a big silly and I insisted on a custom-sized bow (8" bow across 60" of tank rather than the standard 6") However, Stephen will quote you any size you want, and the good news is that if you want the 8" bow now, you can have it without paying for the custom jig, which he already made for me. Tell him I sent you, though!!! I want a kick-back .
I also compared Tenecor, who come highly recommended, but they will only go through a local retailer, and my local retailer got flakey on me. I was telling them I'm ready to order--please verify this pricing/details with me, and they were not returning my messages, or giving me the "yeah, whatever." What I had to pay in shipping I saved in taxes. (Out of state order.)
I will advise anyone, though, if you want to do freshwater, LIGHTS tend to come in 48" or 72". The only standard lights I was able to find at 60" were metal halide with actinic at at least 10k degrees kelvin. Plenty of selection for saltwater. Plus, even with my compact flourescent, which I finally went with, they add a little heat to the water.