Removing glass tops???

kahnsell

kahnsell

Member
I have read a lot of opinions about removing glass tops. I have kept mine on my reef tank for 3 years. I am now thinking about removing them. Before I do so, I want to know if anyone has ever had a problem with the water coming in contact with the halides or other unforeseen problems.
I have kept them on to keep my anthias in the tank and to avoid crabs, shrimp, snails, etc. climbing up my live rock and crawling out of the tank. But my sally finds a way out anyways.
I have 3 250 watt MH on top of glass tops. If I remove the glass tops, will the lights be too strong for my tank?
Any ideas/ caveats???
 
csrobe02

csrobe02

Member
It also depends on what type of MH bulb you are using. If you are using a double ended bulb than some sort of glass UV filter is needed. If you are running single ended bulbs, then I would agree with kip :D
 
kahnsell

kahnsell

Member
I am running 2 Iwasaki's. They are not double ended... They sit right on top of my tank. If it will not burn or sear my corals, I will remove the glass tops tonight.
Can the snails and crabs crawl out of the tank?
 
chsreef

chsreef

New Member
I have two 96 coralife pc's on my 46 gallon bow that sit on glass top. I tried to mount them w/ the coralife arms but there is not enough space. Should I remove glass and place directly above tank? The coralife hoods have a protective plexiglass shield that covers the bulbs. Tks
 
debbie g

debbie g

Member
Can't you cut plexi-glass to fit the top and drill a thousand holes in it, so you permit the light in, lessen the possibility of splash, AND keep your jumping fishies from escaping?
 
krishj39

krishj39

Active Member
Debbie, some people have tried what you are suggesting. However, there is no need to go through that hassle. They make an "egg crate" cover for flourescent lights in homes and businesses. Look into them. These are plastic grills that are designed to filter the light so that only from directly below the light fixture can you see the bulbs (allowing for bright but not annoying light). In an aquarium, this does a good job at keeping fish from jumping, and doesn't restrict air flow, also probably minimized the splashing to some degree. However, at the end of it all, I think there are few aquariums that actually need any kind of cover directly over the tank.
 
debbie g

debbie g

Member
It just seems that every fish that I've based my tank on, are jumpers..."must be kept in tank with tight-fitting lid" is what they all say. I saw the egg crate and thought that the fish would still be able to jump.
This has been an ongoing dilemma for me.
Let's put it this way...other than it being a hassle to do it, would my drilling a thousand holes in the plexi-glass be a BAD idea?
And maybe it would help kahnsell (original poster) as well?
Debbie G
 
pacopetty

pacopetty

Member
Okay, here is what I did to solve the glass tops vs jumping fish dilemma. I took some spare strips of plexiglass and siliconed fiberglass screen to them and cut them to fit over my tank. They let the light in, the tank breath and prevent any possible suicides.
 
razoreqx

razoreqx

Active Member

Originally posted by Kip4130
all 3 of my systems are topless and have been since starting them
one has PCs within 4-6 inches of the water... one has VHOs the same.. and the last has halides within 8" of the water..... no worries here
i have a tank i do put some eggcrate over because i had an ocellaris jump ship once in that tank
go topless.. your corals will love the unfiltered light

I agree with Kip. Your corals will love the light!!
The only thing I might add is evaporation, whatever your use to in the past will be increased double now that you're going topless. This facilitates greater amounts of gas exchanges in the tank... OH... Your wifes plants will go nuts with growth as well.. :)
 
saltymist

saltymist

Member
My only concerns for eggcrates would be.
1. on a fluke a small fish could happen to jump through it on accident, and then land on top of the eggcrate, and it may or may not manage to flop around long enough till it flops back into the tank.
2. Does the eggcrate cast a shadow in the tank? How much filtering of the light does it do compared to a glass top?
 
krishj39

krishj39

Active Member
1. this seems like such a small chance that while it COULD happen, your fish is much more likely to die from many other different chance accidents. Sorta like how people at the beach are scared of getting killed by a shark, when they are statistically much more likely to die from being hit by a coconut falling from the tree they are standing under (that's a true statistic BTW).
2. It doesn't techinically filter the light at all. It diffuses it. The difference is that it still allows the complete spectrum that the light bulb puts out to enter the tank. Glass will limit the range of your spectrum by filtering out some of the light spectrum. Eggcrate will not create a shadow with flourescents, but I suppose it could for MH, I don't know. Eggcrate will cut down on the light because some of the light will hit the eggcrate and bounce back away from the tank, but most travels down completely unfiltered into the tank. Again, glass will filter all the light. Does what I'm saying make sense? In the end, CLEAN glass will probably be brighter, but it will have less of the light spectrum. Let me say it again: eggcrate will block a small percent of the ENTIRE light spectrum, while glass will block a 100% percent of PART of the light spectrum.
 
chsreef

chsreef

New Member
How far off the water should pc's be? I removed my glass top last night and hoods are sitting direct on top of tank. They are approximately 3" off the water.
 
krishj39

krishj39

Active Member
3" is fine, but make sure you have a good water-proof end cap on there because you don't want water getting into the contact points for the bulbs.
 
chsreef

chsreef

New Member
I have the coralife pc hoods, so I think the end caps will be good. I wish I could attach the arms you can buy, but don't have enough room.
 
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