New Starphire 400gal is here!!!!!!!

[Mike W]

Hi all. This might be a dead horse but I am sure that there are some out there who want to see more work from Inter American.

Web Site:
http://www.mcseguide.com/reef/

I am extremly happy with this tank. Everything is exactly as order. I cannot see any visable difference with the laminated front glass. All edges are true and clean cut. I see nothing like the "saw mill" work that we saw on that recent tank delivered from Inter American. Someone once commented that there should be a "please don't build my tank looking like ****" option from Inter American. I believe that there is such a thing. You need to let them know that you are a discerning customer and are interested in a quality product. Let them know that delivery time is not the important thing. Let them know that you would rather wait a little extra than have it rushed and have a problem. For future reefers ordering make sure you specify that absolutly ALL variants from origional plans MUST be approved by you. Then back up your statements with quite a few calls to Mitch reviewing EVERY detail you can using the information you have gathered from this site and from previous reefers who have received tanks from this supplier.

I have only two concerns:
1st, I decided I did not feel comfortable with 1/2" glass over and 8' distance. I called and we agreed to use 2 sheets of 15mm laminated Starphire glass to give me around 3/4" front glass for safty. This of course was provided that he would guarantee me that the lamination would not be visable under and circumstances. The lamination would have delayed my order by several weeks when Mitch discovered he had a laminated piece in stock that fit these requrements. We proceded. The day he shipped the tank he informed me that the piece was not 3/4" but in fact was 1" using 2 1/2" pieces. I am not sure how I feel abou this. On one hand it's really nice but on the other hand I am not sure about the increase of distortion as well as the need to move up to stronger magnets. I think I am going to need something in the $200 range to clean this damn thing (: For future reefers ordering make sure you specify that absolutly ALL variants from origional plans MUST be approved by you.

2nd, if you look at the pics on my site and look closely at the edges(the one with my fingers is best) you will see that there is quite a bit of a green hue on the front glass. I do not believe I saw this in other pics of Starphire glass. I compared this with my other tanks and they are easily MUCH darker and greener that this, however, I expected there to be no green hue at all. Ninong and ltspd, what is your perception of this? Do either of you see a hue such as you see in my pics.

Comments: This was an ABSOLUTLE BIT$% to get into my house. 6 people could NOT lift it. Shipping weight was 1275 lbs!!!! I rented 2 hand crank fork trucks to raise it up to the stands height and then slide it over. If I ever sell my house the tank goes with it!!! (:

He is an impromptu web site I just created. The tank just showed up and the trucking depot last night so this is fairly quick and dirty. Also, everything is very dirty. The tank looks better in real life. I will post cleaned up pics over the weekend.

Web Site:
http://www.mcseguide.com/reef/

[Cracked Fish Man]

Hey Batman,

Thanks for the details. Looks like your gonna have a busy weekend. Thats a killer tank. My only question for you is how will the 2 pannels of starfire effect any distortion? I wonder if this will be a problem. I will look for your future posts when you fill this bad boy up with H2O for an update. Also, will you add anh VHO or just use 10k bulbs.


Nick

[Flatlander]

Whooooaaaa, nice tank.

[ChrisIsBored]

Dear lord that's sweet... but uhh.. you might save some cash if you just pitch a tent in the ocean and live there!

hehe..

I'll definately be looking for updated pics of that monster.

[JohnL]

Nice tank. How many people did it take to move it?

[johnny]

Nice tank!

Out of curiousity, when did Mitch call/email you to tell you that suddenly the 8ft piece of glass was in stock?

The 1" will be better for that size of a tank, consider yourself very lucky!!!!

The green hue compared to ninong's and ltspd's tank is probably because theirs were 1/2" (i think).

How was the shipping company? most people have nothing good to say about them.

It sounds like overall you're pretty happy... good! And keep us updated with this tank!

Nick

[endymion]

check out http://www.marinedepot.com under misc. items. They have a Tunze 1" glass cleaner for $119. The next larger goes to 1 1/2" for $199.

With my tiny tank, compared to your monster, I use the 12mm cleaner :)

And I must say that 30" depth is going to be sweet front to back.

Frank

[Aquaman]

I am so jealous, The JLA must pay you more than me :D cause I cann't afford a nice tank like that!

[Rod Buehler]

I also received my tank from interamerican receintly. I am very pleased. I went with the standard glass.

