What to use for top of bowfront

[skrimpz]

I am going to switch from my 30 hex to a 46 gallon bowfront my question is i dont have a hood for my bowfront and plan on buying a good lighting system to upgrade to coral etc. I know many dont even have covers on the tank but i dont want to loose that much due to evaptoation i was considering buying a piece of plexiglass and cuting it to size i was wondering if anyonce else had sugggestions or what they use... thanx...

 

[cheapfish1]

when i got my bowfront i bough 150 watt mh, then i cut plexi glass to fit it(huge pain in the butt) the issue though is if you get mh lights then the heat is just going to bend the plexi. Mine no longer fit the tank after the first day.

 

[skrimpz]

Should i do glass then and if i do get glass should i get it a 16th or an 8th thickness? i glad u pointed that out thouigh i hadnt though of it getting warped by the light, i was just hoping to do plexiglass cuase i would be light enought that i could miove it on my own...

 

[cheapfish1]

yeah idk about the glass i would think it would be very hard to match the bow curve

 

[dejaco]

If you want a hood for a 46 gal bowfront check with allglass - they manufacture stands and hoods.

 

[skrimpz]

well i figursed i would just get a peice of ioether the plexiglass or the glass and just get it in a 35x8 rectangle and just leave to bowded part open for like food etc...

 

[cheapfish1]

good idea and that should also help with the gas and heat exchange

 

[fishermon]

I use eggcrate on the top of my bowfront. Get it at Lowes or Home Depot. It is in the lighting section and is called la ight diffuser. Put it on top of you bowfront and trace with a marker. I used a soldering iron to cut it. When I tried to cut with blade or cutters it would always snap. Works great for me.

 

[joshd123]

Well, with MH you can put the lights high so it would not get that hot on the glass. You could also but a peice of glass that would just cover from the back to the middle with real glass. Then from the middle to the front you could use plexiglass for just the bow. Or just use 2 peices of glass and plexi just for the bow. that would make it light and should solve your problem.