Tank Cover / LEDs

[ekean45]

I have 2 Taotronic 120w Dimmable Led Aquarium Lights hanging over my tank and currently use white egg crating as a cover. The egg crating seems to reflect quite a bit of light back into the room which can be somewhat blinding if you sit in the room with the tank.

Since I cannot have a sump with my current setup, I have most of my filtration as HOB and the standard glass covers really do not fit well. They also do not allow me to custom cut around the equipment like I can with the egg crate. The HOB equipment also rules out a canopy unless the entire back is cut out which kind of defeats the purpose of why I put the crating as a cover in the first place. I've lost too many fish to jumping to not having a cover!!

Does acrylic, which is easier to cut, filter out any of the lighting that corals need?

Or any ideas other ideas of how to cover a tank but allow for the lighting to be efficient?

The tank is 60 gallons - 48”L X 13”W X 24”H. The HOB equipment takes up about 4.5" and 5.5" in the width at it's widest points. See the pic below.

 

[tonedogz]

I don't believe acrylic would be any different then glass and if you used a acrylic top you could lower the lights a little more and get them closer to the surface in which case more light would go into the tank and less into the room.

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Is that a HOB reactor in between your skimmer and filter?

 

[ekean45]

No - it's an old SeaClone skimmer that I converted to a small refugium. I also keep a bag of biopellets in their as well.

 

[Flaxon-Waxon]

No - it's an old SeaClone skimmer that I converted to a small refugium. I also keep a bag of biopellets in their as well.

Gotcha. Well in terms of the lid check out the DIY mesh top at BRS... You can buy extra elbows to customize it.