[adviner]

I was reading that you should take the glass covers off your fish tank because of the water droplets it creates makes the light lose intensity. Is this true?

Thanks

[carym]

I run with glass covers off, better light penetration and better evaporation which in turn cools the tank. You do have to worry about fishing jumping out if you have fish that are known for that, but one thing I know people have done is put egg crate on the top of the tank, though to me this still limits the light penetration.

[Scorpa]

Better make sure your light is sturdy before you do this, and steer clear of it if you have any eels, or other fish/invertabrates that would like to explore the floor. I would suggest keeping glass over the top as well to keep things out of the fish tank, and help limit the evaporation. But it does have its ups and downs, carym is right it would provide more light penetration. If you live somewhere hot/warm in temperture, running with the top off would help keep the tank cooler.

[adviner]

I'm ok thier cause i have a new chiller. I have a coral beauty and and maroon clown for now. I have a Tek light which seems to have a very good brackets. Anythoughts if its worth remove the glass or should i just make sure the glass is always very clean and keep it on

[pogodzib]

Most people, myself included, DO NOT use glass covers with reef tanks because of the glass limiting the light penetration/intensity. Studies have shown that a thin layer of clean glass reduces the intensity by about 10% and moderately dirt glass can reduce it by 30%. If your lighting is strong enough, you get plenty of air added into your water through your skimmer, and heat isn't an issue, leaving the glass on is alright. However, if your lighting unit is weaker, you get poor gas exchange, or your pH drops excessively at night even when you keep your alk levels up, there may be some benefits to removing the glass top. One thing to note is that if you do remove the glass top, make sure your lights are high enough that they don't get splashed with water.

[adviner]

What typically is a good high from the top of the tank to the light so that water wont splash on it? Its a t5 tek 6 panel light.

The way this light fixture and its brackets are made (solid steel/aluminum), i cant see ti breaking and falling into the tank.


Thanks

[pogodzib]

With MH bulbs, people like to go at least 6-7", but with T5HO bulbs, there are plenty of people that only keep the bulbs about 4-5" above. The main concern with water is splashing on the bulbs, causing them to shatter or the water splashing on the endcaps if they aren't waterproof. Neither scenario is very common with T5HO units since the bulbs don't get too hot so they don't shatter very easy and I haven't heard of water causing an issue with endcaps for several years now, probably because newer endcaps used in aquarium lighting have improvements over the old style ones.