Interamerican

[Aneille]

A couple of quick questions:

1. Where locally can you order Interamerican? Or can I order direct?

2. Who else besides Interamerican does Starphire glass?

3. How much more is it to get Starphire? Even a % markup would be good.

4. Is Starphire really all that nice? I've never seen it so I really don't know!

Thanks! (And if anyone is selling a RR 180 glass tank. Let me know I'm still looking!)

~Kim

[Marco67]

Look in the want advertiser there was a 220 with all the toys last week for about $1200. if I remember right ..:smokin:

[Aneille]

I check the Want Ad religiously! This week there was a larger acrylic too but I really want glass!

I called him on the 220 last week. It was a Perfecto and based on his dimensions he gave me came out to be a 180 but it was not drilled. He used 2 HOB overflows and I really want it drilled. It killed me because he said he had a 180 AGA RR that he traded with his friend because the AGA overflows were too loud. If only he still had that AGA!!

Yesterday I had thoughts of drilling the Perfecto but I didn't want to risk it! I am getting too impatient!

~Kim

[RobboT]

http://www.ppg.com/gls_commercial/starphire/

Auberon just bought a 200+ from InterAmerican with the front made from Starphire. I understand its still wrapped though so he hasnt had a chance to determine whether Starphire is that much clearer.

[Mike Accardi]

Here's a link to an ad for a new 200 gallon Oceanic Reef
Ready aquarium in NH.

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=33193

It's not Starphire glass, but it's still a nice tank.

mike

[JeremyR]

Crazy bugger auberon is going to unwrap it 2 months down the road, find a defect, and be screwed. Open it an report already!

[Scuba_Dave]

True, there is a max time for reporting damage due to shipping. A lot of times it's 24 hours.
You don't want to be like that guy in NC w/525g tank w/broken back plate of glass.

[joefitz]

I was just poking around the Starphire site and noticed that the maximum thickness they make is 1/2". How big a tank can safely be made from 1/2" glass?

Has anyone tried to order a sample from them yet? I'd say they might be willing to send the BRS a sample to keep in the library or something so people could check out the difference in quality.

[RobboT]

Originally posted by joef163
I was just poking around the Starphire site and noticed that the maximum thickness they make is 1/2". How big a tank can safely be made from 1/2" glass?


http://www.fnzas.org.nz/glassthickness.0.html

try this . . . if you have trouble with it send me email . . . I put the formulas into an Excel spreadsheet that I can send you.

[drscheck]

Hello Boston Reefers.

I am a member of the Upstate Reef Society. We have been involved with building a large reef tank for our local Zoo. I have been managing the acquisition of the equipment and so forth and have learned quite a bit about custom tanks, especially from Inter-American as they were they ones that finally built our 10 foot long 560 gallon tank. (non starphire)

Inter-American states, Starphire panes can be safely made up to 60" x 30", if you want anything larger than that, what they do is laminate 2 pieces of the glass together. Don't ask what they use to laminate as they did not go into that.

[Scuba_Dave]

I'm a little confused by the 60" x 30". Does that mean that if I order an 8' long x 30" high that the front piece will not be one continous piece?

ah , ok that makes sense for thickness. At what thickness/height is the cutoff? anyone know? IE at 30" high they need 2 3/8" thick etc

[joefitz]

Scuba_dave, for something larger than 60" x 30" they use two panes of glass instead of one resulting in a thickness of around an inch instead of a half inch. I'm not sure what difference (in terms of support weight/pressure) between a single pane of 1" glass and two half inch pieces is... I would also be curious to see if using two panes reduces the clarity at all (how are they joining the two pieces?).