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ADA or Optiwhite, cant decide :(?

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I've even lightened the second image to highlight the silicon work more.
 
Bearing in mind I'm looking at it on my phone I cant see any difference. Im sure viewing in the flesh would be different but the bits on mine I've just looked at have zero overspill just dead straight silicone only on the ends of the glass Ill try get a pic at some point just for you nath;)
 
Cheers everyone, lots of helpful advice on here :). I'm definitely waging towards the bigger Optiwhite (low iron ;) ) tank now as the verdict seems to be there is very little difference in terms of glass clarity. A picture would be brilliant Ollie if you could, that way i can compare the two, would help me make the final decision :D I will say that the silicone work looks very tidy.
 
Just looked at the Natural Aquario tanks and they look awesome. I couldnt find the prices on the website though, does anyone have any idea how much a 180l x 60h x60w
would cost?
 
k-hult said:
Just looked at the Natural Aquario tanks and they look awesome. I couldnt find the prices on the website though, does anyone have any idea how much a 180l x 60h x60w
would cost?
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Pm Freshwater Shrimp(forum sponsor) they sell NA stuff. Ill try get a pic for you tomorrow.
 
cheers Ollie, just done it, now to wait for the reply. Would be great if its not to much hassle, thanks a bunch :).
 
k-hult said:
cheers Ollie, just done it, now to wait for the reply. Would be great if its not to much hassle, thanks a bunch :).
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This should be a very expensive tank anyway no matter where you get it.
These clean rimless tank is different from the ones what people used before and the price much higher because of the thick and low-e glass.
For a 180x60x60 tank you need a 15mm opti glass if you do not use framing or glued in parts. That glass is heavy and expensive even if you build with a custom builder.

Still a nice one.
Green Aqua Showroom | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

:)
 
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Reactions: tim
viktorlantos said:
This should be a very expensive tank anyway no matter where you get it.
These clean rimless tank is different from the ones what people used before and the price much higher because of the thick and low-e glass.
For a 180x60x60 tank you need a 15mm opti glass if you do not use framing or glued in parts. That glass is heavy and expensive even if you build with a custom builder.

Still a nice one.
Green Aqua Showroom | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

:)
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Omg viktor, saw that show room thought I'd had a heart attack and sat in heaven still reading ukaps :lol: that looks absolutely stunning.
 
tim said:
Omg viktor, saw that show room thought I'd had a heart attack and sat in heaven still reading ukaps :lol: that looks absolutely stunning.
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Thanks Tim :) Still in progress, but at least we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

However as we went through the production issues, now we see the challenges investment etc. Just wanted to note the cost side of it.
And i am not speaking of the equipment, hardscape, soils etc what is still have to be bought.

Honestly speaking this full setup would cost like 5600 £ here (when all included like soils plants etc). Yeah some stuff can be saved, but going the rimless way and have a good filter lighting etc this is a big investment.
Monthly running cost is another thing :)
 
hi viktor. Ive put a fair bit aside for the tank, i just want to make sure i get the right one. I was wondering, as you clearly have a lot of experience with ADA tanks ( just looked at your showroom... jawdropping!) is there a huge difference between ADA glass clarity and silicone quality compared to low iron alternatives? I kno ada do a 180-p, but i dont think you can get hold of it in europe :(.
 
k-hult said:
hi viktor. Ive put a fair bit aside for the tank, i just want to make sure i get the right one. I was wondering, as you clearly have a lot of experience with ADA tanks ( just looked at your showroom... jawdropping!) is there a huge difference between ADA glass clarity and silicone quality compared to low iron alternatives? I kno ada do a 180-p, but i dont think you can get hold of it in europe :(.
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There was a thread before on ADA glasses a few month ago. Did not find it. Anyway to give you an answer it will be a little longer :)

Short story is. Yes ADA tanks are great, better than any custom built i've ever seen.

Long story......
OptiWhite as it was said before is a glass brand of Pilkington. This was the first glass which used in Europe for low-e tanks mainly by ADA.
Since ADA manufactured all of their aquariums in Germany in the past. And Pilkington's Opti was manufactured in G as well as i know.
There were clear glass on other side of the world like Starphire in the US etc. So this is the EU market only.

