Glass broke on my Reef Optix 3

[wanecek]

Is there anyone local that I can buy a replacement glass for the Reef Optix 3 pendant. It is for the HQI pendant so it needs UV protection. It shattered this morning and I am leaving on a business trip on Monday and would like it replaced ASAP.

Any direction or help that anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[rkl303]

Glad you caught it before anything bad happened.

[mbunakeith]

what size does the glass have to be? how thick etc.. i have some glass at the house that i can cut and deliver to you on my way to denver on sunday.

[wanecek]

I guess so. I only had to clean up the shattered pieces in my aquarium but at least the light did not burn any of my corals.

What a mess.

[wanecek]

Does it have UV protection? It has to have UV protection because the bulbs are hqi DE bulbs. I am not sure if it is tempered or not? How can you tell if it is tempered?

The demensions are 271/2cm X 23cm. 1/8" thick.

Thanks for helping out.

[jonthefb]

Any standard glass will filter out UVB and UVC radiation, however will not filter out UVA radiation. Your best bet would be to contact a glass shop. Here is what the description of the glass says directly from the Sunlight Supply catalog:

"Use of tempered UV protected glass is mandatory, as glass in HQI lamps have no UV inhibitors"

If you cant find a replacement glass lens at an aquarium shop, you might try a picture framing shop, as most glass that is in professional picture frames is UVA, B, and C resistant. Although the picture glass may not be tempered, it will work in a pinch and will block out harmful UV radiation that would nuke your livestock. Give a call around maybe even to hobby lobby and see if they have anything available!

good luck
jon

[mbunakeith]

its up to you. let me know quick. i am going to westminster tomorrow afternoon for my company holiday party and i should be able to drop it off at your house on the way. pm me and give me details if you want me to do this. the glass i have is non-tempered window glass. i am sure it will do the trick.

[rkl303]

get some polarized glass and look at the glass at different angles in light and see if you get a rainbow type effect from the glass...if it is there then the glass is tempered although it sounds like you already know that.

[bmb527]

Why UV filter glass? I have been to many reefs in the oceans and have never noticed a glass cover over the reefs. Sounds like a marketing gimmick.
Bill

[wanecek]

I was just going by what I heard about when others had their glass broke and then burned their corals.

Michael

[The Grim Reefer]

Any tempered glass will work. MUST BE TEMPERED.

Just for the record there are single ended lamps that produce more UV than DE's with shields. I wouldn't get hung up on trying to find the low e glass. The envelope around a single ended lamp isnt

[jonthefb]

as i said before there are 3 type of UV radiation, UVA, UVB, and UVC. UVB and C are filtered out by many types of glass, however UVA is not. It has been shown that if you run HQI lamps w/o the glass lenses you WILL damage your corals. I have seen it first hand when I decided to remove the lenses that protected an Aqua Medic HQi fixture, as i thought that the increased light would be more beneficial for the corals. The corals did look great for about a half hour, and then all began to show immediate signs of stress, tissue damage, and even recession in such a short amount of time. Marketing gimmeck, unfortunately not.

I suppose if the sun were 6-12 inches above the reef we could worry about covering the reef with UV resistant glass, but at that point there would be many more issues to deal with.

grim, i would be very interested in seeing the documentation that you have regarding single ended lamps that produce more UV than double ended bulbs. Do you know what kind of UV radiation, etc?

wanecek, any luck finding glass? in a pinch if i had the option i would choose UV resistant over tempered. If the glass breaks, your in trouble, but at least you will be filtereing out all 3 type of UV radiation rather than nuking your corals and fish!

cheers~!
jon

[The Grim Reefer]

Originally posted by jonthefb

grim, i would be very interested in seeing the documentation that you have regarding single ended lamps that produce more UV than double ended bulbs. Do you know what kind of UV radiation, etc?

jon

Go to Sanjay's lighting page http://www.reeflightinginfo.arvixe.com/select2lamp.php
Change the lower range setting at the bottom of the page to 310nm and imput XM 10K SE & DE lamps using the same ballast and don't shield the DE. Aquaconnect and a couple others have the same type of results.

