Glass Top or Not? evaporation concerns

[mandarin w]

Originally Posted by ugluk
Thanks for the help. I have lights already but no legs came with them. Is there any place I could purchase them? I never noticed them for sale in my LFS.
Check with anysite that sells that light, they should be able to get legs for that light. Some LFS carry legs for the lights but it is usally the clear plastic legs for the corallife lights. Your LFS may be able to hunt down legs for you too. Just tell them exactly what you have.

 

[jayeden]

What i have done as i was told at my LFS, which i thought to be a good idea was the following....
depending on your fixture, which, with mine it worked rather nicely, was, buy peices of plexi glass from home depot, they can cut it there for you, and put as much as you want to cover the tank top....waht i did, was put basically an ' I ' shape over the tank, that way it is supported at both ends, and runs all the way down the middle, so that the condensation does not touch my light fixture...has worked perfect for months now

 

[mandarin w]

Originally Posted by jayeden
What i have done as i was told at my LFS, which i thought to be a good idea was the following....
depending on your fixture, which, with mine it worked rather nicely, was, buy peices of plexi glass from home depot, they can cut it there for you, and put as much as you want to cover the tank top....waht i did, was put basically an ' I ' shape over the tank, that way it is supported at both ends, and runs all the way down the middle, so that the condensation does not touch my light fixture...has worked perfect for months now
But the problem is still the same. the plexi glass will intensify the heat of the light, and block the uv's from your light. all you are doing is allowing the tank to sweat, which is good. Your light fixture should have come with a clear shield already. That only will protect your bulbs. getting a few spots of water, and some salt on the light fixture isn't going to hurt anything. These light have been, or should have been designed to work in this enviroment. They are made for this hobby. I have my 30in corallife pc sitting right on top of my sump. It has been there for months. only thing under it is eggcrate to keep it from falling in the sump. Now that wouldn't be good. This light get totally covered in salt. Once a week, I pull it out and wipe it down. The light is not effected by the salt at all. If sitting over a sump with water crashing down on the rocks and saltwater flying all over the place isn't hurting this light. then sitting over a tank, where very little water will actually hit the light won't bother it at all. Just wipe it down once a week. Note: when you wipe it off. take the light away from the tank, you don't want to wipe that salt back into the tank, It will mess with your salinity.

 

[nick76]

What about if you have fish that are jumpers? Or concerns about dust getting into your tank? Just throwin an idea out there. :thinking:

 

[hagfish]

Originally Posted by Nick76
What about if you have fish that are jumpers? Or concerns about dust getting into your tank? Just throwin an idea out there. :thinking:
If you have jumpers, use eggcrate. Just ask for it at home depot. As for dust, filtration will pick it up. It's really nothing to worry about.

 

[mandarin w]

Originally Posted by hagfish
If you have jumpers, use eggcrate. Just ask for it at home depot. As for dust, filtration will pick it up. It's really nothing to worry about.
Hi hagfish, I haven't seen you in a while. Everything going good. Hope you weather this storm ok,

 

[ugluk]

If you have a FOWLR tank does it matter if the glass top blocks the UV's from the light? I thought you did not need much light for FOWLR.

 

[mandarin w]

The VU light maybe isn't a concern, But you still need the gas exchange.

 

[monalisa]

Dang...

I bought a glass top for my 46gal bf upgrade thinking there is probably a way to make it work...did I just waste $30.00? I can't return the darn thing either because I bought it from a store that's in the process of moving, and I got a discount on it.
Is there any way to make it work and keep a healthy system? :notsure:
Lisa :happyfish

 

[mandarin w]

Originally Posted by MonaLisa
Dang...

I bought a glass top for my 46gal bf upgrade thinking there is probably a way to make it work...did I just waste $30.00? I can't return the darn thing either because I bought it from a store that's in the process of moving, and I got a discount on it.
Is there any way to make it work and keep a healthy system? :notsure:
Lisa :happyfish
I would just hold on to them, You may want to sell the tank down the road, and if the buyer is interested in fresh they will need the glass tops. Unless the tank is RR, Then save them. They might come in handy for a home project.