what do you do? glass tops

[psumba]

It was recommended to me that I place glass tops on my aquarium to protect my PCs from salt spray
They referenced that the loss in effectivity of the lights will be worse from salt crusting on my lights than going thru glass.
Well I placed them on my tank this past Sunday and well I am nervous. The light looks duller (yellow) and i have it in my head that my clam doesnt seem as happy.
What do others do? Your experiences both ways?
BTW - its a 55g with 2 6700k 65W PCs and 2 65W Ultra actnics

 

[azonic]

I dont use a glass top right now with my NO lights. I'll be getting power compacts within a month hopefully...and I will be using one. Also keeps fish frmo jumping to their death if they felt like doing something stupid.

 

[javajoe]

I have no glass top, and i clean the salt of my lights about once a month.

 

[byrself]

i don't have a top on mine, but my light hood has a plexi cover. i just bear the maintenance and wipe them when it gets cloudy. the glass tops are supposed to help with evaporation as well. make sure that is aquarium glass because some class is tinted and can filter out some of the good light. hth

 

[heavenly damsel]

I am topless for now. We have our lights on supports in the canopy, they don't seem to get salt splash, therefore not a cleaning problem and the increase in light is tremendous. The onw draw back is the evaporation.
105 gallon tank and I replace about a gallon a day. We also have an open sumpa dn refugium all added at the same time we took the glass off....this may be part of the evaporation issue.

 

[frankl15207]

I have vho lighting and I leave the glass tops on. I clean them off weekly. German waterproof end caps and all.
I saw someone get zapped when I was about five that gave me a great deal of respect for electricity and water (Gee - I didn't know my uncle could fly . <img src="graemlins//evilwhorn.gif" border="0" alt="[Evil Horn]" /> )

 

[karlas]

use pc lighting with a glass top. i do a water change once a week and clean the glass off at the same time. thought about going w/o the glass but saw how the firefish jump and dont want to take the chance. for such a little fish they have some power behind them

 

[reeferkeeper]

I was using the tops but with the MH lighting, my tank was getting too warm. I took the top off and the temp is at a better level.

 

[reefin_with_jesus]

I use VHOs over my 90-gallon w/out a glass top. They are about 9" off the surface of the water and I'm very pleased. If you use glass tops, clean them VERY often. HTH. Lance.

 

[jakob4001]

we use VHO lighting installed in DIY canopy about 6" or so off the water; as said before some glass covers can filter out beneficial light & they require more maintenance; you could iether place PC on "supports" that you can purchas online or sometimes find at LFS; they are kind like legs fo your lights to rest on attached to the top of the tanks rim; usually only a few inches or so though; you could make a DIY canopy cheaply & install your lights on to it
w/o glass covers is suppose to promote gas exchange better as well

 

[jim672]

I have my NO's on a 2"x4" support above the tank without glass. I had had a glass top but it was really stained by the salt and my tank was getting too hot on warm days. Removing the glass solved both issues.... and I don't have to wipe the bulbs.
Jim

 

[obx fish]

We have the pc's on our 75 with no top. We had the glass on and it made our temp rise too much. We also have a canopy so I don't think anything should jump out.

 

[wolffam]

I not using my glass top. Removed it and saw an increase in activity immediately. Water evaporation increased, but temperature decreased.

 

[lnarobbins]

hey guys and gals......
I fully realize that most all of you have vast experience with SW fish and many of you have answered my questions and helped me a great deal.
my ONLY concern with the glass off is water splash. I have been on several fire calls where the cause was determined to be water contact in the plug. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be careful.
thats all
ALan

 

[susiepan]

I use glass, and my hubby made a cooling system with fans for when it gets warm, (STILL hasnt done that here!!)and we tipp the glass up alittle to help just a little more to cool it..
I've already lost one fish to carpet diving, so I keep the glass on..
~Susie

 

[tankstolove]

You should have the bulb it's self covered, most models are available with a uv acrylic filter that connects to the bottom of the light housing themselves.
Most glass is not clear and will cause discoloration and vastly decrease your lights usable energy.
I suggest looking into the model manucaturer to see if this is available for you. If not than raise the lights like suggested. Open bulbs over an aquarium may explode making for many problems.
Good Luck!

 

[frankl15207]

Originally posted by lnarobbins:
<strong>hey guys and gals......
I have been on several fire calls where the cause was determined to be water contact in the plug. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be careful.
thats all
ALan</strong><hr></blockquote>
Thanks for pointing this out. I don't think people realize how much more dangerous a little electricity is when water becomes a part of it. It's safer to add more light. I've already seen plugs burn from water contact despite them being plugged into a ground fault interrupt.

 

[ruaround]

After many many many times being very frustrated with cleaning my glass tops i discarded them. I then was frustrated with cleaning the salt off my tubes and hood, so i came up with a (IMO) great alternative. I use "saran wrap" or a comparable store brand. Just use 4 to 6 pieces of scotch tape to fasten it. If you have a canopy it will conceal it cuz it isnt the most apealing thing to look at, kinda t. trashish . I change it weekly to bi-weekly and have a low cost solution to both problems!

 

[the infamous sea cucumber]

It doesnt melt? How many watts of electricity do you have under your hood?

 

[stupid_naso]

Well I was thinking of putting a glass top on my tank. But then I thought, wouldn't plexy glass or acrylic be better? So I decided to put acrylic as my top. I got it at Home Depot, pretty cheap. I don't know, that might be an alternative.