Reef tank, glass top or not ?

[chike87]

I am starting a reef tank in 90 gallon. I have solarxtreme H5 lights. I have a glass cover over tank. Will the light penetrate the glass okay or should I remove the glass ?

 

[elfloyd]

Light will penetrate ok... But you may have a big problem with heat build up.

 

[crobattt]

take em off, if you need to stop carpet surfers you can make a top. Glass tops will only cause heating problems and will stop oxygenation of tanks, and can drop the Ph some how. I just took mine off :/

 

[mph84]

not! they also mess with light penetration and spectrum

 

[jbdreefs]

I've been trying to meet as many reefers as possible to learn a little something from every one. Have not let seen a glass top on any tank by an experienced reefer.

 

[dme330i]

Read about a comparison a few weeks ago (glass vs. eggcrate vs. 1/4" mesh) - can't recall the exact results but glass reduced light penetration 20-30%.

 

[cbj25]

DIY clear mesh tops here. You make them the same you would with the mesh on your windows or screen doors. Just use different mesh

 

[liverock27]

cbj25;725661 wrote: DIY clear mesh tops here. You make them the same you would with the mesh on your windows or screen doors. Just use different mesh

This is the way I went and it worked out really nicely. Check out bulkreefsupply.com. They have all the parts and an instructional video on how to build them.

 

[cbj25]

LiveRock27;725692 wrote: This is the way I went and it worked out really nicely. Check out bulkreefsupply.com. They have all the parts and an instructional video on how to build them.

+1 yup, im doing an order at noon tomorrow if u want free shipping shoot me a pm of what you want. pickup in smyrna

 

[raz0945]

LiveRock27;725692 wrote: This is the way I went and it worked out really nicely. Check out bulkreefsupply.com. They have all the parts and an instructional video on how to build them.

+1 I have this on all my tanks and it works great. I got mine from Acroholic, a member. No more Jumpers!!!

 

[cowboycadet11]

Think there would be a heat and/or O2 issue if you took the back plastic flaps off the glass tops?