Hood Question

[ryan_ferguson25]

Hi guys and gals...

We've recently completed our cycle and added our 2 new inhabitants... McDavid and Marlin ( My little guy loves Connor McDavid and my daughter is a bit of a disney fan... go figure ) Ocellaris Clowns... but down to the nitty gritty...

I built our aquarium stand and cabinetry...I got 2 pieces of glass cut for the hood which sit about 2" off the water surface...I'm getting a ton of mould/algae... something growing on both sides where I have the glass resting....

I know I can clean it off... but is there a reef safe product I can use to coat the interior of the hood to prevent this from continuing...My lights are not set up yet... so it's no big deal to take the hood off and fix the issue...

Suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[GimpyFin]

Do you have a picture of your hood/glass?

 

[ryan_ferguson25]

here's a couple views... I realize the glass needs to be done a different way... hinged somehow... I'd just rather do this once more.. the right way... lol

 

[GimpyFin]

It looks like your glass is resting directly on the wood of your top trim, trapping the wood under the glass and directly exposing it to water and mold. If you have a wood top/canopy, your glass would generally sit on the tank itself (Either inset in the top plastic frame or with clips on a rimless tank), and then the canopy on top resting on the edges of the tank, away from direct water contact. Aside from that, it does look quite nice.

 

[ryan_ferguson25]

ok, thanks, that's kind of exactly what i was thinking... if i relocate the glass so it's not resting on the wooden supports... i should be safe from the mould growing back?

Thanks... learning here...

 

[GimpyFin]

Yes. I can't quite tell from the pic, but does your tank have the plastic trim top and bottom? (Looks kinda like a Marineland corner-flo tank, but I'm not sure.) If so, you could save yourself some work and just buy the hinged glass top for your specific tank. It fits perfect and you can put your canopy on after that. (Although, you might have to re-work the canopy a bit to make sure the hinged glass is able to swing up and open.)

 

[billdogg]

What they said, but, if you have a canopy, why the glass at all? If it's to prevent jumpers, a DIY screen top would serve you much better

 

[ryan_ferguson25]

I did the glass for evaporation. I don't have an ATO and was losing about 5 gal a week. Quite frankly...im finding the glass to be a PIA...

I'm not opposed to dumping the glass lid altogether... it cut my evaporation in half...but maybe I'm better off with out the glass...

 

[GimpyFin]

Evaporation is the main reason I have a glass top too, but the DIY screens Bill mentioned work quite well if you don't want to go the glass route.

 

[ryan_ferguson25]

I'm thinking I may just clean the mould..and go with the screen... I don't want to keep battling this...and I don't really want to re-do the hood. I suppose I can just add the 2 extra minutes of topping up during my feeding schedule.

 

[billdogg]

FWIW - if I only lost 5g/week to evaporation I would be worried something was amiss! (120DT/40 sump)

The glass also reduces pretty dramatically the amount of light getting to your tank, and decreases it ability for oxygen exchange. I used a glass top on my 60 cube for about 20 years and thought nothing of it. Then it broke so I replaced it with a DIY screen top. Quite literally within days (if not hours) the tank began looking better than it ever had before.

 

[ryan_ferguson25]

FWIW - if I only lost 5g/week to evaporation I would be worried something was amiss! (120DT/40 sump)

The glass also reduces pretty dramatically the amount of light getting to your tank, and decreases it ability for oxygen exchange. I used a glass top on my 60 cube for about 20 years and thought nothing of it. Then it broke so I replaced it with a DIY screen top. Quite literally within days (if not hours) the tank began looking better than it ever had before.

Thx

I've removed the glass..I'm going to go with the screen. I don't want to battle mould...could I just use egg crate since it won't b visible.

 

[xCry0x]

Egg crate works fine!

 

[ryan_ferguson25]

Thx

 

[billdogg]

Actually, eggcrate won't stop most of the fish most likely to jump. IME, they use it as spots to aim for instead. In addition, eggcrate is technically lighting diffuser and so will block (diffuse) a portion of your light. The clear screen won't do that.

 

[ryan_ferguson25]

Actually, eggcrate won't stop most of the fish most likely to jump. IME, they use it as spots to aim for instead. In addition, eggcrate is technically lighting diffuser and so will block (diffuse) a portion of your light. The clear screen won't do that.

Clear screen it is....lol

Thx