[vanguard]

Am I the only person who can't see his site? I've tried it from several different machines and from two different networks for a total of three different name servers.

I can't resolve that hostname.

Am I the only guy have problems? I want to see his personal ocean. :)

[Totlxtc]

Vanguard,

I cant see it either, maybe he is working on it or changed its. Since everyone before us can see it.

[Skipper]

Can't see it from here....

[Ninong]

Batman ~

The only size Starphire glass that Mitch uses is 12mm in 108"x130" sheets. So 2x12mm sheets laminated = 24mm = approx. 15/16"

There is absolutely no green tint looking at the side of my Starphire glass top bracing, or through any of the Starphire glass walls of the tank. My tank has black silicone and if I look at the edge of the front pane from the side, I will see the ground and polished edge (which appears a dull greenish-gray, but very smooth) and I will see coloration that is greenish-grayish. I don't know what causes this, whether the silicone is part of it or not. But I am unable to pick up any green tint by looking through the glass or by looking sideways through the top braces.

Good luck with your new tank!


Ninong :D

[SPC]

Tank looks great batman. To be fair about the quality, did IA know that you would be on the boards posting about this tank?
Steve

[Boom11]

Glass thickness check:

2 x 15 mm = 30 mm
1 " = 25.4 mm
30 mm = 1.2 "

If the glass was made to specs, it would have been *thicker* than 1".

B.M.

[smokinreefer]

holy batman!,
a little off topic, but i noticed your page is off the mcseguide site. is that your site? cuz i used that site for studying :) and now for job hunting.
later

[Reef Engineer]

Bat,

I'm a little curious as to your stand - could you give me some information regarding the material used and the sizes? Thanks in advance.

Randy

[Tommy]

WOW,batman
Awesome looking tank!Hope you take lots of pictures as it progresses.
Tommy

[Mike W]

Some replies: Thanks for the comments guys....

Reef Engineer: The stand was made by a company near Inter-American and shipped all the way to here. It's 2" box steel. The craftmanship is very good and it's painted gloss black. The cost of the stand was $240 deliverd!!!! I don't think I could have it built here for that price.

Boom11: Thanks for the check. I will measure the actualy thickness of the front glass and post.

SPC: Yes. Mitch did know that I was a member of these forems AND that I was very picky AND that I would be posting pictures. I used every idea I could find to make sure I received a good tank. Of course I would reccomend the same to anyone considering a purchase from them as Inter American seems to sometimes fall short of our mutual expectations for an aquarium.

Ninong: Did you see the pictures of the seams I posted on my web site? The seams have a definate green tint to them. It's not slight, very pronounced. Hum....

Viewing the site: Are you guys still haveing problems accessing the site? If so I am not sure why. I will have to check out DNS records. I can give you the IP address if needed.

Johnny: Mitch called me back the same day to tell me that he had the 2x.5" Starphire laminated in stock that he forgot about... CF was a little confused as I had them hold the tank at their facility which is only about 5 miles from my house. Coordinating people to help me based upon their schedule did not make sense to me so I decided to pick it up. My brother in law has an extended cargo van to move his band stuff. It will take up to 12" long. I took home the stand first and leveled it and then went back for the tank. Worked perfectly.

JohnL: I had 6 people here and it was NOT possible to lift it! I am not kidding. The shipping weight was around 1200lbs!!!! I rented 2 small manually operated fork lifts to jack up the tank to the stands height and then slide it over.

Chrisisbored: You mean I didn't need to go through all of this fun stuff with 6 people who suddenly became professional movers so that we argued about every step of the way (:

Crackedfish man: Mitch guaranted me that the laminated glass will not be visable different from a single panel. I most certainly let everyone know of the outcome of this. This will be VERY important to me as well as anyone looking to purchase a tank longer than 72".
I like the Ushio coloration by themselves so far. I may play around with some VHO or PC to add addtl light if the mini HQI hoods to not disperse enough to cover front to back.

[Ninong]

Batman ~

Your stand looks very nice for only $240 delivered! Post some more pics once you get all the road dust off the glass and all the tape off the frame. My tank actually had more dust than that when I uncrated it. I understand the front glass is 24mm laminated Starphire, but what did they use for the end glass? Usually for that size they would use 19mm LOF float glass.

