Glass covering

[jersysman]

I am planning on setting up a planted tank. I will be purchasing some T5NO lights - probably a Coralife setup. My question is these lights sit above the tank. Should I have a glass covering on the top of the tank since I won't have a hood on top covering the top, or do you keep the top of the tank bare. Forgive me if this question has been previously asked. I am very new to this type of setup.

 

[tjudy]

The only issues with not having a cover on the tank are jumping fish and evaporation. I do not use glass canopies over my 75 planted display tank, but I also do not use a heater and have minimal water movement with the filtration (and no bubbles) so the evap is minimized.

 

[jersysman]

Yeah, I am worried about the jumping fish. I have a glass top for my aquarium but don't know if they would interfere with the legs from the life fixture. I want to get a Coralife dual T5HO fixture

 

[Jonathan Aquari]

I have this "type" of setup and I do not use a cover. IMO the cover takes away a "look" a tank has without a cover. Plus, the cover will reflect and block out some of the light. Click the first or last link in my "signature" to see my 29 gallon planted tank with a T5HO light.

 

[gerald]

Depends on what fish species you keep and how you feel about them suffocating on the floor. Dead fish on the floor take away from "The Look" too, IMO. My tanks are all glass covered. The light reflected/scattered off a clean sheet of glass is a drop in the bucket. Look at your lights directly, and then through a sheet of glass. See any difference? Probably not, and nor do your plants, since photosynthetically-active light (PAR) is all in the human-visible spectrum. One exception is if you have an animal that needs UV (some turtles and lizards) -- most UV is blocked by normal window glass.

I have this "type" of setup and I do not use a cover. IMO the cover takes away a "look" a tank has without a cover. Plus, the cover will reflect and block out some of the light. Click the first or last link in my "signature" to see my 29 gallon planted tank with a T5HO light.

 

[Jonathan Aquari]

Depends on what fish species you keep and how you feel about them suffocating on the floor. Dead fish on the floor take away from "The Look" too, IMO.

personally, I have never had any of my fish jump out, guess I'm lucky or something. but I agree, dead fish only look good (to most(not including me)) on a plate:tongue:

 

[Apistomaster]

Over half of my tanks are lighted with the dual tube Coralife Aqualght fixture(fresh water) lamps.
I cut 3/16" glass covers which is cut in half lengthwise and the two halves are connected with the plastic hinge material.
I cut each back corner at a 45* angle to allow for air and power equipment lines.
These are nice light fixtures for tanks no more than 18 inches tall.
I have been using these for the past six years and have had to change my lamps each 12 to 18 months. A fairly large number of my fixtures have failed. About half only required tweaking the contacts so they held the lamps more firmly but some units' electronic ballast simply gave up the ghost.

Another lamp well worth considering are the new T2 lamp/fixture kits. They come in various lengths, ~12", 17" and ~22". Each unit come with a short connector which allows up to four units to be connected in one long series or many packed tightly together in a refitted fixture. For more info on T2 lights check out this: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Lighting.html#t2
These lamps have 180* internal reflectors, are only 7 mm/1/4" diameter and they rotate on their longitudinal axis which allows you to aim them. Output is 73 lumens per inch of lamp length. They put out more photosynthetically important wavelength peaks than any other fluorescent lamp. They use about 40% as much power as a NO T-5 lamp. Their color temperature is 6400K.
I will eventually switch over to this system as my existing hardware wears out. I already added three of the 21.75" fixtures as supplemental lighting along the back of my 125 gal which already has two, 36" Current Nova Extreme Fresh water HO T-5 and these three T2 fixtures are all connected so all three run off a single electrical connection. Only the most advanced of the 6400K LED are more energy efficient and have a spectrum as perfect or better for fresh water plants.

 

[samuel]

i know the coralife t5no fixtures say not to use them above open tanks. Not sure if this is a liability thing but i figure if you have a faulty light, which you very might, they wont replace it and the such. Not sure if a glass cover is really needed but i use them just to be safe, and keep cats out.