Glass top workarounds

[lynxpilot]

OK so I bought the rig and opted out of the canopy and it comes with the folding glass top. I've read about the pH issues and heat and am wondering if the following might help:

Tank is 48 x 24 x 24. I have the Coralife 48" fixture with 2x150 MH, CF's, and Lunars. Could I leave the plastic strip off of the back side (about 3" wide), use eggcrate as necessary, and mount the fixture over the glass?

The fixture has the legs that offset it from the tank top, so maybe heat would not be an issue? Also, if there's only eggcrate between the tank and the bulbs, am I asking for bulbs to get shattered? How much does the glass attenuate the light, for example if I wanted high light corals, will the glass eliminate that possibility?

Thanks in advance.

 

[neilanh]

Yeah, that would help. You could always just use eggcrate accross the whole tank, but that might not protect the lighting the way you're trying to do, but it would be better than being open topped.

 

[ccCapt]

How high did you plan on having that fixture? MH bulbs should be min 6" above the water. Even with the bulbs 6" above the glass top, they will cook that glass. You would also have issues with splashing and salt creep drying almost instantly when it hits the warm glass. You would have to clean the glass probably every few days.
IMO, unless the mh reflectors have glass shields built into them, you shouldn't use glass under them. If they have the shield, you don't need anything else.

 

[lynxpilot]

Fixture instructions say "not for use in a canopy" and "for use over glass tops". MH's have shields. Legs give about 4" standoff over top edge of aquarium trim. I guess I see lots of glass cleaning in my future.

On a side note, I'm taking everybody's advice and hooking up my new RO system today. We are on a well here and I guess well water is generally conducive to algae growth??? Anyway, once I get the sand and sculptured rock in, we'll be filling the tank for the next few days.

I bought a top off unit for the sump too. Any words of wisdom on these?

 

[ccCapt]

I would highly recommend NO GLASS. Since the bulbs have shields, that's all you need. 4" above the trim plus the water is probably about 2" below the trim...that sounds just about right.

 

[lynxpilot]

Got it. Thanks. Could I leave an open top or should I go with full-coverage eggcrate?