covering the tank

[StirCrazy]

I have been thinking of covering the topof my tank with the a very thin sheet of glass or acrylic (haven't decided what one yet if I do)
aside from reduced evaporation what other conditions might be of concern. I am going to be running a large becket skimmer so air exchange shouldent be a issue either.

Steve

[DJ88]

Why?

You'll get massive salt collection/water condensation on it and it will block your lights. Cleaning once a week at least. If not more. Possibly crack/melt if you decide to run MH's. They throw off a LOT of heat. You'll have troubles cooling the tank as the only area open to air for heat exchange will be the sump. Glass/acrylic acts as an insulator. Your tank temp would shoot through the roof. Fans in your hood would do nothing.

[StirCrazy]

hehe, that was fast Darren, I don't mine the cleaning I do my fresh at least once a week. the heat was my concern also but lets say for now that I am just running NO tubes and PC's, I agree when I do go MH I would have to re-think things, I guess my main objective is to slow down evaporation.
I think the only way to find out would be to try it while I am cycling my sand and rock and see what the temp does.

Steve

[DJ88]

Steve,

To keep the all the light getting into your tnak you will need to clean it more than once a week. I had tanks with glass tops. FO's and they were encrusted within a day or two. And you are not going to be able to control your heat.

It is like putting plastic coverings over your windows in winter. They collect condensation and trap heat. LOTS. When it starts getting warmer you will COOK your tank. I had a 90 with NO's and it heated very quickly. I was running two fans to keep it cool and barely kept it at 80 on a cool day.

Why waste the cash? This is from experience.. You aren't going to slow the evaporation that much. It will find a way out. It did in the glass top tanks I had. You will make more work than just cleaning acrylic, you will still need to top the tank off.

Save the cost of the acrylic and put it towards decent lighting.

[Delphinus]

Why would you want to slow down evaporation? :confused: Evaporation is the best way for temperature stability. If evaporation is a problem, why not increase your top-off? A bucket, some air tubing, and a furnace humidifier float valve make a great topoff system for less than $20. I'm the king of cheap, I never wanted to spend a lot of money for a topoff solution... this method has been working for me for well over two years now. Not bad for $20.

As you might guess I'm on the "don't do it" side of the argument for your cover glass. Also, with a cover glass, you'll lose a LOT of light going through that glass at the BEST of times ... the way I look at it, I pay $20 per month per bulb to light my reef tanks, I darn well want as much of that $20 per month going INTO my tank and not getting reflected away or absorbed somewhere else before going into the tank. Again, king of cheap ... I don't want to spend money unnecessarily...

[Delphinus]

After I wrote that the thought occured to me (ow, I hate it when that happens, btw ;) ) that maybe you are running a sumpless system and that's why an auto-topoff isn't so lucrative an option?

If so ... let me just say, go get a sump. You will not regret the effort and aggravation of installing it, I promise you. With a sump, you can do all sorts of things (like a DIY water topoff reservoir), and it doesn't matter how ugly it is, it will be nicely hidden from the display. Best single investment I ever made, going from sumpless to ... um .. well, whatever the opposite of sumpless is (sumped? sumpful? hmm)

I'd even put a sump on my freshwater tank if I were to go back and do it all over again. Man, what I wouldn't give for a topoff system on that tank. Oh well.

If you DO have a sump ... well then ignore this babbling, and go get a water topoff system already!!! :D

[ 05 March 2002, 22:57: Message edited by: delphinus ]

[One_Divided]

Steve we've all thought of the idea, yet none of us do it? Hmmmm :eek:

[Silverfish]

No cover.. it will be a big pain for all the reasons mentioned above.

Besides, you will only lose about 4 litres of water a day on a system the size of the one you are setting up. ;) just wondering if you have any plans for a top off yet?

[Seaquest]

Hi

You should never cover a marine/reef tank , do to the gas exchange which takes place.

[Aquattro]

Steve, I'm gonna hit you one day!!! :D Cover bad!! Evaporation good!!

[BCReefer]

Steve,

If your hood is high enough why not make the cover part of your hood, that way you can control the evaporation.

I purchase last year a MH actinic lighting set. It came in a enclosed reflector with an acrylic bottom and of course a built in fan. I did try it with out the cover for a while but I noticed that water evaporated more than I wanted and the temperature rose during the day by more that 2 degrees. I was also worried about a fish jumping and splashing water on the bulb so I put the cover back on.

Since then I have built a wooden hood which the light kit slides in and out. The lighting is 8 “ from the water compared to 4” that I had before so I might try and go without the cover again. On my system the cover is part of the lighting system and does not rest directly on the tank. Darren is right, the cover does constantly need cleaning.