Glass Hoods

[JustinC]

Are there any pros/cons to not having a glass lid on your tank?

Just curious some of my local shops have no hoods on there show tanks.

I can cut some plexi no problem for my new tank on my panel saw but I was wondering if I should go through with it, maybe just throw some water lettuce on the top of the tank in lieu of a hood?

Anyone..., Dr. Joe????

 

[Wolf3101]

Evaporation loss is a bit less with a glass top and it can be safer for jumpers however it also slows down the gas exchange at the serface of the water and gets covered in alge and crud very fast.

Those tanks of ours with full hoods have the glass tops removed and replaced by plastic eggcrate.

The glass tops also make a conveniant place to set light fixtures.

 

[JustinC]

Hey thanks bro...

Never thought of eggcrate, are you setup with and eggcrate top? Does your lighting sit directly on the egg crate?

Or do you retrofit a riser on to your light panel?

 

[Wolf3101]

I use the eggcrate tops on the tanks with a full wooden canope. The lights are mounted to the underside of the hood. A couple of the utility tanks...50 and 55... have the light fixture sitting directly on top of the eggcrate. You can get a handful of 3M self adheasive cable tiedowns and attach them to front of the tank rim and then use rubber bands streched between them to hold the egg crate in place. (Useful for jumpers like Arows...)

 

[JustinC]

Thanks for the help!!

I have a plan now

 

[ProblEmZ]

I use the eggcrate tops on the tanks with a full wooden canope. The lights are mounted to the underside of the hood. A couple of the utility tanks...50 and 55... have the light fixture sitting directly on top of the eggcrate. You can get a handful of 3M self adheasive cable tiedowns and attach them to front of the tank rim and then use rubber bands streched between them to hold the egg crate in place. (Useful for jumpers like Arows...)

Definitely gonna try this. My lights and hoods (came with the tank) are all deteriorating slowly. Thanks yo!

 

[Nic]

unless you seal the whole top I don't see a problem with gas exchange but they also hold heat in and that makes your heaters not work as hard