Since this was the first clear glass in europe what used for aquarium build, people started to learn the brand and for today all aquariums are optiwhite which is lowe. But that is not true.
There are at least 3-4 other glasses in the EU from the largest glass manufacturer who produce lowe glasses. The clarity is similar, but the overall appearance could be better with other glass.
OptiWhite glass has greenish hue on the edges. Others has light blue and now the latest what i've seen was kind of a light grey. When you see these glasses next to each other you prefer the light edge ones. Colorless.
So Clearglass from Guardian is a nicer one in appearance.
Than there's the gluing. I would say this part is improved a lot in the past years, but sure there's a difference in a premium tank and a custom one. The nicest tanks has a perfect almost non visible and everywhere even gluing. It is up to you how much it worth for you.

ADA moved the manufacturing from Germany to China 2-3 years ago to cut cost on logistic. By moving the production they also found a partner who produce higher quality tanks than the earlier provider.
They added in extra thickness for safety, changed the glass to a clearer one and nicer edge one, and improved the gluing. So you can see in their ADs that the new glass is nicer etc etc, that means compare to the old one which produced in Europe this is a much nicer aquarium and this is true. ADA has one of the best QC in place and they are selling a lot of stuff. TMC glasses and NA tanks (NA seems to be in a premium league so higher level than TMC) are good ones, but sometimes when you're on a higher level, you have more possibilities to use more machinery, money etc to give better result.

So without sounding an ADA rep here these tanks are superb, but only for logistic reason ordering a giant tank like this from Japan is not so efficient.
it is up to you to go the custom build way or select a brand who you feels ok with like NA or others. If you go on the custom way make sure the builder has a lot of reference in transparent rimless gluing on larger tanks too.
 
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I'll let you make up your own mind. This tank is 4-5 years old too.
 
I'd be gutted if i'd shelled out £500-£600+ on a tank and then seen these photos. The difference in quality is definately not worth the difference in price. Sure if you have the spare cash and want to be an ada snob, go for it. Personally id rather spend the cash on me and my family than amano
 
Just had look at the tgm website and the ada equivalent tank is £240 ish more expensive but is made from 12mm glass instead of 10mm
 
Big clown said:
I'd be gutted if i'd shelled out £500-£600+ on a tank and then seen these photos. The difference in quality is definately not worth the difference in price. Sure if you have the spare cash and want to be an ada snob, go for it. Personally id rather spend the cash on me and my family than amano
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I'm not.
But they look pretty good. Id go as far as to say better than some NA photos I've seen.
 
Nathaniel Whiteside said:
I'm not.
But they look pretty good. Id go as far as to say better than some NA photos I've seen.
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You saved more than the difference by making a better cabinet. Im guilty of buying an equivalent with thicker glass for more money in my single days and would probably done the same then and been happy. It would be interesting to see how much tgm would do it for in 12mm glass
 
I've been reading this forum for 6 months and even though I've seen sooooo many times this kind of threads about ADA or not ADA!!!!

You like it, you can afford it, you pay for it.
You think it is not worth it, just don't pay for it.

It is that simple... And it happens the same with cars, washing machines, phones, bikes, TVs, perfumes, clothes, wines, etc. whatever you can imagine. It's business.

The money people spend on luxury cars, for example, is absolutely stupid to me, though I don't consider they are stupid. I just wouldn't do the same. Are you aware that the money we spend on aquarium stuff (regardless you buy ADA or not) is absolutely stupid for 99% of the people? Hopefully they don't consider me stupid as well.

Come one, let's discuss about plants :)
 
Thanks for the very in depth lesson on ADA glass Viktor, was very helpful, just dont think i would be able to justify the amount of money it would cost to import one of that size to here, if even possible. Looking at the pictures (thank you very much ollie :) ) There doesnt seem to be a great deal of difference in silicone work or glass clarity. I think ill see what freshwater shrimps reply is in regards to the natural aquario tank and if that fails i reckon it will be a custom tank from tgm. Maybe one day ill sell the tank and get an ADA but theres no way i can afford to import a tank of that size atm.

Ha ha, that sounds all to familiar with my girlfriend "cant you just buy a fish bowl?" :p
 
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