glass on topless tank?

[romsoccer12]

took my hood of my cube and got a t5 ballast. it says to get glass covering the top. ive seen many people with a open tank. well i dont want fish jumping out so will getting a glass over my tank be a problem? Dont want any wattage being lost. I have a friend who will sculpt out the glass for me.

[Andrew]

Personally, I would never put a glass top over one of my tanks. Traps too much heat in the tank. Downside is that a lot of moisture is created. I would get some mesh material and make a DIY lid. Lets the light in and keeps the fish from escaping.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15372064#post15372064 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Andrew
Personally, I would never put a glass top over one of my tanks. Traps too much heat in the tank. Downside is that a lot of moisture is created. I would get some mesh material and make a DIY lid. Lets the light in and keeps the fish from escaping.

in total agreement

The surface of your water is where alot of gas exchange occurs in the tank. This should be open for that reason. Also the surface of the tank should be really churning to help facilitate this.

Here are some visuals of what Andrew mentioned

http://www.reefcentral.com/wp/?p=317

[Henry Parsons]

eggcrate? blocks less light than glass and keeps the bigger jumpers out. not guaranteed to stop everything from getting out though

[reefscape15]

Topless all the way. If you need, go with some kind of mesh or eggcrate. Or just DIY a canopy, then your fish will just bounce back into the tank, and it looks nice

[singold]

Been there done that with glass top, I agree with the others, traps heat & affects CO2 exchange/PH levels, etc.

[wrestle1952]

First rule of reefing. Topless for better gas exchange, oxygentation of turbid water and light penetration. No mesh, nothing. You can never have too much light. Go diving or snorkeling to see for yourself. I personally have 500 wats of metal halide above a 50 gallon breeder. Coral growth and color are excellent.

[Henry Parsons]

even in my freshwater tanks it seems like too many minerals end up clouding the glass, not to mention all of the other issues just mentioned with with traping air in and out of the tank

[romsoccer12]

its not just for jumpers, the directions on the nova extreme said to get one for just that reason, keeping evaporated water in so it wont get on the nova extreme because that would ruin it. What if i put a bunch of holes in it so it still helped alot with trapping evaporation but not as much?

[RegalAngel]

I have a glass top on my 50g QT, but it leaves about a 2" open section across the back. This allows me to have all in/out flow setup, and heater without any conflicts.

http://bwclark.smugmug.com/photos/594419393_nZ6Yp-XL.jpg

[romsoccer12]

thats what i would be doing. a lot of holes are in it and the hole back is open so i dont think there will be too much evap problems.

[singold]

I have a Nova Extreme Pro lighting system with an open top.

[romsoccer12]

it says on the directions this can lead to electrical problems and the lights breaking and fire hazards that the warranty does not cover. just giving you a heads up

[dawaterboy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15375511#post15375511 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by romsoccer12
it says on the directions this can lead to electrical problems and the lights breaking and fire hazards that the warranty does not cover. just giving you a heads up

I'm not one to encourage the act of telling lies, but would you have to tell nova that you have an open top if you ended up with a problem?

[romsoccer12]

you could very much say that but they have ways of telling how you broke it. i dont exactly know how the warranty works if you have to send it in or if you just say "it broke" and send a picture and theyll give you a new one. i dont exactly like there company. the directions where strait crap. didnt tell me you had to turn the things the bulbs connect into so i spent 3 hours on the phone to figure out that it wasnt broken the whole time

[dawaterboy]

To be honest with you a friend of mine called current just this week and they sent out two new ballasts along with two bulbs. Funny thing was they never asked for a receipt, sn, or anything except the model number. I guess its all about the person on the other end of the phone and how you talk to them.

[romsoccer12]

well i hope if mine breaks itll be that easy.