I looked at the edges of my tank again and I believe it is only the black silicone that makes my edges appear grayish-green. The real test for me is that there is no apparent difference in coloration of a sheet of colored paper (or anything else) positioned so that half of it is behind the glass and half exposed.

Ninong :D

[Reef Engineer]

Bat,

I was hoping that you'd tell me it was 2x2 box steel since I couldn't tell from the picture whether it was wood or steel. Any stand that doesn't contain lateral bracing scares me simply because running into it can cause the tank weight to shift causing an eccentric load on the stand and, LONG story short, London Bridge is falling down. The box steel resists that much better than timber - but I'd still feel better with the lateral bracing anyway! :D

Randy

[npaden]

Randy,
After seeing the stand that Batman got, and seeing the price, I will get one with my tank as well. (Mitch quoted me $300 delivered, but mine is 2' longer)
I was planning on drilling a few holes in the steel and putting plywood front and sides on it. Mitch said a few holes drilled in the steel wouldn't weaken it at all.
Would this solve your worries about lateral bracing, or would you request a few lateral braces thrown in.
I was going to draw up my bracing spacing and fax them to Mitch this weekend so any help would be appreciated.
Thanks, Nathan

[Reef Engineer]

Nathan,

Any hole that is drilled into the steel will weaken it - it's a matter of whether the weakening will be of an appreciable nature. The holes will create a weakened plane along the area since the physical surface area is reduced but the load is not. It probably would have little effect on the overall stability depending on their size but if they were large enough (holes), it could present a problem. If the plywood that you'll be placing is sitting nice and tight against the steel members, it'll act as a shear wall and yes, would alleviate some of my inherent worries but I'm ultra-conservative by nature so would insist on lateral bracing as well.

On the stand that I built, I used 4x4s for the columns (legs) and 2x6s for the main spans. I used 2x4s for lateral and torsional bracing (I live in earthquake country) and used 3/4" plywoods as shear walls. All the connections were reinforced with Simpson ties/connections. Overbuilt? Ya betcha, but I sleep well at night!

Hey, I'm a civil engineer - majored in structures - and am registered in three states and I'm still ultra conservative!

Randy

[Clyde]

up to .5" glass 220.53 $17.99
up to .7" glass 220.54 $24.99
up to 1.2" glass 220.55 $124.99
up to 1.7" glass 220.56 $229.99
up to 2.5" glass 220.57 $429.99

get the 2.5 galss one its ONLY 429.99 bucks CHEAP!

:rolleyes:

http://www.aquatekfish.com/magnets.php3


Originally posted by endymion
check out http://www.marinedepot.com under misc. items. They have a Tunze 1" glass cleaner for $119. The next larger goes to 1 1/2" for $199.

With my tiny tank, compared to your monster, I use the 12mm cleaner :)

And I must say that 30" depth is going to be sweet front to back.

Frank

[Kengar]

so where does the foghorn get mounted on that boat??? :D

[endymion]

My mistake, I took the magnet prices off of http://www.marinedepot.com and not http://www.aquatekfish.com and used the wrong link.

Aquatek is my LFS and Marinedepot is where I mail order from so I guess I just mixed things up a bit :o

[npaden]

Just floating this back up to the top. I have a tank on order from Mitch as well in regular glass and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival.
Since the thread about the poor quality on one tank ended up with over 5,000 page views, I thought one that shows the good quality deserved to come back up to the top.
Later, Nathan

[Aaron Shelley]

Nathan,

When is your baby due? I mean, when will your male child be born? Sorry, when is the tank arriving? :)

Aaron

[Salt Creepy]

Without knowing the wall thickness of the square tube and the depth of weld penetration it would be difficult to determine if the connections could adequately restrain the moment generated by lateral loading. It is possible to make the structure too rigid and thus transfer load to the glass during severe lateral loading.

It would be quite difficult to predict the added shear strength of a wood to steel friction connection, especially as the fastener spacing would probably not be in a group pattern. Without a friction connection, the only shear strength would be across the screws, similar to rivets.

The reduction in strength by the addition of small holes to attach wood would be small to the point of immeasurable if not located at the "Tee" connections and located on the neutral axis (centerline).

Since I do not live in an earthquake zone, I would probably design my stand similarly and have it constructed by the local vocational school.

[BigLar]

Batman,

How much was the tank w/ shipping?

Do they have a website?

[johnny]

http://go.to/interamerican/

Nick