Is starfire worth it in 1/2"?

[Delphinus]

It's a judgment call but honestly I would go with it on 1/2". I'm kind of with you on thinking that 3/8" glass probably doesn't make a difference, but 1/2" is sort of on that threshold. Glass just isn't as clear as acrylic overall, so going with low-iron glass does help compensate some. I went with low-iron on the front and sides of my 280 which is using 1/2" (they tempered the front glass because they didn't want to use 1/2" on a 280g - they would have preferred using a thicker glass if I had not agreed to tempered glass).

Where I really notice the difference is on the sides of the glass. Regular "clear float" is quite green and opaque, low-iron is more grey and although of course still opaque when looking down through it, it is noticeably less opaque.

Whether one notices a difference looking through it normally though, I guess I can't really say. You might have to be pretty observant to really notice a difference but I figure what the heck, a reef tank has our noses pressed up to the glass more so than a FOWLR or FW so you might as well do it if it doesn't become prohibitive on the cost.

Just out of curiousity how much is the upgrade? When I had my tank built it wasn't really THAT much of an increase, but this is a couple years ago now, maybe it's gotten more expensive?