High Tide Aquatics

Where to buy a Custom Starphire Tank in Bay Area???

Probably a can of worms...


Lets first ignore any tonal differences induced by normal iron glass vs low iron glass. Does one distort the image any more than the other? By this I mean give it the "funny mirror" effect? Does one have more particulate distortion? (inclusion in the glass that microscopically obstruct view? What makes starfire so superior?

I bring this up because people (afaik) get starfire because it doesn't have the slight green "tint" like low iron glass does. Does this really matter when we use lights that blast our corals with anything remotely close to a 100CRI, 5000K bulb? I can semi see the argument in freshwater where people do actually run high CRI 5-6000k bulbs, but in a reef, we tend to average 15-20,000K with horrible color rendition bulbs. The amount of color change you will experience with low to high iron glass isn't even remotely close to the variablitity of the visual experience from one bulb to another (sometimes even within the exact same bulb make)
 
[quote author=iani link=topic=4740.msg58332#msg58332 date=1223666961]
The acrylic prices didn't really start going up a lot until a few months ago. There is a bit of a lag from the oil prices to the places that manufacturer the acrylic to the places that build the tanks. Even if oil drops to 67 it will take a while for the the acrylic manufacturers drop their prices (if they even do) and it will take even longer for the tank builders to drop theirs.
[/quote]Trust me Ian, there is a monopoly, and we'll never see prices come down on materials. Some of the local manufacturers are having to keep the same prices to maintain sales. Times are tough.
 
When I purchased my tank Gen just told Chris the cost went up like 25 percent. Thats why his quote was expensive and I think WMS was so cheap. WMS probably didn't change their prices yet.
 
Gen still has the same price on stock tanks, the custom tanks went up, and I'm pretty sure WMS will raise their prices too. My business is kicking butt right now, but it's these little things that make people shy away from pulling the trigger especially considering they are now worth as much as me (nothing).
 
Yup, I bet WMS has raised their prices since I bought my last tank. I think pretty soon a lot of us will feel the trickle down from the stock market if we haven't felt it already. The market is just crazy right now.
 
This is a thread that hasn't been touched in a while but I thought I'd give the final update on the tank hunt. Ended up spending more than I wanted to but got the tank that I really wanted. Ended up doing the TruVu 120 tall for $950; center overflow, drilled, curved corners etc. Every other Acrylic option out there I could find was a couple hundred dollars more. I could of got the Oceanic Tech for the same price from Max but the tank was a few gallons smaller and I ended up just feeling better about the acrylic route. Still shaking my head at the cost but very excited about the tank. The next time I go up in size it will likely be the DIY route.
 
I teetered between acrylic and starfire glass too. In the end went with glass. I am sure my back and the backs of those who help me move it will be screaming at me soon.
 
That is one thing that impressed me with this acrylic tank. It is very big and thick looking. I would of guessed that it weighed twice what it does. I can nearly move it by myself.... nearly.
 
You might also check out Mark "coralb4bills" tank build. I believe he is a former North Carolinian. He is doing a 255 in wall LeMar tank. BTW my mom lives in NC half of the year near Boone.
 
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