Glass canopy yes or no...

[Pinecone_Jeff]

Hey Folks,
I have a 10g reef with a 2x36 PC fixture and hood from AH Supply. After a day of use, I notice a lot of salt spray on the reflectors. So I put on the tank's glass cover. It's been about 2 weeks since I put on the canopy and I was wondering if anyone else does this?

I know the main drawback to this is heat retention. Since I have my lights on for only 6 hours, heat build up hasn't been a problem. I get maybe a 3 degree increase over 2 hours. But when I bump up the photoperiod to 10 hours, I'm afraid the heat may build up too much. If I have a refugium and a skimmer and a fan, would that help dissipate the heat when I have the longer photoperiod?

Also, how much of the light will be cut down by the use of the glass cover?

For those of you who don't use a glass cover, how do you deal the with salt spray on your bulbs and reflectors?

Thanks for any input you guys may have! :)

[Timbo]

On my bow front, I use the original full hood that includes a little glass slip where the PC retrofit sits above. Also, on my 29 at home, the pendant I use includes a glass lens as well. I do not think that the amount of light that the glass would cut down on would be significant at all. The most important thing however, would be to clean the shield often, as often as every week, to prevent salt build up from cutting down on light levels.

As far as heat, I wouldn't worry too much about it, its just PCs anyway and they don't get too hot. Purchase glass that will only cover the lighting so that there is adequete ventelation over the tank elsewhere. I think you'll find that without a glass lense, you'll be cleaning the lighting very often, otherwise you'll end up with permenantly tarnished reflectors and bulbs from the salt.

Tim

[Pinecone_Jeff]

Cool! Thanks Tim! I just needed a little reassurance that what I was doing was okay.

Hey, I just got another 2 lbs of Fiji LR and a small clownfish yesterday! I'll take some pics. The LR was just okay, but has a nice shape and looks pretty good in the tank. I'll post the pics later today or tomorrow. :)

[lakerfan]

I was wondering about the same exact thing pinecone. I have a 2x55 watt PC set up over my ten and i use the glass that came with the tank to cover it up. I have a fan on my hood to help with the heat and i have had no problems associated with heat even though the PC's still get really hot.
The only thing i would worry about is to remember to keep cleaning the glass or else you will notice some loss of light from all the salt and dirt on it.