Glass Lids Yes or No

[greenmonkey51]

Should I use glass lids on my 75g. I won't be using MH's and the room where it's at is fairly cool, I only consider it for the protection of the PC's I'll get.

[Craig Lambert]

No. Don't use them. They will limit gas exchange and evaporation no matter what lighting is used. With MH lighting they will also cause your tank to become very warm.

[greenmonkey51]

What would be the best way to protect power compact lights then.

[awestruck]

Last year I took my glass lids off (finally) and my corals started to grow better than when the lids were on--stronger light. And, you get much better gas exchange with no lid.

[awestruck]

Forgot to mention that you can buy legs for your lights which gets them up off the tank. I don't have MH, but from what I have read your MH should be approximately 6-10" above the water.

[rickh]

Use the glass. Keep the fish in the tank. Glass absorbs less light than egg crate blocks. R

[armagedon48]

regular glass blocks out the light *about 12%?

try and find starfire glass to use if you need, it blocks less light. also, acrylic seems to be fine for power compacts *but not halides!

[Snowboarda42]

no glass

Less gas exhange, more heat kept in the tank, etc.

either build a canopy of some sort if you have a suicidal fish. or stay away from the emo fish if possible.

[flfirefighter13]

Ive never had a problem with glass, always used it, tried an experiment and noticed no difference in growth without it, no heat change in my 180 either, only thing is it has to be kept clean. On my 75 glass tops actually made the tank a little cooler, not sure how but it was a 2 degree difference, I was running 440w of VHO on that tank.

[alan214]

If you don't use the glass lids (which I definitely recommend), then at least cover your tank with eggcrate to keep your fish from carpet surfing.

[samson78945]

NO GLASS!

Originally posted by alan214
If you don't use the glass lids (which I definitely recommend), then at least cover your tank with eggcrate to keep your fish from carpet surfing.

and weird you would say that cuz i dont have a lid or eggcrate just topless tank..i had my eel dissappear on me but he wasnt on the carpet..

[REEFRHEAD]

samson how long ago did your eel dissapear? and a eel just wont land on the carpet and stay there a eel will liek snake its wya around a lill into a dark area watch out for smell u might have a died ell sumwhere in the vacinity look for it bro. also th e glass thiong i have them but i dunno about the blocking percentage but i do know that the glass protects my really expensive light fixture because it sits right on the tank and i dont want slat creep everywhere. so unless ur gonan ahng your lights and u dont have any jumping fish wrasses mostly firefish gobies jawfish etc so go with the glass if you r gonan not ahve those fish and not hang your light but its my opinion so far and i think my corals get too much light right now lol and the tanks 30inches deep

[DouglasTiede]

NO GLASS, they limit gass exchange, are hard to keep clean. If you must have a lid use eggcrate

[drummereef]

I use eggcrate over my tank. There are other options but this is probably the easiest. Definitely don't do the glass though. Gas exchange is a good thing and your pH will thank you for it.

[tkeracer619]

no glass here

[Misled]

Originally posted by tkeracer619
no glass here

Same here!

[Scottkelly911]

Egg Crate here. but then again I've got fairy and flasher wrasses that would be fish jerky in no time without it.

[triggerfreak]

Go with glass lids. I use them on all my tanks and have never had a problem.

[eddie c]

i have a 75g and have always had always used the glass lids until last week, and the tank looks so much brighter now, the glass cuts out quite a bit of light.

[Frick-n-Frags]

No glass lids.

[Lion_Babe]

NOOO. For the health of your tank, please do not put glass lids on it.

[Ron Thomas]

I use lids, but don't like the coating that develops on the glass. What do you use to clean the lids? Water? Windex? Vinegar?

Thanks.

[cubber]

I used glass for a bit but changed over to egg crate. The glass severely limits gas exchange and also blocks more light. Also I hated having to clean the lids every day because of the salt creep and film that would develop on them. Egg crate is so much less maintenance and you can just spray it off with a garden hose if it gets any salt creep on it.

For those of you using glass and wondering how to get that film off of it that develops because of the heat from your lights and the salt, the best way I found to get it off was a razor blade and warm water. Again I am much happier with my switch to egg crate because it dramatically cut down on my daily maintenance of my tanks.

[Lion_Babe]

Originally posted by Ron Thomas
I use lids, but don't like the coating that develops on the glass. What do you use to clean the lids? Water? Windex? Vinegar?

Thanks.

Do not use Windex to clean the glass. You can use water or vinegar. There are also some products out there that help reduce salt creep...those do work but can cost a lot when you use them as recommended.

I would stick with just water and for the really bad spots vinegar.

[tprize]

Man there is absolutely no straight answer here, if you have an open sump, will you get the gas exchange necessary? Or do you need the main tank to be open to get that.