Lid/Light questions

[Icewing726]

Hi, I am finally to the point of filling the tank and getting the cycle started which means I have to commit on the lid... hate commitment.

Anyway, I may have to succumb to doing mesh but I don't want to yet. I'm looking at 3/8 thick Lexan which is a polycarbonate. Reasons being:

1) Local shop can't cut the notches I need into the glass.

2) I'm getting it thicker because I want added weight to deter the eels and I figured that would be more rigid and resist warping (each panel will be 23x10.75 in resting on two 2 in shelves)

Now my questions are:
1) How much light will get through? I think its 85% not sure though.
2) I have 2 orbit pros, will I be able to support an anenome with that light loss? (its a 24in deep tank but I think max depth will reduce to 21 or 20 in total)
3) Any better suggestions besides mesh? I might go back to glass if I can find someone to cut it.

PAR loss through lexan would be awesome if you know it. Thanks in advance, and sorry for the poorly formated post (Kids are screaming and whining and I have to go handle them).

 

[ramseynb]

What's going to suck about a plastic or glass lid is you're going to get water droplets and salt creep that builds up on it so that can further reduce PAR and it's also ugly. I'd recommend a DIY pond net cover using pond netting material and window screen edging (you can get this at home depot). It's easy and cheap to make, won't reduce PAR to any big degree, looks better and allows better air exchange.

I don't have the issue of having anything strong enough to push my screen top off the tank, but if I did, I would look into maybe window locks or small clamps that can be put on the tank to "lock" the cover in place. It's going to make it a bit more of a pain to remove, but I think you'll be happier with the result over a hard top.

 

[Valentini89]

Hi, I am finally to the point of filling the tank and getting the cycle started which means I have to commit on the lid... hate commitment.

Anyway, I may have to succumb to doing mesh but I don't want to yet. I'm looking at 3/8 thick Lexan which is a polycarbonate. Reasons being:

1) Local shop can't cut the notches I need into the glass.

2) I'm getting it thicker because I want added weight to deter the eels and I figured that would be more rigid and resist warping (each panel will be 23x10.75 in resting on two 2 in shelves)

Now my questions are:
1) How much light will get through? I think its 85% not sure though.
2) I have 2 orbit pros, will I be able to support an anenome with that light loss? (its a 24in deep tank but I think max depth will reduce to 21 or 20 in total)
3) Any better suggestions besides mesh? I might go back to glass if I can find someone to cut it.

PAR loss through lexan would be awesome if you know it. Thanks in advance, and sorry for the poorly formated post (Kids are screaming and whining and I have to go handle them).

The current orbit Marine pro lights aren't good for anything but fowlr tanks. I learned the hard way. I have one over my nano tank and I tried several corals after I had the tank established, they all died. With parameters all being right the only cause of death possible was too LITTLE light.

 

[thearsalan1]

I have a 18" current marine orbit (non pro) on a biocube29 and my rbta split 4 times and they all seem happy. I was also growing LPS and SPS in there for a while before I decided to take them out. However this light is a couple inches above surface with no glass or mesh under it. Also, The corals and nems were way happier once I put a Hydra 26 on there.
The light can grow corals, but it's cheap for a reason.

As far as glass tops, if you have more powerful lights, you'll get plenty par through the salty and calcificated glass, just gotta make sure to keep it clean.

Another option would be to have a canopy all around the tank, so there's walls that prevent things from jumping out. In that case you can avoid glass or mesh all together. All of these currently work well for me.


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[Icewing726]

I may be forced to the netting but right now I'm trying to figure out a way to win with glass due to the weight.

Also I have 2 48 inch pro lights that advertise 100-75 PAR from 21" to 24" depth, the orbit lights that aren't pro come in singles and have half the leds of the pro so the light difference is there.

I wanted to try the polycarb lexan first before glass due to the ability to cut more slits in it for air exchange and hopefully reduce condensation. Was hoping someone else had used that material and knew the PAR loss for a 3/8th piece.

Thanks for all the replies by the way.