# question on optiwhite glass



## James Flexton (14 Aug 2014)

Hi all,

i have just taken delivery of my new tank. should be optiwhite glass front and both sides, normal glass back panel and painted black on the back.

well it wasnt painted so i sent it back to be sorted but also noticed all 4 panes are the same type of glass.

question is have they used 4 opti white panes (bonus) or 4 standard float glass...

looking at the edges of the glass they have a green tinge.

i thought optiwhite glass would have had clear edges and no green to be seen at all.

i am at a crossroads of letting it slip that they forgot to paint it and just being patient and waiting a couple of days to redeliver. or throwing my toys out of the pram if they have tried to stitch me up and make the whole thing out of normal glass and charging me for optiwhite.

ive never seen an optiwhite glass tank in person so have no comparisson to make an informed deduction.

help please.....

cheers


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## OllieNZ (14 Aug 2014)

My optiwhite looks like this end on

10mm thickness and 450mm depth 
Hope this helps


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## James Flexton (14 Aug 2014)

yeah that helps. ive just heard back from the company now the driver has got back with the tank and they assure me its all optiwhite  and they will bring a pane of normal glass to compare it to when redelivering. 
however yours looks blue ish and mine was green. oh well, whatever... i cant really argue the toss with them and will have to trust them i suppose.


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## OllieNZ (14 Aug 2014)

It could be a different brand optiwhite is the brand name for pilkington's low iron glass. It's also only low iron so I suppose it's possible for it to still be a touch green end on.
I have no idea what brand glass my tank is.


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## James Flexton (14 Aug 2014)

yeah its the pilkington glass. 
its just that on the suppliers website they have pictures of normal vs optiwhite next to each other. normal has green edges, optiwhite is clear.

unless the photoshopped marketing pictures are backfiring in this instance...

whatever.. i guess theres not much i can do unless i want to wait another 8 weeks and spend loads of money on a different tank.

seeing as i have a pile of kit all laid out ready to set up i will just take what im given and hope im not being diddled..

cheers Ollie.


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## TOO (14 Aug 2014)

My optiwhite is clearly blue-ish. I associate green with normal float, but as Ollie says there may be different types. But I would be a little bit suspicious too.

Thomas


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## Ryan Thang To (14 Aug 2014)

Hi
optiwhite is definitely clear and should not be green. 

Cheers
ryan


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## Alexander Belchenko (14 Aug 2014)

It may also depend on the glass thickness. I have 20L tank with 4mm glass - and the edges have very clear slightly yellow color, no green/blue, and 60L tank with 6mm glass and it has blue with a-bit-green color. I found there are different classes of optiwhite glass: some of them called extraclear (lowe quality I suppose).


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## Andy D (14 Aug 2014)

I have a tank with Opti-white front and the glass is definitely clear/blue compared to the rest which is green. 

Who did you order it from ?


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## James Flexton (14 Aug 2014)

10mm glass on mine, order confirmation from supplier reads as follows.

Tropical Tank 1010 x 300 x 410 (length x height x width)
10mm glass
Braceless
Black background
Optiwhite front and both sides
Clear silicone

i only saw it briefly when they put it on the stand on top of the ugly grey colour polystyrene slab and looking from above down the edges it was unmistakeably light green in colour. 
i only saw it for 2 minutes as when i realised they had forgotten to pain the back black i sent the driver off with it again to paint and redeliver. he was adament it was the correct glass and so was the supplier when he called me half hour later when the driver returned. i am just a little dubious. i have a Juwel vision 450 right next to it and the glass looks the same colour.

supplier said the problem is with optiwhite it is so clear it picks up any other colours in the room and makes the glass appear that colour.
not being funny but its in my office. grey carpet, cream walls, black stand, grey polystyrene sheet and normal office tube lighting.

the only green thing in here is the cup of tea on my desk...

however i cant really argue. me saying it isnt right, them saying it is. no its not, yes it is blah blah. there is no way i can tell really.

as i said they are bringing a normal pane when they redeliver to compare hopefully that will clear things up.
im probably being extra sensitive as i have looked forward to and planned to set up this tank for weeks based on delivery today. everythings ready and i want my damn tank lol

briefly considered painting it myself but decided that would end in disaster. probably best.[DOUBLEPOST=1408022213][/DOUBLEPOST]





Andy D said:


> I have a tank with Opti-white front and the glass is definitely clear/blue compared to the rest which is green.
> 
> Who did you order it from ?



i will withhold that for now in case i am wrong. i dont want to give bad press to a company if its unwarranted.
ill update this thread monday when it comes back. lets hope they dont conveniently forget the other pane for the comparison...


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## Andy D (14 Aug 2014)

Given what you have said so far I think I know. Sounds like where I got mine. I have 10mm glass. I'll try and get a photo for you later. 

I have to say that it seems more likely it is all normal glass rather than Opti-White but as you say you can see when they bring it back. Hopefully it is right as it is frustrating having to wait and then it not be right.


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## James Flexton (14 Aug 2014)

thanks mate a pic would be great if its the same mm

cheers


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (14 Aug 2014)

Smaller tanks appear clear when optiwhite. 
But larger pieces of optiwhite are a light blue. Gets darker the further the glass goes in the direction your looking.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (14 Aug 2014)

My ADA 90P for example. 
(Yes still haven't scaped it  )


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## James Flexton (14 Aug 2014)

thanks nathaniel, i feel better now. that pic looks very similar to mine in terms of edge colour. the same green tinge i saw this afternoon with mine. greeny blue i suppose rather than green (im a man and talk in primary colours only my wife would call it aqua blue or something probably which is more accurate..)


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## Ady34 (14 Aug 2014)

yeah, depends hugely on light also, mine can flick between green and blue depending on the surrounding light source.


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## Alexander Belchenko (14 Aug 2014)

10 mm thick plain float glass would be really dark green if not optiwhite. I had similar frustration with my 60cm optiwhite tank back when I first saw it after delivery. 
You can see the difference for 4 mm glass here: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VxbF0nKj5fo/T2WLSGp24wI/AAAAAAAAAWI/23mj83hhWWc/s640/100_2408.jpg
But for 6 mm the difference is not so huge, but it is.


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## Andy D (14 Aug 2014)

Here are the photos. Will give you an idea at least.











I also noticed that with the Opti-White glass I could clearly see down it from the top to the bottom. Mine is 36cm high. With the normal glass I could just about make out the bottom.


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## James Flexton (14 Aug 2014)

Thanks guys that all helps loads. I think I've fallen into a trap expecting the glass to be totally clear without any tinge of colour. To some that may sound daft but when you've never seen it before if you are expecting clear non green tinged glass and you see what I saw today you think something's up.. It is certainly not dark green as Alexander said so I'm now happy it's not plain float glass. Hopefully this thread will be useful for future first time optiwhite tank buyers.


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## Andy D (14 Aug 2014)

Cool!


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## James Flexton (18 Aug 2014)

Tank came back today after being painted and I'm pleased to say it is optiwhite. They had numerous tanks in the lorry out for delivery and most were float glass, the difference is massive when compared together, mine has a light green tinge the others are very dark green. Panic over but thanks for the input.
Journal to follow....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Alexander Belchenko (19 Aug 2014)

Great news.


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