Looking for glass buying advice

HarlequinTusk · 12/23/2014, 10:12 PM

In an attempt to kick off my plywood aquarium build, I've started sourcing 3/4" glass panels. I used glasscages.com as my starting point. For example, they quote $32 /sq ft for the more desirable Starphire glass. I need 130" x 36" x 3/4" sheet. Doing the math, I come up with $1056...which I consider reasonable. Then I started calling around to local glass shops and they are quoting double that price for less expensive "non-Starphire" glass. I'm not sure what exactly is causing the huge discrepancy. I wonder if when you buy it locally, they charge you for the whole sheet even though I'm using less than half of it. I know the obvious choice is to buy from glasscages, but they are located 700 miles away. Looking for advice from people that might have some extra insight.

billdogg · 12/23/2014, 10:16 PM

I would guess that GlassCages buys in bulk. Your local glass place will carry 1/8 and 1/4 in bulk, but will probably have to special order 3/4.

uncleof6 · 12/23/2014, 10:54 PM

Billdogg has it nailed. It is about volume purchasing. The less the supplier buys the more it costs them, and consequently the more it is going to cost you. Glass shops will have the highest prices. They don't have a need for 19mm glass. You will find the price quite a bit lower with a glass fabrication shop, that uses glass for things such as shower doors, and table tops, though most of that is 12mm. You could always do your fabrication and have 12mm tempered for a plywood tank front... I would not want to bounce a billiard ball off it however... ...I did that once. ONCE. For a non-wholesale purchase, however, I do believe it will be hard to beat GC's glass price. What is going to kill you is the shipping cost for large panels of thick glass... So before you reject a quote as being too high, figure the total cost of the glass delivered to your front door. (I know you are aware of the shipping, you mentioned the distance.)

HarlequinTusk · 12/24/2014, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uncleof6

What is going to kill you is the shipping cost for large panels of thick glass..

I checked my email and remembered that I had actually requested a quote from them back in March. At that time I was looking for 130" x 24" x 3/4" (therefore a sheet that's 2/3 the size of the one I'm requesting now). They had quoted me $704 for the Starphire glass. The freight for an extra long package to my zip code was going to be $680! OUCH!

However, if I could meet their truck along the I-90, they could deliver it for $240. The only bad side there is I have to build an a-frame carrier to put on my rental truck as they warned against lying the glass flat.

I think that's my best option. Time to research how to build an a-frame carrier.

muttley000 · 12/28/2014, 07:31 AM

Is there a build thread for this tank yet?

HarlequinTusk · 12/31/2014, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muttley000

Is there a build thread for this tank yet?

No, I'm still in research mode.

HarlequinTusk · 11/07/2018, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muttley000

Is there a build thread for this tank yet?

Not to revive an old thread....but to answer your question, I ended up deciding that I didn't want to spend the money to maintain a 500 gal tank. I've recently started a 210g build.

FullBoreReefer · 11/08/2018, 07:54 AM

Glass cages also uses a lower quality glass from China, fyi

12/23/2014, 10:12 PM	#1
HarlequinTusk Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Niagara Falls, NY Posts: 117	Looking for glass buying advice In an attempt to kick off my plywood aquarium build, I've started sourcing 3/4" glass panels. I used glasscages.com as my starting point. For example, they quote $32 /sq ft for the more desirable Starphire glass. I need 130" x 36" x 3/4" sheet. Doing the math, I come up with $1056...which I consider reasonable. Then I started calling around to local glass shops and they are quoting double that price for less expensive "non-Starphire" glass. I'm not sure what exactly is causing the huge discrepancy. I wonder if when you buy it locally, they charge you for the whole sheet even though I'm using less than half of it. I know the obvious choice is to buy from glasscages, but they are located 700 miles away. Looking for advice from people that might have some extra insight.

12/23/2014, 10:16 PM	#2
billdogg Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Grove City, Ohio Posts: 10,806	I would guess that GlassCages buys in bulk. Your local glass place will carry 1/8 and 1/4 in bulk, but will probably have to special order 3/4. __________________ I'll try to be nice if you try to be smarter! I can't help that I grow older, but you can't make me grow up! Current Tank Info: 120 mixed reef with 40b sump, RO 150 skimmer, AI Sol Blue x 2, and a 60g Frag Tank with 100g rubbermaid sump. 2 x Kessil A360w lights, BM curve 5 skimmer

12/23/2014, 10:54 PM	#3
uncleof6 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: AWOL Posts: 12,013	Billdogg has it nailed. It is about volume purchasing. The less the supplier buys the more it costs them, and consequently the more it is going to cost you. Glass shops will have the highest prices. They don't have a need for 19mm glass. You will find the price quite a bit lower with a glass fabrication shop, that uses glass for things such as shower doors, and table tops, though most of that is 12mm. You could always do your fabrication and have 12mm tempered for a plywood tank front... I would not want to bounce a billiard ball off it however... ...I did that once. ONCE. For a non-wholesale purchase, however, I do believe it will be hard to beat GC's glass price. What is going to kill you is the shipping cost for large panels of thick glass... So before you reject a quote as being too high, figure the total cost of the glass delivered to your front door. (I know you are aware of the shipping, you mentioned the distance.) __________________ "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." (oft attributed to Einstein; most likely paraphrasing by Roger Sessions; compactly articulates the principle of Occam's Razor) Current Tank Info: 325 6' wide Reef

12/28/2014, 07:31 AM	#5
muttley000 MTS Sufferer! Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: NW Ohio Posts: 1,926	Is there a build thread for this tank yet? __________________ Next step on the system is adding A 90 gallon! Current Tank Info: 475 multitank system is now running! Several hundred gallons of additions planned!

11/08/2018, 07:54 AM	#8
FullBoreReefer Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Wooster, OH Posts: 1,862	Glass cages also uses a lower quality glass from China, fyi __________________ 60x36x24 mixed reef. 40b sump. Regal 250int Varios. 4xHydra26HDs+t5s. 4xMp40wes. Apex2016.