Is Starphire Glass worth it?

Is Starphire Glass worth it?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 13 56.5%
  • No

    Votes: 3 13.0%
  • Cant tell the difference

    Votes: 2 8.7%
  • Once you go Starphire you will never go back!

    Votes: 5 21.7%

  • Total voters
    23

Clownfish518

Razorback
PREMIUM
Starphire is a matter of personal taste IMO. The thicker the glass, the more pronounced the difference is. But the lighting will have more of an effect than the glass in how things look. Its very subjective
 

Garage1217

Member
After talking with several low iron glass manufacturers, I have verified that it is in fact a myth that starphire or low iron glass is weaker and scratches easier than regular glass. Just thought I would share.
 

Adalius

Member
Here's a side by side comparison from glasscages.com
starphire.jpg


Edit:
I should point out I'm not advocating going through GC, as from what you can see here, lots of people have had bad experiences with them. They just happened to have the side by side picture that I knew of right away, so I used it.
 
Last edited:

Frankie

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
After talking with several low iron glass manufacturers, I have verified that it is in fact a myth that starphire or low iron glass is weaker and scratches easier than regular glass. Just thought I would share.

I have been making aquariums as a hobbyist since the 80's and have used low iron glass a few times. My last aquarium, a 120, I replaced the front pane with "starphire". I found it to scratch easily.
Your not going to see a difference in clarity unless you are a glass pro or have regular glass next to low iron glass.
Starphire is just a brand name. It is also called Crystal Glass and UltraWhite glass.
Is Low Iron glass worth the money? Yes IMO.
Is it worth the money for aquariums under 100 gallons? Not IMO.
Actually, I like the look of regular glass on tanks that are built out of 1/2" glass. It is easier on the eye because the iron filters out the glaring brightness from all the light you are pumping into a reef.
 

Garage1217

Member
I am just going by what each manufacturer I called claimed. I was actually calling to verify glass strength as a member of another forum was claiming low iron glass was very weak and bowed which is another myth as I have never had any of my low iron glass tanks bow as they are all built correctly :) I have had several low iron glass tanks, never had an issues with scratches anymore than my standard plate glass tanks just to note.

I recently had the opportunity to view a very nice reef where one pane of glass was standard and the other ppg starphire. It was easy to tell the difference between the two panes of glass but neither looked bad at all. The standard glass just looked a bit darker, like a super light window tint. Did not discolor anything to my eyes And unless you can compare them side by side, you would not be able to pick out the tank with low iron unless you saw the edge of the glass IMO. To note, the tank I just viewed had 1/2" glass as does my current tank which is all ppg starphire except the bottom and back.
 

cioutlaw

Well-Known Member
I dont think anyone can walk up to an aquarium & know if its Starfire or not without the tanks side by side. My 225 is starfire but it doesent seem any clearer to me than my 120 that it replaced although Im sure it is.

As for Glass Cages I had a good experience, I think it comes down to who at GC actually builds the tank. It does have some rough silicone work but only in areas that are not visible. With that said I would most likely not buy from again, Miracles is one tank builder that comes to mind that has a good rep.
 
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