Hi.

I was recommended by the LFS to remove my glass tops now that I am
using a Coralife 4 x 65 on my 75G. They said the light will spread
more and not be blocked by the tops. Does anyone else do this? Also,
here are the fish I have. Are any of these in danger of jumping to
their death with no tops?

6 Clown Loaches
2 Angelfish
8 Red-Eye Tetras
8 Serpae Tetras
9 Zebra Danios (these guys are almost always at the very top of the
water)
2 Rainbowfish
5 Brochis Splendens
1 Whiptail
2 Otto

Thanks,
Jesse

SlimFlem wrote:
Hi.

I was recommended by the LFS to remove my glass tops now that I am
using a Coralife 4 x 65 on my 75G. They said the light will spread
more and not be blocked by the tops. Does anyone else do this? Also,
here are the fish I have. Are any of these in danger of jumping to
their death with no tops?

[snip]
9 Zebra Danios (these guys are almost always at the very top of the

I've had several Zebra Danios jump out of uncovered tanks. Are you sure
that your new fixtures are rated to be put right over the water? Do
they have a "shield" of some sort to protect them from moisture?

--Andrew

The angels are jumpers - mine routinely come out of the water right to the
gills when I feed them.

SlimFlem wrote in message
om...
Hi.

I was recommended by the LFS to remove my glass tops now that I am
using a Coralife 4 x 65 on my 75G. They said the light will spread
more and not be blocked by the tops. Does anyone else do this? Also,
here are the fish I have. Are any of these in danger of jumping to
their death with no tops?

6 Clown Loaches
2 Angelfish
8 Red-Eye Tetras
8 Serpae Tetras
9 Zebra Danios (these guys are almost always at the very top of the
water)
2 Rainbowfish
5 Brochis Splendens
1 Whiptail
2 Otto

Thanks,
Jesse

There is a protective acrylic shield that covers the entire fixture on the
water side.

"Andrew Roberts" wrote in message
.. .
SlimFlem wrote:
Hi.

I was recommended by the LFS to remove my glass tops now that I am
using a Coralife 4 x 65 on my 75G. They said the light will spread
more and not be blocked by the tops. Does anyone else do this? Also,
here are the fish I have. Are any of these in danger of jumping to
their death with no tops?

[snip]
9 Zebra Danios (these guys are almost always at the very top of the

I've had several Zebra Danios jump out of uncovered tanks. Are you sure
that your new fixtures are rated to be put right over the water? Do
they have a "shield" of some sort to protect them from moisture?

--Andrew

Oh, right, good point... you either want to have glass over the tank or a
lens on the light hood. Moisture = rapid depreciation.

kush

Andrew Roberts wrote in message
.. .
SlimFlem wrote:
Hi.

I was recommended by the LFS to remove my glass tops now that I am
using a Coralife 4 x 65 on my 75G. They said the light will spread
more and not be blocked by the tops. Does anyone else do this? Also,
here are the fish I have. Are any of these in danger of jumping to
their death with no tops?

[snip]
9 Zebra Danios (these guys are almost always at the very top of the

I've had several Zebra Danios jump out of uncovered tanks. Are you sure
that your new fixtures are rated to be put right over the water? Do
they have a "shield" of some sort to protect them from moisture?

--Andrew

I wouldn't know which fish of yours would jump (someone else said danios) but,
assuming that it's a possibility, you will want something to cover the tank.
However, the more that's covering it, the more light will be blocked,
obviously. Is it possible to take the acrylic covers off the fixture, and
leave the glass top on the tank? Don't do it if it will be unsafe, of course,
but I would think that one cover is better, and would be inclined to leave the
glass one there. It will be easier to keep glass clean than acrylic, I think.

In article , "SlimFlem"
wrote:
There is a protective acrylic shield that covers the entire fixture on the
water side.

"Andrew Roberts" wrote in message
. ..
SlimFlem wrote:
Hi.

I was recommended by the LFS to remove my glass tops now that I am
using a Coralife 4 x 65 on my 75G. They said the light will spread
more and not be blocked by the tops. Does anyone else do this? Also,
here are the fish I have. Are any of these in danger of jumping to
their death with no tops?


__
"Insert witty comment here."
-John

On 2 Jan 2003 08:23:54 -0800, (SlimFlem) wrote:

Hi.

I was recommended by the LFS to remove my glass tops now that I am
using a Coralife 4 x 65 on my 75G. They said the light will spread

Well, I've heard several people talk about glass cracking when used
with lots of compact fluorescent light. It isn't that the CF put out
more heat than regular fluorescent tubes, but the tube is much more
compact, so the heat is more concentrated.

