glass top or no glass top?

[ben3343]

Ok, I've had my 46g bowfront set up for about 2 years now and have always had the glass top on it. I was wondering what would be the pros/cons of removing the top? I feel sure I would be able to mount my lights in my hood, right now they are sitting on the glass. I just am getting tired of having to clean the glass of salt creep, etc. periodically. Would not having the top help/hurt oxygen exchange, heat exchange, and evaporation. Thanks in advance for any advice.


Ben

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Ben,

Removing the glass top will increase evaporation and gas exchange. Both, very good things. The more you evaporate, the more evaporative cooling you can achieve, and more kalkwasser can be added to help you maintian your calcium levels. Your lighting would also be more effective without the glass cover, especially since it gets dirty.

The only downside would be the your fish be able to jump. I put screen across the back of my hood to prevent this.

Louey

 

[brandon4291]

I second your motion Louey. My systems are set up very differently so I want to ask another question: For you guys with open-topped reefs, do you find that the salt creep originally caking on the glass cover is now caking on the lights/canopy? Im sure the physical benefits of keeping an open-top in a larger setup outweigh a little increased cleaning of the canopy and lighting setup... or maybe there is not that much notable saltcreep on a canopy anyway?

B

 

[Anonymous]

My lights in my 38 get salt creep on the side when the Aquaclear 300 is sitting. The hood is not very tall. The lamps are prolly 4" above the water.

My lights on my 75G are 8" above the water and get virtually no salt creep at all.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

I don't have glass over my tank and I don't get salt creep on my canopy, well a wee tiny bit, but nothing I worry about.

Once a year I take the whole canopy off and clean everything, wipe down the center brace, make sure all the electrical looks good, ect. Even only cleaning the creep off once a year there still isn't much

I have eggcrate covering the back of my hood to stop jumpers.

 

[ReefRian]

I also don't have salt creep on my canopy. But the canopy is only touching the tank on the two ends of the tank. I get creep on my skimmer, but nothing major.

With the glass off I have had one clown jump to his death and have to add about 5gal of water every other day because of evap, but I've got a small fan from Target on the tank and it keeps the temp (even in CA with the temp of 105) under 80 degrees so I can't complain at all.

Rian

 

[ben3343]

Sorry to bring this topic back up, but I wanted to post a follow-up since I removed my glass top. Ok first of all, a word to those that still have your glass tops on your tank.....TAKE IT OFF, of course if at all possible. I noticed 3 major things after doing so. First of all, the tank seemed brighter, apparently the glass blocks more light than I thought. Second, the avg. temp dropped 2-3 degrees. My tank now hovers around 76 as opposed to 78-79 sometimes 80. I do have a cooling fan installed in my hood though. Lastly, my tank evaporates about twice as much water per day. I topped off every day, so it is no biggie, I just have to put more when I top off. I guess this is just due to the cooling. Also, I don't have to deal with cleaning salt creep/splash off the glass on a weekly basis. The last comment is that it seems to make access to the tank itself easier for feeding, etc. with the glass off. Anyway, just wanted to share my experience with you all.


Ben