Starphire Glass Has a haze (pictures included)

Larry L

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This happened to me after I started dosing lanthanum chloride to combat high phosphates.

@pecan2phat I have used lanthanum chloride a couple times. Do you have low iron glass?


the haze was actually in between the lanes of glass

Mine definitely looks like it's on the inside surface, not inside the glass.
 
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Ashish Patel

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Same thing happened to me, the builder said the glass had been left outside and moisture somehow got in causing the staining, there’s nothing you can do other than demand a new tank cause the glass is defective .

Mine was replaced , the thing is, you can’t notice the staining unless there’s water in the tank

Thanks for your post, I think you might be on to something here!
 
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Ashish Patel

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@Ashish Patel : How long was the tank set up and running with water in it, before you noticed this? Recently I've been wondering if my front glass (also low iron) has some sort of hazing going on, it has been running for a few years now.

Tanks been filled for 8 months, I never took notice of it because I was dealing with other issues, I think the glass was pretty clear up until month 5 when I started noticing a haze, I just brushed it off as needing a good cleaning. Best way to see the haze is during lights out use a flashlight and look from the side, The entire panel is completely blurry.
 
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Ashish Patel

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Today I did a waterchange so drained 40% of the tank, I took a magic erraser and soaked the glass with vinegar and used a razor blade. I use some tape to mark of some areas to see if I could get some improvement - However, I can't! It seems to be a stain inside the glass panel

I've emailed the manufacture on Saturday with many pictures - NO Reply yet, this is a $2000 tank and far as I am concerned trash.
 
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Ashish Patel

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A month or so - I thought it was glue or some sort of residue left over from the build that they didn’t clean so took my Mag Float to it nothing, tried a razor blade nothing, it was then I realized that the haze was actually in between the lanes of glass and there was nothing I could do about it

Anyhow they did the whole tank over no questions asked, they said they’ve seen it before

I think I have the same problem and tried the samethings you just mentioned, so you are saying that you can't even polish this haze out? Man this is stressing me out! lol
 

Mandelstam

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All of you with similar issues, have they all been Starfire? Or also other low iron glass manufacturers? I'm just wondering if it could be something with their glass formula or if it's something that can happen with all low iron glass.
 
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Ashish Patel

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Not a very good picture but this was after trying vinegar and razor blade and a rough brush. Im convinced its inside the panel.

1212170010a.jpg
 

Daltrey

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You should have went with a red sea reefer. Let us know the tank manufacturer so we all know who to stay away from. Then send them an email with a link to this site. Sorry you got taken advantage of. Some manufacturers such as yours just build crap.
 

nigelmansell

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You should have went with a red sea reefer. Let us know the tank manufacturer so we all know who to stay away from. Then send them an email with a link to this site. Sorry you got taken advantage of. Some manufacturers such as yours just build crap.

I think that's a little bit unfair TBH. The problem may not have been apparent when they built the tank. It also may be a fault in the make up of the glass i.e. no fault of the tank builder at all.

Also I have heard a few times that people have had problems with Reefers so even Red Sea are not immune to occasional problems cropping up.
 

Mandelstam

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The problem seems to be with the glass not the tank construction. RSR doesn't manufacture their own glass, they buy it like everyone else. RSR might be responsible to provide a new tank if it comes to that but in that case they also have a claim on the glass manufacturer. They are ultimately responsible.
 
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Ashish Patel

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Yeah, the vendor is reputable in regards to build quality and supposedly uses US made glass which is of higher quality. If its the glass panel problem then it would be on the glass company. If the tank manufacture does not help me find a solution then we can talk, until then I can't comment.
 

Mandelstam

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Just from reading online it sounds like it could be alkali glass corrosion. But what they call "stage 2" where the corrosion starts to affect the visual aspect of the surface only happens at pH levels above 9 from what I could understand. But it is very possible that low iron glass in general has a lower resistance to chemical corrosion. But if it is corrosion, what made it happen in your tank and not in every other Starphire reef tank? I'm confused to say the least lol.
 

Larry L

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But if it is corrosion, what made it happen in your tank and not in every other Starphire reef tank?

Maybe it's a combination of factors. There's been discussion of manufacturing defect of the glass itself, "tin side" in vs out, use of lanthanum chloride or not, I even found an old post in a different forum that said "this has been proven to be due to stray voltage in the tank" (with no other explanation to back it up).
 

Mandelstam

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Maybe it's a combination of factors. There's been discussion of manufacturing defect of the glass itself, "tin side" in vs out, use of lanthanum chloride or not, I even found an old post in a different forum that said "this has been proven to be due to stray voltage in the tank" (with no other explanation to back it up).

I was thinking about stray voltage too. I mean the saltwater and an electric current could make the perfect galvanic element and could cause some etching maybe. But I'm just guessing. The cause would be very interesting to find out and also if it's affecting a certain brand more than others or if all low iron glass are susceptible to this. I saw somewhere that low iron glass in general have a lower hydrolytic resistance (class 3) while "normal" sodium silicate glass lies in class 2. So in a tank with a high quality normal plate glass combined with low iron glass with lower chemical resistance that could be the reason for it behaving differently.
 
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Ashish Patel

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Just from reading online it sounds like it could be alkali glass corrosion. But what they call "stage 2" where the corrosion starts to affect the visual aspect of the surface only happens at pH levels above 9 from what I could understand. But it is very possible that low iron glass in general has a lower resistance to chemical corrosion. But if it is corrosion, what made it happen in your tank and not in every other Starphire reef tank? I'm confused to say the least lol.


alkali glass corrosion - Interested!!!
 
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