The Puffer Forum

So I'm planning on upgrading my tank soon( hopfully) and was looking at tanks on the web since I was hoping to find some good deals. Well I ran across a web site that makes custom aquariums called glasscages.com well they have some really great prices but what caught my eye was a type of glass called starphire glass or low iron glass... I just wanted to know of anyone has a tank or knows someone with a tank with low iron glass / starphire . From what I can tell it almost crystal clear glass instead of that greenish tint most aquariums have. It's supposed to mAke it so that everything in the tank is closer to the true color and makes the aquaium look cleaner or more natural neways I hope someone has a type of tank like that because I'm thinking on ordering my tank with at least the front pane of glass with low iron and was wondering if with worth the extra 100 dollars

Personally, I think its a waste of $$$.

Why? Because within a few days, the glass will be growing algae, etc and that will throw off your color anyways. So in order to really get the super true color you'll have to keep the glass perfectly spotless, so you'll be scrubbing it every day. And if you scrub it everyday, you're eventually going to scratch it. And once its scratched, well, its scratched. Yay, you just scratched up your expensive glass, but hey, what does that matter when your color is not off by a tiny, itty bitty shade of off color?

Just choose your light bulbs wisely. Different color spectrums make things look completely different and every person has different tastes. Some like a more blue/purple look, some like a warm, yellow look, others like what a bit of red can do, I personally prefer as white as possible..

Either way, I think its just silly.. I mean, greenish tint? Do you even notice that once there's water and fish in the tank? NO!

Lol I guess ur right but when seen side by side with fish and water
u can really tell the difference! But I guess ur right about algea and other
stuff that grows on glass, lol but I still want it just because I know it's clearer

Then spend the $$ I guess.

My opinion is it isn't worth it. Then again, I'm one of those people who can't see a difference between all the different "levels" of HDTV's or can hear a difference between the sound quality of a good record vs a CD vs MP3 file.. and there are people out there that cry the woes of digital disintegration and quality loss.. *shrug*

I can see the fish, they are pretty, they amuse me. What more do I need LOL. Anyways, my point is that no matter how clear the glass is, you aren't going to see the fish's "true" colors unless they are under the actual sun, while its in its zenith, over the region of the world that the fish originate from. Artificial lighting will never give you their "real" colors.. which is why its nice that we can tweak them to what we like. You could look at the same fish under 4 different lighting spectrums and not believe it was the same fish, and four different people looking at those four setups will each have a different "favorite". What difference is a slight green tint to your glass going to make when depending on what bulbs you buy, its going to get a heck of a lot more color adjustment from your lighting than the level of iron in the glass ever did?

A hundred extra dollars isn't bad. Don't know how much of a difference it is, but it's still cheaper than acrylic. Like Myaj, I also can't tell the difference between certain things, i.e., acrylic versus glass.

IMHO --- IF this is the final display tank upgrade go with the starfire. You don't want to be thousands of dollars into a new tank system and regret The $100. I have both a 90g reg. glass and 220g starfire, there is some difference but not like WOW! I would still spend the money (it's my wifes money what the hell ).

LOL @ Myaj--I do agree with her though. But if you've got the $$$ & that's what you want... go for it. I know a bunch of reef guys that use them.