Glass tops?

[~reefchik~]

Do you use them or not?

I have spent a fair amount of time on RC this week reading LED lighting threads and noticed that almost every tank pictured is running open-topped.

Is that the norm these days?  I imagine it would make for much better illumination.  Our house gets really dusty.  I not only have 2 Goldens, but an African Grey in the same room with the tank and he generates a lot of dust.  The glass always needs cleaning.  Tonight I took them off. 

[Kenn]

I am running open top NOW, upon recommendation from other reefers when I was first building my set up.

Several years ago when I ran fish only I always had a glass top. Quite a change for me.

[Kenn]

This post reminded me of another reason I had tops on my FO tank... I found a cookie my daughter  tried to feed the fish ( they must have looked hungry ) floating in the tank  Oh the days when my daughter was little 

[Riderc82]

I personally do not have glass tops on my aquarium, they say it's better for oxygen exchange, heat issues and they can cut down on the amount of light entering the water.

[rmstevensiii]

+1 on Rider82's comments. 

[atreis]

Both my past tank and my current tank are open-top.  It allows for greater evaporation (natural cooling) and all glass or acrylic, no matter how high quality, blocks some amount of light so running without a top allows more light to get to the critters that need it.

On the downside, greater evaporation also means greater amounts of water used for top-off, critters can jump out of the tank now and then, and over time very small water splashes can leave salt spray on whatever is near the top of the tank.

IMO, there's likely a very small (if any) difference in oxygen exchange since glass tops don't seal perfectly.

[bkvreef]

If you are worried about jumpers I had egg crate over my tank and it helped.  Even that, though slightly dimmed the lighting, so I removed it several months ago.

[Joel]

For reef keepers, lids are often not used because even brand new clean glass reduces light penetration into the aquarium. As anyone who has has a glass lid on an aquarium has seen, "stuff" builds up on the glass to even more so reduce light penetration. Despite our best efforts, we can't keep our lids spotless. It seems that minerals from our aquarium water etch themselves into the glass lid leaving a foggy or hazy appearance behind that doesn't come off.

Not using glass lids has several benefits. The above mentioned not blocking light, better gas exchange (Co2 leaving the water and oxygen entering) and can help cool aquariums that run on the hot side (evaperative cooling) But it has it's disadvantages as well.  Fish jump out, foreign objects get in the water, evaporation increases and your light components are more exposed to water and salt creep.

Your in a compromise situation either way you go so you will need to weigh out the advantages versus the disadvantages to see what best suits your aquarium needs & situation.

What I often do on reef tanks is build a canopy that will house my lighting system and will completely cap off the top of the tank. This helps keep fish in and foreign objects out.  I use light fixtures that are water /  moisture resistant and have remote Ballasts. For temp control I vent the canopy and use cooling fans. I have filters (dust traps) on the vents and fans to reduce how much dust / debris gets inside the canopy. The inside of the canopy is painted in a bright white epoxy to protect the wood from moisture and to help reflect some of the light. The exterior of the canopy is finished to match the stand.

A lot of thought & careful planning is needed to do this though.  Many canopy are built where it is very inconvenient to service the aquarium or are very difficult to remove. I've seen some where it is a nightmare just to feed the fish!!!. It is a common mistake that more thought is put into aesthetics than function. Canopy often don't work well (or at all) with light fixtures designed to sit on top of the aquarium. I use lumanarc reflectors w/ metal halide inside the canopy's I build and on occasion will add LED or Flourscent lamps to complement the metal halide light or for night viewing. Thought needs to go into the vent (air inlet) and exhaust fan location as to maximize the cooling. Quick Disconnects for the light fixture are a real plus for when removing the canopy (prevents fighting with the cords) and you must keep everything clean. Just like with your glass lids, the light bulbs need to be kept clean, the reflectors need cleaned, the fans and filters (dust traps) need kept clean.

As always, I am happy to assist in a canopy design or build if this is something anyone is considering. Hope this helps.

Joel

 

[Riderc82]

It's nice to have you back Joel...he always has to over do everyone when posting 

[HUNGER]

well put joel

[ghurlag]

I've been running open top on my 29 since the beginning.  The only concern is jumpers.  An effective aid in keeping them in the tank would be to build a canopy with minimal openings (except where air flow is needed).  I imagine that a properly design canopy will also direct more light into the tank, with additional reflective sources, of course.

[ghurlag]

I glossed over Joel's post before replying a minute ago.  Joel's is a more elaborated upon opinion matching mine.  Joel, please have a look at my post about lighting over my 29 and chime in.  I won't hi-jack Steph's post from her

[~reefchik~]

Well, we have survived our first day topless 

The fish were scandalized, of course.  You wouldn't think they would notice, but the Foxface (the noob in the tank and just getting used to us) was especially skittish til evening. 

I know I'll have to watch out when the grandkids are here.  They are fascinated with the tank as it is, and always consider it a treat to help me feed the fish on Sunday nights after dinner.  I'm thinking Lexie will want to share her Poptarts...

My cat might be in for a shock.  I caught her considering jumping up there a few nights ago and yelled at her.  If she tries it now, Lord, no telling what might happen.  Let's hope she's smarter than that.

Joel, that's a good post and I agree with most of it from firsthand experience.  We used to have an All Glass wood canopy over our 55 gallon reef (my first one) and it was a PITB, retrofitted with a MH kit on one end and PCs at the other. 

My husband likes woodworking and is normally pretty good at figuring things out like this, so perhaps we will consider adding a canopy sometime.  OTOH, since he really doesn't know much about what is required for a SW system, he might not really want to attempt it.   Don't be surprised if I contact you down the road about a canopy project!

[HUNGER]

thats good