Glass Cover Question

[cbayer]

I want to put a glass cover over my aquarium and set my metal halide light on top of it. If the glass is getting splashed while the light is on will it break the glass? If its a matter of thickness of glass what thickness would yall reccomend without hindering the amount of light into my aquarium.

[mathias]

I have seen a metal halide crack a center brace.... I don't think it would shatter but you are cutting the amount of light entering your water and its going to be a pain in the *** to keep clean...

[alton]

On my 155 I run 2-250MH and 1-175MH 2" high over my oceanic glass tops. I am able to do this by running a 4" fan tied to the lighting timer. This keeps the glass tops cool. I wipe clean the glass tops once a week.

[erikharrison]

DO NOT DO IT. I cracked my top doing the exact same thing. I am lucky not to have lost any fish or my halide. Mine popped loudly as it broke. If I hadn't been home, I would have been out of luck.

[erikharrison]

To add to my comment, my lights were directly on the glass, 250w mh HQI.

[cbayer]

thanks for the input guys but what if I have a hole cut out where the light will shine through will it still heat the surrounding glass up enough to break.

[caferacermike]

If you absolutely must do it, I'd go to Binswanger and order 1/2" thick tempered glass. It must be tempered. The tempering arranges the molecules to accept heat. It will not "grow". Normal glass grows until it shatters. And BTW it will probably cost more than the tank. I had 2 custom pieces of 1/4" x 6x12 tempered and it set me back $110. I'd hate to think of what it would cost for a thick piece the size of the top of a tank with holes cut through it. The holes MUST be cut before the tempering.

[brewercm]

Do not sit them directly on the glass or you will be fishing out a pendant from your tank. I got lucky on mine where I had it sitting on the corner edges of the tank also so the glass went in the tank but not the light assembly. The heat that will build up and the inevitable splash will crack any glass including tempered. You'll just end up with thousands of little pieces of glass in your tank instead of several large ones.

If you do what caferacermike said it may work but I wouldn't want to bet on it while I was away from the house, or while their for that matter.

[safeuerwehr]

may i ask the reason for placing the glass or covering your tank, as there are other ideas that can be circulated, believe me there is close to nothing that hasnt been tried or experienced on this site.

[cbayer]

The reason I was wanting to do this is because I dont like the way it looks when the pendant is hanging from the ceiling. i was hoping to conceil the light a little more without having to add a hood. If you guys have any ideas please let me know. the only other thing I though about doing was to get some wood braces and set the light on top of that. The tank is the first thing u see when u walk in my house so whatever I do it has to look good.

[LoneStar]

Are you using a pendant for your metal halide lamp?

Using thin steel cable to hang a pendant is out of the question?? I think that gives you the cleanest look without a obtrusive feel.
http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20050929140014/www.drsfostersmith.com/images/Categoryimages/normal/p_rd_21189_31664P.jpg
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=12888&N=2004+113356

Sitting the light directly ontop of the glass is a bad deal, like discussed. If you don't like the look of a wood canopy, you can build one out of wood and skin it with sheet metal (stainless or brushed).

Got any photos of how the tank looks now in the entrance way? And what kinda pendant, tank, stand are we talking about?

[caferacermike]

I've got the above method supporting my 48"x 14" fixture from my ceiling. What I did to cover my lighting and keep the tank cooler was to gut the canopy that came with my tank set up. I removed the top and added a brace to the back. Now I have a "trim" ring instead of a canopy.

[Jynxgirl]

I have a canopy with holes cut out on top that my pendants sit down in. Works great and keeps the light in the tank,

Jill

[alton]

Try welding a frame support made from 1" light weight angle iron and paint it black. And then just let it sit on top of your aquarium keeping your fixtures off of the glass and running a fan to keep the glasss cool.

[cbayer]

Sorry I dont have a camera to show my tank. However I do appreciate all the ideas and I have kind of taken some of them and formed a new one and wanted to see what yall thought. First off I really dont want a hood on my aquarium for several reasons one being that is a corner aquarium that is set in a built in shelf of my house which means amost everyting about it is unconventional to most tanks so I have to keep the top uncovered. I was thinking about taking some angle iron to form a rectangle then put a sheet of window screen on it to keep the water from reaching the glass and still allow the light to go through. One problem that has come to my attention is that since the light will be only a couple of inches from the water my surface water may heat up to much and I may need to get a fan. Any other forseeable problems, any suggestions.