Starphire vrs good old glass

[marie]

Well I guess I'm one of the careless ones. I never scratched my bowfront and I had to scrape a lot of coralline algae but this new tank is something else, within a few weeks the scratches were appearing

[Doug]

Originally Posted by sphelps

I don't really think it scratches much easier, the truth is if you can scratched a starphire tank it's more than likely you would have scratched the regular glass as well. I think it's a blame game people play when they've been careless.

Yea we are just all stupid I guess.

Steve I have never really disagreed with you ever but do with some of this. You seem to be on a crusade against regular glass.

Perhaps its certain brands or a cheaper version but it does scratch easier. I dont play the blame game and have 40yrs with a ton of tanks. The "clear" version I had, did scratch easily much more so than any of the regular glass tanks I have had.

If you had read the thread on my 180g cube back then you would have seen the several advanced aquarists agree with my findings. Plus so did the company that supplied it.

Are we all wrong? Certainly we are not making up. If its a blame game thing as you say, why did I not scratch any of my other several dozen tanks of all sizes. I cant say regular would not have scratched or not in the particular case that mine was but I can say I have done far worse to regular glass tanks and not scratched it.

Has to be some merit in that.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Tyler Werbowski

I agree with Sphelps. People with scratched up staphire tanks would probably have a scratched up regular tanks.

What exactly do you base that on Tyler. I,m one of them and you dont know my circumstances or me.

[Doug]

I would add one thing. If I had know the so called "clear" glass was softer I would have been extra careful. And perhaps not scratched it and wrecked a beautiful tank. So I guess you could call that careless.

And FWIW, If I was to do another larger type tank, I would use one of the "clear" version glass, at least in the viewing pane.

[Reef Pilot]

Well, one thing I am sure of, is that acrylic tanks scratch much easier. I have both acrylic and glass tanks. And despite just using plastic scrapers for acrylic, still have many scratches on it. And coralline really likes it, and sticks hard. My glass tank is a joy to clean vs my acrylic one.

If I was to buy another tank, it would be straight glass, no doubt in my mind.

[Skimmerking]

Yuppers when I received my RSM 250 it has star fire front and I knew it so I took my tiger shark. I took them out and added a complete new felt and Velcro scrubber. low and behold after the tank was transferred its contents to the new tank .. all I heard was a huge scrap. and then I went I can't speak.

Do you starfire owners with non scratched glass use a felt to clean the tanks or a normal cleaning pad.

[wickedfrags]

agree 100% with that below. since I started in saltwater in 1999 I have put one noticeable scratch on a tank, I have not scratched any of my 4 starphire tanks

Originally Posted by sphelps

I don't really think it scratches much easier, the truth is if you can scratched a starphire tank it's more than likely you would have scratched the regular glass as well. I think it's a blame game people play when they've been careless.

Originally Posted by Tyler Werbowski

I agree with Sphelps. People with scratched up staphire tanks would probably have a scratched up regular tanks.

[jostafew]

Starphire (low iron) glass is definetly softer but whether that will be a factor in daily use is debatable, as seen in this thread. Float glass does have a green tint as compared to starphire which is nearly colorless, but how noticeable that is depends on the thickness. Last consideration is cost. How much will you pay to NOT have a slight green tint when looking into the tank. For my two cents, neither of the tanks I had custom built have included starphire, I just couldn't justify the extra cost. One had 1/2" glass, the current one has 3/8"

[sphelps]

For the record I said careless not stupid

Perhaps some who have owned standard glass tanks for many years have grown accustom to a more aggressive cleaning technique which perhaps is too much for starphire glass. However with a little care, which you should apply regardless of what type of glass you use, will insure your starphire tank never gets scratched. I've pretty much always had starphire tanks, never had an issue and I use standard cleaning magnets for glass, not acrylic or anything special.

In regards to different types of low iron, I had a theory not long ago regarding generic low iron to be easier to scratch than brand name starphire. This was due to the discovery of a scratch after cleaning my new tank for the first time which has generic low iron. However after talking with people involved in building it and a few tests it's become fairly conclusive the scratch was there before I filled the tank.

At the end of the day, glass can be scratched, how easily really depends. The bottom line is if you're not the type of person to take a little extra time in ensuring you're not doing something that potentially scratch your tank then you shouldn't waste your money on a more expensive version of it.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Skimmer King

Yuppers when I received my RSM 250 it has star fire front and I knew it so I took my tiger shark. I took them out and added a complete new felt and Velcro scrubber. low and behold after the tank was transferred its contents to the new tank .. all I heard was a huge scrap. and then I went I can't speak.

Do you starfire owners with non scratched glass use a felt to clean the tanks or a normal cleaning pad.

Mike, remember when I said careless? Tiger shark is magnet for 15-19mm glass thickness, a RSM250 uses 10mm glass. The Piranha is rated for 10mm but the Hammerhead would have also been a better choice as well which is what I used on my 10mm, 12mm and now 15mm starphire tanks. Standard velco pad for glass, never once has it scratched it.