# Effects of cover on light?



## k38 (Nov 9, 2014)

So, I'm thinking about setting up a low tech 20 or 29 gal tank and have been asking many dumb questions. Here's another: Back in the day, most tanks had hoods. My reef--years ago--had an elaborate hood with fans, reflector, and so on. Seems to me like many of the planted tanks I see today have light strips over open water. Nice to look down directly into your tank, but I have had many fish jump out of tanks, so am nervous about no cover. So the question is, what kind of covers are planted tank owners using, and what effect on light penetration does that have? 

Bill


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## cg49me (Oct 25, 2014)

I used to keep glass over mine (between water and lights). The water around here is REALLY hard though, so I was constantly scraping off mineral buildup.


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## rick dale (Feb 26, 2014)

*covers*

I do not use a cover. I have never had a fish jump out. But they will occasionally. If they do , hey its not the end of the world. The covers will get dirty and will affect the lighting going into your tank. I started this tank with covers and eventually took them off because I couldn't keep them clean.


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## EndlerGame (Oct 19, 2013)

I was also wondering this...I got 2 used Oceanic aquariums with the pebbled glass lids that come with them, and wondered if these lids will significantly reduce light levels in the tank? Does pebbled glass block more/less light than regular flat, clear glass? Or does it actually help to disperse the light more because of the texture, preventing spotlighting from widespread bulbs?


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## cg49me (Oct 25, 2014)

Anything in the way is going to diminish your lighting. Even flat clean glass isn't 100% transparent.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I find that almost anything between the light and water will reduce the light but then there is more to the difference than just improved lighting. Looking at reef tanks and other fish only tanks, you will find there is a great deal of difference in outlook from those who keep planted tanks. The fish are the priority in the first case but only a small portion of the interest in the planted group. You find very expansive fish which may be almost one of a kind in the first two groups while the second group are likely to keep only small and often very common fish. So the planted group are often willing to let the occasional jumper go if it makes getting more/better light for the priority plants. 
I go with an in between approach of open topped without glass but then add the security of canopies to avoid losing the fish as I do run fish tanks with plants rather than planted tanks with fish. 
Just a difference of how we approach the game?


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## k38 (Nov 9, 2014)

PlantedRich, 

What sort of canopy do you use?

Rick Dale, 

What a beautiful tank! What's your set up? Size of tank and lights?

Bill

Bump:


cg49me said:


> I used to keep glass over mine (between water and lights). The water around here is REALLY hard though, so I was constantly scraping off mineral buildup.


You use tap water? I'm in the country in SE Michigan and man, our water is HARD. We have a softener. Wonder if that water is OK? With my reef, I used distilled water (not distilled using copper apparatus).

Bill


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## treyLcham (Sep 9, 2014)

If u trully want to put somthing on top I would use a thin sheet of acrylic because it doesnt refract light as bad as glass wood

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2


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## EndlerGame (Oct 19, 2013)

I use a cover as much to reduce evaporation as to prevent fish from jumping. I do weekly water changer, and if I have a cover, no top-offs are needed between water changes.

On my two tanks without a lid, I need to add water during the week to keep the level above the filter outlets. However, even on an uncovered tank, I have a piece of glass between the light and the water to keep water from getting on the light...its a finnex fugeray, which sits very low and its on an endler colony, so there's hundreds of tiny mouths constantly cruising the surface splashing up water droplets.

That's another advantage of the lid to me, it keeps water off of all of my very low sitting lights (most of my lights are Beamswork, basically the same style as a Marineland DoubleBright LED). Of course, that's not a problem if you're hanging your lights higher, which many people do on open top tanks.

So, I think just get lights that are bright enough to shine through a lid, glass or acrylic. I know the lid reduces the light somewhat, but don't know how much...it doesn't look like too much of a difference to my eye, but that doesn't mean anything. Of course, you gotta keep them clean, too!


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## Knotyoureality (Aug 3, 2012)

It wasn't due to light issues (though a dirty cover certainly reduces light penetration), but when I moved seriously into planted tanks one of the first things to go was the cover. 

Fish focused tanks with no or few plants, there just isn't much of any need to get your hands in the tank except for a weekly water change/cleanup. Remove the cover once, replace it when you're done; even feeding isn't a big deal as you can usually drop the food thru a gap or just lift the front section. 

Planted tanks however--I'm forever getting my hands in them. Pulling bits of dead leaves off the surface, thinning floaters, replanting young plants my BN pleco or the snails knock loose, culling shrimp, fishing out remains of uneaten veggies, pruning and replanting, dosing fertilizers--I'd spend half my day pulling covers off and putting them back on. Light bars, even those resting directly on the rims, can at least be slid back and forth out of the way. 

I've lost an occasional fish--but it's pretty uncommon. And, really, thinking back, I probably lost as many fish with covers as without. Acrylic covers can be cut to fit around filters/tubes but I mostly had glass covers and they'd leave a 1-2" gap all along one long side and fish readily found their way thru it. One of the first of my planted tanks to go permanently topless was my endler breeding colony as I got tired of coming home and finding dead endler males baking on top of the glass cover. Removing the cover and adding floaters significantly reduced the mortality rate from would-be carpet surfers.


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