Glass top or bad idea?

[Goose91]

Hey guys, i was told by my LFS that shining our lights through a glass top doesnt work as it dispurses the wave lenghts and renders them virtually useless and ineffective.
So i was sold this DIY mesh cover kit, but it doesnt work for my style of tank, its a hexagon, and made for a rectangle.
So my question, is what i was told true? Because i have a glass top, if it isnt, but if it is, what are some of your ideas for making a lid for the tank?

 

[Gareth elliott]

You have to clean glass more as salt creep will block light, but a clean glass top isnt making your lights useless.
Cons to glass tops are they are heavy, have to clean a lot more, can limit air flow, less heat is let out.
Pros less evaporation.

 

[Goose91]

Awesome, thxs for the advice!

 

[BadFish619]

+1 on holds heat in but does limit evaporation. My brother uses a glass top in the winter and screen in the summer. Counter productive? Add more water daily but stays cooler. I have a canopy that sits about 8 inches off the top with an open back. You'll find what you like best!

 

[Dom]

I use a glass top. And yes, it does require weekly cleaning, but I make that part of my weekly husbandry when I am doing water changes.

If you are running a protein skimmer, that will provide adequate gas exchange. The top also decreases the evaporation rate, but the trade off is more effort to keep the tank cool.

In all, I would recommend a glass top, as long as you are willing to keep up with the extra work that comes with it.

 

[Goose91]

Sweet, i was worried that the main reason you couldnt use a glass top was because it filtered out the wavelengths of useable light. So theres another thing to chalk up under bad advice from LFS lol.
But ya im thinking i may need to drill a bunch of large holes in my glass then as i only have a filter cannister and no protein skimmer, and then im getting the best of both worlds and the glass will be better at keeping my cat from having random baths and trying to steal fish lol

 

[BadFish619]

Sweet, i was worried that the main reason you couldnt use a glass top was because it filtered out the wavelengths of useable light. So theres another thing to chalk up under bad advice from LFS lol.
But ya im thinking i may need to drill a bunch of large holes in my glass then as i only have a filter cannister and no protein skimmer, and then im getting the best of both worlds and the glass will be better at keeping my cat from having random baths and trying to steal fish lol

My cat is non stop. She even sleeps by it just so she's never too far from her "friends" lol

 

[Dom]

Sweet, i was worried that the main reason you couldnt use a glass top was because it filtered out the wavelengths of useable light. So theres another thing to chalk up under bad advice from LFS lol.
But ya im thinking i may need to drill a bunch of large holes in my glass then as i only have a filter cannister and no protein skimmer, and then im getting the best of both worlds and the glass will be better at keeping my cat from having random baths and trying to steal fish lol

You don't have to drill holes in the top. You can cut it an inch short to create a small vent gap.

 

[Gareth elliott]

About cats and lids. My rather large cat, think hes 12 pounds occasionally jumps on my screen top does no damage, been on about a year or so.

 

[Goose91]

My cat is non stop. She even sleeps by it just so she's never too far from her "friends" lol

Lol cats and their "friends"

You don't have to drill holes in the top. You can cut it an inch short to create a small vent gap.

But awesome, i realized i could just pull off the existing plastic joining and end cap pieces and i have a favourable gap so ya, i should be set now with far less effort than previously thought and most deffienetly cat proof, but also good to about screens for future endeavors.
Thxs gang!