[wanecek]

Not yet. Maybe I can call around when I have time when I get off of the plane, but she will probably have to go pick it up. The good news is that it is very easy to just slide it in.

[wanecek]

Update:
Well, I had my wife pick up a piece of UV protection glass from Hobby Lobby. She put in the pendant and turned on the light. It took only a few minutes before that piece of glass broke as well. My recommendation is not to use photo glass of anytype since it might not be able to stand up to the heat.

So I ended up just calling Marine Depot and they had Sunlight Supply drop ship a replacement glass to me today. Yes, it was tempered. All is good even though my corals did not have any light for a week. No issues. I hate it when these things always seem to happen when I am going on a business trip (I got back last night).

Thanks.

[bmb527]

Since this thread started, I decided to try an experiment. I removed the glass from my Aqua-Medic 250w HQI pendant to see if anything bad happened to my corals. The answer is.... NO. each and every one is just as before, no burning, no fading, no decrease in polyp extension. The bulk of my corals are LPS, but the 2 SPS I have are just fine as well. I think the glass is more to protect the bulb over anything else. Just for reference, I started this on the 9th. I am going to leave it like this for another week to see if anything develops.
Bill

[The Grim Reefer]

As I stated above SOME DE lamps don't have a lot of UV output. That doesn't mean none do, I would be very carefull about pulling the shield off. By the time you notice a difference it may be too late for your critters. I'd put the glass back on.

[Fish Friendly]

I have a freind that has broke the glass on the top of his tank a few times
once the first time he steped on it during cleaning.
so he asked me to cut reg glass for him and it got tooo hot with his lights and broke so we put some seedy glass(CLEAR STAINED GLASS) AND THEN I GOT SOME 1/4" THICK GLASS FOR HIS TANK AND CUSTOM CUT IT FOR HIS TANK HIS CORALS ARE DOING FINE THE ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT THE LIGHT SHOULDNT SET DIRECTLY
ON THE GLASS HOPE THIS HELPS IF YOU GET A SAFTY GLASS YOU WILL HAVE TO SPECIAL ORDER IT AND I WOUNT BE THERE BY THIS WEEKEND (SORRY TO BRING THE BAD NEWS) BUT REG DS GLASS SHOULD DO YOU TELL YOU COULD FIND WHAT YOU WANT

[Fish Friendly]

I have a freind that has broke the glass on the top of his tank a few times
once the first time he steped on it during cleaning.
so he asked me to cut reg glass for him and it got tooo hot with his lights and broke so we put some seedy glass(CLEAR STAINED GLASS) AND THEN I GOT SOME 1/4" THICK GLASS FOR HIS TANK AND CUSTOM CUT IT FOR HIS TANK HIS CORALS ARE DOING FINE THE ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT THE LIGHT SHOULDNT SET DIRECTLY
ON THE GLASS HOPE THIS HELPS IF YOU GET A SAFTY GLASS YOU WILL HAVE TO SPECIAL ORDER IT AND I WOUNT BE THERE BY THIS WEEKEND (SORRY TO BRING THE BAD NEWS) BUT REG DS GLASS SHOULD DO YOU TELL YOU COULD FIND WHAT YOU WANT

[miwoodar]

UV is a safety issue as well. I read a thread here on RC where a guy took off his UV shields to let them soak while he had the hood open to clean the tank. After an hour or so of working on the tank he ended up having to go to the hospital for retinal burns.


---edit---
I tried to find the link - can't seem to locate it. If anyone is aware of this thread, could you please post it?

I did find this though from the Krib.:

"...the enclosure should shield
the unwary from shortwave UV, as these lamps radiate very strongly in this
band if their outer envelope fails. I quote the warning from 21 CFR
1040.30: "This lamp can cause serious skin burn and eye inflammation from
shortwave ultraviolet radiation if outer envelope of the lamp is broken or
punctured, and the arc tube continues to operate. Do not use where people
will remain for more than a few minutes unless adequate shielding or other
saftey precautions are used."

[jonthefb]

Yes Bill i too would reccommend putting the lenses back on.