Cover or not?

[BCWolfen]

I've been reading many articles as I begin the move to my saltwater tank. My current project for this month (or feb depending on time) is the construction of my canopy. What I'm curious about is....Should I put a glass cover in place at the top of my tank to help prevent evaporation, fish jumping and to protect the inside of the canopy and the lighting system, etc. My current design has the canopy at 12" tall giving about 8" of height above the waterline for the lights and an open back.

Glass or no...that is the question....

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by BCWolfen

I've been reading many articles as I begin the move to my saltwater tank. My current project for this month (or feb depending on time) is the construction of my canopy. What I'm curious about is....Should I put a glass cover in place at the top of my tank to help prevent evaporation, fish jumping and to protect the inside of the canopy and the lighting system, etc. My current design has the canopy at 12" tall giving about 8" of height above the waterline for the lights and an open back.

Glass or no...that is the question....

If you are prepared to clean the glass every couple days and to buy a chiller to keep the temp down, then use a glass cover.

Steve

[BCWolfen]

Hmmmmm, yes those were my 2 main concerns to avoiding the glass. But will the lights themselves not require cleaning every few days, or does the added height above the waterline prevent the amount of buildup that you will find on glass directly above the water. All the FW tanks I've ever owned had the Plastic canopies with glass below the light, or in the case of my 75G just the glass. I know how filthy that gets and can't imagine what that must be like with a salt tank. I just don't have any experience with the distance evapoarted water with salt will travel through the air before settling on lights etc.

[StirCrazy]

i clean my bulbs once a month and they are about 6" above the water, maybe 7. so the extra hight does help.

Steve

[Manny]

Are you keeping corals? If yes, then you definently should not have glass because the glass will restrict the amount of light that will come into your tank. Also you do want to have some evaporation for gass exchange.

I have to top off my tank everyday do to evaporation. I do not have an auto top off, and I would suggest for you to look into one.

Cheers and happy reefing. It's an addiction.

[BCWolfen]

Thanks for the answers. Yes I do plan do have corals....eventualy. Much to learn, doing FO first. But that at least is one less project to have to worry about. I did not want the glass top with the canopy I had designed but the wife was concered about evopration and salt getting over everything. Now I have some ammo to fight back lol

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Manny

you definently should not have glass because the glass will restrict the amount of light that will come into your tank.

the amount of light that 3/8th glass restricts is less than 1%. so this in its own is no reason not to run glass tops, But once the glass gets dirty then you can be restricted by 30% in just a couple days.

Steve

[Chin_Lee]

BCWolfen
I use glass on mine. yes i do have to clean it once very two weeks but I put the glass on for the same reason you've mentioned. I put cupboard guides on both sides of the eurobrace and had glass cut to fit snug into the guides. My tank's about 6 feet long so the end pieces are one the lower guide and the middle piece is on the upper guide.
temps haven't been too bad yet because I have a sump in the basement thats as big as my display. I will have to see how things go in the summer but I do have a 1/3 hp chiller in the sump as well but my chiller is not used or required in the winter time.
as far as glass restricting the light, i've had good growth on everything (acros and other sps) with the glass cover. one the reasons that convinced me to put glass on was Steve's tests that he did a while ago on one of his posts (re: 1% restricting .... thanks Steve). My lighting consists of 3x250 watts SE 10000K bulbs and 2x140W super atinics.
Your decision should be based on what you want to do. Factors to consider:
- depending if you are willing to clean the glass, lighting restriction may or may not be a factor
- whether you have the means to keep your tank from over heating (ie chiller, fan(s) over sump etc)
- if you have a skimmer that increases gas exchange (ie beckett/venturi) or powerheads to promotes surface agititation in sump
- do you have a dehumidifier in your place? if not, how about a bathroom fan on a dehumidstat? If so, how much heat (in the winter) do you anticipate will be exhausted out of your place to remove the humidity via the fan (though in the summer shouldn't be a problem)? If its too much, should you consider getting a dehumidifier instead?
- is your place already suffering from moisture (ie older residence with less adequate insulation), weeping windows, dry rot in basement?

there's probably a lot more things to consider but thats just a few to start off with.
But to sum it up nicely,

Originally Posted by Stircrazy

If you are prepared to clean the glass every couple days and to buy a chiller to keep the temp down, then use a glass cover.

HTH and good luck.

cwlee

[hawk]

Why not just use eggcrate. It allows for gas exchange, easy to move, won't increase temps like glass and doesn't need to be cleaned much if ever and prevents carpet surfing. As far as lighting I can't tell the difference in lighting when it is on or off.

[BCWolfen]

Hawk, yes thank you. I think that is our best soluton. At least wife is happy with it lol.