re-thinking egg crate.

T

tfolke1

Guest
About a month ago, I did some deep cleaning on my tank and forgot to put the egg crate back on for a couple of days. Nothing jumped out but My Corals did react very well to the now totally unrestricted light. They opened up farther, appeared brighter, and showed signs of sudden growth.
I put the egg crate back on, to prevent carpet surfing, and the corals returned back to "normal".
I've decided that after spending hundreds of dollars for the best lights I can afford, more for new bulbs, and countless hours changing water to keep the coral healthy and Happy that I should just leave the covers off and risk losing an easily replacable $30 diamond goby. He hasn't jumped yet and should dart back into his hole instead of up and out anyway.
I'll most likely put it back on while new arrivals adjust, but i'm planning on leaving it off for now on.
 
fishyfun2

fishyfun2

Member
That's interesting, I wouldn't have though a little egg crate could be blocking out that much light. What kind of lights do you have? I have egg crate and my nerite snails climb out anyway! I've found them 2 feet out from the tank, and they survive! Fortunately, fish have stayed in though.
 
locoyo386

locoyo386

Member
That is interesting, maybe the that type of plastic absorves a specific type of waves. None the less interesting observation.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Egg crate is actually a light diffuser used in overhead fluorescent lighting in a suspended ceiling.
2 : not concentrated or localized <diffuse lighting>
For me the top for my tank was made from pond netting.



There is also a corner connector made from vinyl that I cannot find a picture of but look like these metal ones.

And of course the 3/8" pond netting.

I used 3/8 inch and double layered it. I had it single layered but my first yellow Head Jawfish jumped right through it. So now instead of one layer of a 3/8 inch square opening in the net i have the two layers crossed so that the square is a box with a X in it. You can see what I mean in the picture.

You can order 1/4" pond netting on line, however I did not only because I did not know if the fish would still be able to launch itself through the square hole. I was really surprised one day when my wife had my 2 year old granddaughter call me at work and tell me that the new jawfish was all dried up on the carpet!
all the supplies were from Lowe's except the pond net. They may even have that. Wish you were closer I would give you some. You could make a lot of covers from one package.
Don't have a full pic of mine but here is one another reefer made from the plans I gave him.

If you have a square tank it will be much easier because we had to trim for the bow front of the 29 biocube.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by tfolke1
http:///forum/post/3081987
About a month ago, I did some deep cleaning on my tank and forgot to put the egg crate back on for a couple of days. Nothing jumped out but My Corals did react very well to the now totally unrestricted light. They opened up farther, appeared brighter, and showed signs of sudden growth.
I put the egg crate back on, to prevent carpet surfing, and the corals returned back to "normal".
I've decided that after spending hundreds of dollars for the best lights I can afford, more for new bulbs, and countless hours changing water to keep the coral healthy and Happy that I should just leave the covers off and risk losing an easily replacable $30 diamond goby. He hasn't jumped yet and should dart back into his hole instead of up and out anyway.
I'll most likely put it back on while new arrivals adjust, but i'm planning on leaving it off for now on.
I have retro fitted MH lighting in my canopy. The instructions said that a glass had to be placed between the bulbs and the tank.
Once while doing top off a tiny drop of water splashed on the bulb and it burst.
A 2 day old $70.00 bulb!!!
I got an auto top off unit to prevent that from happening again. I have kept a piece of tempered glass just in the area of the bulbs for fear a fish could jump up or splash. It gets salt on it real bad and has to be cleaned off once a week at least to keep the lights good and strong.
So I say all of that to ask if you are at all concerned about the lights getting splashed on by fish without egg crate to separate them...or does your lights already have a glass cover?
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
I have no cover on my tank....it's been that way since day 1....The only thing i've had jump are 2 blue/green chromis. Not my Orange spotted goby, not my bicolor blennie, not my purple psuedo or chalk bass....just my $10 chromis....I like the light penetration without the tops....looks nicer when lights are on.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by 9supratt4
http:///forum/post/3082121
I have no cover on my tank....it's been that way since day 1....The only thing i've had jump are 2 blue/green chromis. Not my Orange spotted goby, not my bicolor blennie, not my purple psuedo or chalk bass....just my $10 chromis....I like the light penetration without the tops....looks nicer when lights are on.

Are your bulbs covered by glass at all, or are they completely open?
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
I would never think of using eggcrate -- the light diffusing of the eggcrate would work against a person putting high intensity lighting on in the first place IMO. Eggcrate also isn't that strong as to really protect your lights if they want to fall in the water. All halides should be covered with glass on the fixture itself for the UV? rays that can bleach out corals.
Just my .02 but why get spendy lights and not get the full benefit like posted earlier.
 
T

tfolke1

Guest
Sorry for the delay, it was a busy weekend.
I've got a Nova Extreme Pro fixture, so there is already a plexi shield on the bulbs themselves, and its pretty well mounted so I'm not too worried about it falling.
I will have to look into the pond netting for any new arrivals.
 
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