PVC sheet instead of cover glass?

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Burnsie

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 1, 2010
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Australia
I'm getting sick of chipping corners off and cracking the cover glass on my 6X2X2 tank.

My only concern with changing to PVC sheet it that it could block more of the UV light and affect my plant's.

Any ideas if it would be better or worse than glass in this regard?
 
I'm assuming you mean Plexiglas when you say PVC... as PVC isn't clear...

Plexiglas & Glass block about the same amoutn of UV rays at equal thicknesses... but you will likely need to use thicker Plexi to prevent excessive bowing. I've never been a fan of using Plexi tops due to this detail...

Although not quite as much as glass or Plexi, water blocks UV light.

I've always been under the impression that plants used UV-A rays to photo synthensis, but I was just recently reading up on the subject and fonud out I was wrong. It seems it uses much longer waves to photosynthesis and these waves can easily penetrate glass, or Plexi. Which makes sense as houseplants placed in sunlight through a triple pane window still thrive quite well.
 
I agree. best thing to do is stick with the glass tops but try and be more careful, sa they are really the best method out there for covering large tanks.

the other thing that might help is going to a top made with slightly thicker glass.

Aqueon's glass tops, for example, are slightly thicker than the Marineland versions and I find they hold up better. although if your tank is a Marineland, I am not sure that an Aqueon top would still fit..hmm...
 
Rounding off the corners will help reduce chipping - either have your local glass store do it on a wet sanding belt (best bet) or you can DIY with a Dremel tool and a fine sanding wheel.

I agree with everyone else about acrylic bowing too easily, especially if you have much in the way of lighting.
 
acrylic bowing too easily, especially if you have much in the way of lighting.

Actually the lighting has nothing to do with why it bows.
The darn stuff absorbs water, HUH???
Yes, really it does.
That is why it bows.
 
My acrylic tops have got the super bow going on, I could pour punch on the top and use them as punch bowls. But I don't much care I run things through the top of the tank so Being able to cut my holes it worth the bowing. However if you already know the exact placement you could have the glass shop cut it for you.
 
I use plexi glass because im sure my aro would break the glass when hes attacking the tinnys and also the dat bashes the aro against the cover all the time so i just wouldnt trust glass unless it was quite thick.

Also the plants dont seem to be affected by it on the discus tank,if you look in my album there are some pics and ive always used plexi.


Steve
 
Dan Feller;4157594; said:
Rounding off the corners will help reduce chipping - either have your local glass store do it on a wet sanding belt (best bet) or you can DIY with a Dremel tool and a fine sanding wheel.

I agree with everyone else about acrylic bowing too easily, especially if you have much in the way of lighting.
Click to expand...

I agree with what Dan Feller is saying about using glass and having the local glass store round off the corners on a wet sand belt. Excellent idea. If they break the glass in the process, they're responsible to replace it for you. If you use a Dremel with a fine sanding wheel and it breaks . . . oops! you end up buying another piece to replace it. I'd have the shop do it.

Also, someone in an earlier post mentioned going with a thicker piece of glass, too. Sounds plausible to me. IMO, I would not exceed the thickness of 1/4 inch glass for the purpose of using it as a tank cover. I would be concerned with excessive weight issues with glass over 1/4 inch on the lip edges where your top cover sits on top of your tank.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I wasn’t that worried about the bowing as I use the same stuff as a cover on my 5ft by 16 inch sump and it has not bowed at all.
I busted a piece of my cover glass the other day when trying to cut a corner off to give access for a return pipe so got a bit of clear acrylic sheet and cut to size it’s 23 X 27 inches it had bowed a little bit I have it supported on all sides not just two.
If it bows too much I will silicon a 1 inch rib on top to stiffen it.
It actually appears to be letting through more light than the glass which is covering the other half of my tank.
 
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