Aquarium Glass Quality

[uklau]

Hi All, I'll like to start a new thread on this as I don't see it to be discussed in AQ. I personally feel that a good quality glass contributes very much to a pleasant viewing. I only know 2 types of glasses, tampered glass & float glass. Understand that aquarium uses float glass. There are also high clarity/higher grade & normal clarity for float glass. I hope everyone can input your knowledge & experience for this thread. Thanks.

[BFG]

Hello Uklau. Here is my 2 cents contribution to this thread.

There are 2 types of glass that are popular for construction of a tank. They are the Starphire glass and the Diamante glass. Both glass have very low iron content so clarity is better than compared to a normal glass which have a greenish tint, noticeably as the glass gets thicker. Between these 2 types of glass, the difference in clarity between them is just a few percentage point, slightly noticeable by the naked eye. But there is a slight disadvantage for Diamante glass over Starphire. Diamante glass easily gets pitted on the glass surface. I have read in some thread ( not in this forum ) that a Diamante glass owner experience this phenomenon for his new tank and had the tankmaker replace the glass. But if you want more clarity, acrylic is the way to go. It's advantages are lighter than glass but the cons usually turn aquarist from using it as it is easily scratched. While Starphire and Diamante glass cost more than a normal glass, Acrylic cost a few times more than a normal glass compared to Starphire and Diamante.

Hope this helps!
P.S. The above statement is made by my experience when I was looking around for a new tank. I am by no means an expert in glass manufacturing so take my experience as a guide only.

[uklau]

Hi Rohaizal, thanks for sharing with me your humble opinion. I believe that everyone will find this information valuable. Much appreciated your efforts. Surprising enough that after visiting few shops offering customized tank, I've never heard of these 2 terms. Are these the brand of the glass or just simply the type of glasses? I don't even get this info from the sales person when I visited CRAquarium.
If you don't mind, would you share with me places that I can visit to find out more about the tank before I commit one. Feel free to PM me if it's not convenient to list it in the forum.

[uklau]

Hi, apart from glass quality for the tank, can someone also input on the types of sealant being used. Reason why I'm putting this up is because after surveying for a while, for the same dimension & glass thickness tank, I noticed that the price can be different from SGD50 to SGD200! That's a lot. So I believe there must be different quality in the quality glass, sealant & of course the workmanship.

Thanks in advance.

[BFG]

Uklau, the glass I've mention are different types of glass. As for tempered or float glass, this might be how the glass process is being done resulting in the 2 grades of glass. Just a guess.

Sealant wise, I've forgotten what's available but I know locally Dow Corning sealant is used. What grade of Dow Corning sealant is best I can't remember.

[hwchoy]

I heard that you shouldn't use tempered glass which shatters rather than crack. Unlike doors or windows, you'd rather have a crack than have it shatter along with all the contents!

[Goondoo]

I heard that you shouldn't use tempered glass which shatters rather than crack. Unlike doors or windows, you'd rather have a crack than have it shatter along with all the contents!

I agree, its suppose to be able to withstand many times the pressure than on a aquatic glass.... but well, im not a risk taking too