# Is anyone running with a canopy with retrofit lights and no glass top?



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Now that I have the cube setup, and am in the last stages (getting the canopy and lighting together, I just realized I never thought about a glass top. Is anyone out there, fresh or salt, running with a full canopy with retrofit lights and no glass top? Is humidity going to be a huge problem? The back will will open if it matters at all.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

I think if your canopy is open back and your fish don't splash much you should be ok. Only thing is evaporation which will be very high as opposed to having a glass lid. I know that for my big tank, if I leave one of the lids off, its a very dramatic difference in evaporation. I do prefer not having lids as you get better light but I do use the lids to keep my splashy fish in check.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I see. I hadn't really thought about it until the tank was setup. The surface area of open water is very large in the center. Guess I'll have to look into a custom glass top.


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## Adz1 (Apr 21, 2010)

i used to on my 110 tall till they stopped working every 2-3 mnths.
then i got glass tops and have been good for almost 2 years with the same lights.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Adz1 said:


> i used to on my 110 tall till they stopped working every 2-3 mnths.
> then i got glass tops and have been good for almost 2 years with the same lights.


Ok, that cinches it. Thanks Adrian and Tony. Always nice to hear from the voice of experience.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Charles makes glass tops for tanks. I just found that out recently, too late for my 25 tall. He does a really nice job. Maybe you could ask him to make a glass top for your cube?


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## fkshiu (Apr 22, 2010)

I do. I have exhaust fans blowing into the canopy pushing air/humidity out the top and back vents. There's also an exhaust fan directly above the tank blowing air outside.

I've got almost 800w going when everything's on.

A glass top does cut down on evaporation, but an open top is better for gas exchange.


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## sNApple (Apr 23, 2010)

never had problems for 3 years, and the next tank wont have glass tops either


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

I always have glass tops. Saves me from jumpers and evaporation. Don't really care about lighting anymore since I quit hardcore planted tanks.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Morainy said:


> Charles makes glass tops for tanks. I just found that out recently, too late for my 25 tall. He does a really nice job. Maybe you could ask him to make a glass top for your cube?


Was there while you were making this post.  I have to get the canopy finalized first, since there is no top frame, so I can tell how much free space is inside.



fkshiu said:


> I do. I have exhaust fans blowing into the canopy pushing air/humidity out the top and back vents. There's also an exhaust fan directly above the tank blowing air outside.
> 
> I've got almost 800w going when everything's on.
> 
> A glass top does cut down on evaporation, but an open top is better for gas exchange.


That's what I was thinking too, that the air circulation would be good.



sNApple said:


> never had problems for 3 years, and the next tank wont have glass tops either


I'm more worried about jumpers than humidity, but incidentally did you ever have mould problems inside the canopy?


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

jkam said:


> I always have glass tops. Saves me from jumpers and evaporation. Don't really care about lighting anymore since I quit hardcore planted tanks.


If I were going planted, I would have had a canopy. It would have been open top with a suspended light. That, to me, is hardcore. I just want lights to see my fish with.


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Taken all my glass top off my two SW for many year. I had a $100 tiny wrass managed to jum onto the glass top and get sun-dried. Guess my auto-top off helps with evaporation.

As long as you get good ventilation - you need it go get rid of the heat anyway - you will be fine. With SW, you also need to clean the light bulbs and reflector - I don;t do that very often. But that versus cleaning the glass. After a while, the glass get calcified and you cannot clean any more.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

gklaw said:


> Taken all my glass top off my two SW for many year. I had a $100 tiny wrass managed to jum onto the glass top and get sun-dried. Guess my auto-top off helps with evaporation.
> 
> As long as you get good ventilation - you need it go get rid of the heat anyway - you will be fine. With SW, you also need to clean the light bulbs and reflector - I don;t do that very often. But that versus cleaning the glass. After a while, the glass get calcified and you cannot clean any more.


Again, thanks for the excellent input. The canopy will be a full foot tall (I want a good light spread) so there will be lots of air above the water, and open out the back. However, I do not want to use fans for the same reason I didn't sump the tank even though I drilled. I want the tank to be silent since it's in my living room. With my 2078 inside the cabinet, I don't hear a thing and I hope to keep it that way.


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## Peterchow (Apr 21, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> Now that I have the cube setup, and am in the last stages (getting the canopy and lighting together, I just realized I never thought about a glass top. Is anyone out there, fresh or salt, running with a full canopy with retrofit lights and no glass top? Is humidity going to be a huge problem? The back will will open if it matters at all.


My 108G is fully opened with no glass top or canopy. Just a 48" Hagen T5HO GLO 2x54 w lighting


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## jkcichlid (Apr 21, 2010)

I have a full canopy over my 90G, back about half open, no fans for 3 years, no problems with moisture or mold. Make sure the inside of the canopy is painted or clear coated to keep the moisture from soaking into the wood. Been running the same set of retrofit lights for over a year and have had no problems


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Peterchow said:


> My 108G is fully opened with no glass top or canopy. Just a 48" Hagen T5HO GLO 2x54 w lighting


Thanks Peter. That's what I'm used to (I ran open top for a while on my small planteds, but didn't want to deal with the evap, and then there's the problem with hatchetfish. ). However, I cannot live with the light spillage in my living room, so I wanted a canopy with this one.


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## sNApple (Apr 23, 2010)

2wheelsx2 said:


> I'm more worried about jumpers than humidity, but incidentally did you ever have mould problems inside the canopy?


tons of mould in my room, crazy gooey red stuff, and black spotted stuff... the canopy never had any mould because it was not sealed to the tank


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