On my 75g, I've got an canopy that suspends the lights 5 or 6 inches
over the top of the tank. I don't use any type of glass it. On my
other tanks, the glass does need frequent cleaning, and I can
definitely see a decrease in light levels due to the glass, even 1 day
after cleaning it...



Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

Chuck, you are correct about the glass heating up. When I took mine off
today, the glass under the lights was very hot. I'm glad they didn't crack
and fall into the tank, potentially. The light spread is much better
without them.

What I did do is take the slimmer pieces of the glass tops out of the
plastic connector and place them on the tank in front of the light. They at
least give a little protection in case someone tries to jump. =)

Thanks.

"Chuck Gadd" wrote in message
...
On 2 Jan 2003 08:23:54 -0800, (SlimFlem) wrote:

Hi.

I was recommended by the LFS to remove my glass tops now that I am
using a Coralife 4 x 65 on my 75G. They said the light will spread

Well, I've heard several people talk about glass cracking when used
with lots of compact fluorescent light. It isn't that the CF put out
more heat than regular fluorescent tubes, but the tube is much more
compact, so the heat is more concentrated.

On my 75g, I've got an canopy that suspends the lights 5 or 6 inches
over the top of the tank. I don't use any type of glass it. On my
other tanks, the glass does need frequent cleaning, and I can
definitely see a decrease in light levels due to the glass, even 1 day
after cleaning it...



Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

On my 55gal, I use shop lights with no glass. By luck, they are a near perfect
fit and thier enclocures "hug" the canopy I made and leave no room for fish to
escape. I wouldn't "officially" reccomend this, however, unless you are very
careful to make a canopy that holds them securely and in such a way that
things that are supposed to stay dry do just that.

In article , wrote:

Well, I've heard several people talk about glass cracking when used
with lots of compact fluorescent light. It isn't that the CF put out
more heat than regular fluorescent tubes, but the tube is much more
compact, so the heat is more concentrated.

On my 75g, I've got an canopy that suspends the lights 5 or 6 inches
over the top of the tank. I don't use any type of glass it. On my
other tanks, the glass does need frequent cleaning, and I can
definitely see a decrease in light levels due to the glass, even 1 day
after cleaning it...



Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

__
"Insert witty comment here."
-John

Also, after removing my glass tops, I noticed my tank temperature does not
go above 80. It now stays at the preset 78. I would imagine the glass tops
were radiating the contianed heat to the water and heating it up. The heat
from the light now has a better means to be dispipated. This is a good
thing.

"SlimFlem" wrote in message
newsJ0R9.535951$P31.177156@rwcrnsc53...
Chuck, you are correct about the glass heating up. When I took mine off
today, the glass under the lights was very hot. I'm glad they didn't
crack
and fall into the tank, potentially. The light spread is much better
without them.

What I did do is take the slimmer pieces of the glass tops out of the
plastic connector and place them on the tank in front of the light. They
at
least give a little protection in case someone tries to jump. =)

Thanks.

"Chuck Gadd" wrote in message
...
On 2 Jan 2003 08:23:54 -0800, (SlimFlem) wrote:

Hi.

I was recommended by the LFS to remove my glass tops now that I am
using a Coralife 4 x 65 on my 75G. They said the light will spread

Well, I've heard several people talk about glass cracking when used
with lots of compact fluorescent light. It isn't that the CF put out
more heat than regular fluorescent tubes, but the tube is much more
compact, so the heat is more concentrated.

On my 75g, I've got an canopy that suspends the lights 5 or 6 inches
over the top of the tank. I don't use any type of glass it. On my
other tanks, the glass does need frequent cleaning, and I can
definitely see a decrease in light levels due to the glass, even 1 day
after cleaning it...



Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

On Fri, 03 Jan 2003 02:33:55 GMT, "SlimFlem"
wrote:

Also, after removing my glass tops, I noticed my tank temperature does not
go above 80. It now stays at the preset 78. I would imagine the glass tops
were radiating the contianed heat to the water and heating it up. The heat

Without glass tops, evaporation rate will be higher. Evaporation
will lower the temp, but you will need to deal with the topping off
the water level more often.


Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

Chuck Gadd wrote ...
but you will need to deal with the topping off
the water level more often.

And with the fact that salts and other stuff ("stuff" = heavy metals,
organic and inorganic compounds, etc.) will have an increased tendency to
concentrate in solution. You probably want to increase your water change
routine somewhat and be certain to be siphoning from the bottom of the tank
where the heavier water will settle.

kush

"You can't have everything - where would you put it?"