Glass or net lid??

JNalley

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Wow, that's amazing that your hob tank made it through one of your summers!! Now I'm back to undecided. I thought I had mailed it down to a mesh lid but now I'm not so sure. Haha. Ironically I already ordered the clips to hold a glass/acrylic lid awhile ago. Then I wavered and was leaning toward mesh. Now I'm back to possibly glass or acrylic. I like the idea that was mentioned of cutting an opening for lights in a glass or acrylic top so they fit right in. I'm assuming they're water resistant and you wouldn't lose any PAR. :)
Not all lights are water-resistant (In fact, most are not). I know for sure that the Fluval Marine 3.0 and the Current USA lights (the bar shaped lights they sell) are, but most of the high end options like AI Primes, Kessils, Radions, etc are not water-resistant in the slightest.

Also, most lights have an ideal mounting height based on the size tank you're using. For instance, an AI Prime should be mounted approximately 10" Above the surface of the water for a tank 18" Wide and wider for the best PAR distribution. For tanks 12" wide it should be brought down to 8" above the water. If you go lower than that you have a really hard hotspot right in the middle of the tank and very little light out towards the edges. BRSTV does a LOT of lighting tutorials/reviews and they have recommended mounting heights and spectrums for a lot of different tank setups.
 

TCoach

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I have a corner tank and use a simple net topping. Since no one makes custom lids for it, I use velcro tape to hold the net to the top of the tank and roughly cut the 1/8" netting from BRS to fit. Works great!
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JumboShrimp

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For a larger glass lid, it is much easier to feed if it is a hinged lid. If it's a very small glass lid, if a front corner is cut at an angle, a tiny feed-opening will exist, and will keep you from having to remove the entire lid every time you want to feed.
 

Karen00

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Not all lights are water-resistant (In fact, most are not). I know for sure that the Fluval Marine 3.0 and the Current USA lights (the bar shaped lights they sell) are, but most of the high end options like AI Primes, Kessils, Radions, etc are not water-resistant in the slightest.

Also, most lights have an ideal mounting height based on the size tank you're using. For instance, an AI Prime should be mounted approximately 10" Above the surface of the water for a tank 18" Wide and wider for the best PAR distribution. For tanks 12" wide it should be brought down to 8" above the water. If you go lower than that you have a really hard hotspot right in the middle of the tank and very little light out towards the edges. BRSTV does a LOT of lighting tutorials/reviews and they have recommended mounting heights and spectrums for a lot of different tank setups.
You make some really good points. I better do some research. The light I bought is one of those cheap black boxes and their reference to PAR is out of water which is crazy but maybe that's why they're so cheap. I was beginning to think I would have to mount the head 2" below the water surface to get decent light and also why I was leaning toward a mesh top. Haha. I am a bit shocked to read not all of them are water resistant after all there are fish that splash, we splash, etc.
 

fluked

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For a larger glass lid, it is much easier to feed if it is a hinged lid. If it's a very small glass lid, if a front corner is cut at an angle, a tiny feed-opening will exist, and will keep you from having to remove the entire lid every time you want to feed.
My lid on my larger tank, 4ft x 1.5 x 1.5 is 3 glass lid sections, each with a corner cutout for feeding, makes feeding pretty easy.
 

fluked

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You make some really good points. I better do some research. The light I bought is one of those cheap black boxes and their reference to PAR is out of water which is crazy but maybe that's why they're so cheap. I was beginning to think I would have to mount the head 2" below the water surface to get decent light and also why I was leaning toward a mesh top. Haha. I am a bit shocked to read not all of them are water resistant after all there are fish that splash, we splash, etc.
Blackboxes put out a crazy amount of par. They should either be mounted high or have lenses removed. I have mine ~18inches over one tank, 6 inches over the other, but it has lenses removed.
If you have a blackbox look up telegraham on youtube, his videos are long form, but have a lot of very helpful data and information.
 

Karen00

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Don't let me influence you, just giving my experiences.
Honestly, if you have modern lights i would be suprised if that's required. Unless you are running your lights at 100% it wouldn't be an issue. I have 2x viparspectras over my 56G, they are only running around 50%, so loss of par from lids isn't an issue, in my mind it just increases spread lol.

I also (still) manually add rodi to top up, so lids = doing that less which is nice.
Thanks! Everyone has provided great insight. I hope it also helps the OP. :) It took me forever to pick a light and circulation pump so this is no different. I think I suffer from chronic indecision syndrome! LOL. I also do manual top ups and the stock lid has helped with doing less of that in comparison to my freshwater tank that is completely open.
 

JNalley

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You make some really good points. I better do some research. The light I bought is one of those cheap black boxes and their reference to PAR is out of water which is crazy but maybe that's why they're so cheap. I was beginning to think I would have to mount the head 2" below the water surface to get decent light and also why I was leaning toward a mesh top. Haha. I am a bit shocked to read not all of them are water resistant after all there are fish that splash, we splash, etc.
Yeah, they don't make them water-resistant because of the mounting heights (nearly all are 8" or higher off the water) involved, at that height, it's not necessary to waterproof them, and without waterproofing, it's easier to cool them with a heatsink and fan. I've never tried the black-box lighting option, but I've read in a few places some poor reviews of them, so I chose to find used last-gen lights on the marketplace here. I bought AI Prime HD's (not the 16's), 2 of them for $325 shipped to my door, which I think is a good deal, especially since the seller only had them at about 20% on different Frag tanks for the 2-3 years they were running.
 

fluked

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Yeah, they don't make them water-resistant because of the mounting heights (nearly all are 8" or higher off the water) involved, at that height, it's not necessary to waterproof them, and without waterproofing, it's easier to cool them with a heatsink and fan. I've never tried the black-box lighting option, but I've read in a few places some poor reviews of them, so I chose to find used last-gen lights on the marketplace here. I bought AI Prime HD's (not the 16's), 2 of them for $325 shipped to my door, which I think is a good deal, especially since the seller only had them at about 20% on different Frag tanks for the 2-3 years they were running.
Where i am, the cost of black box vs name brand made the decision easy for me, 2x black boxes was still $70 cheaper than buying a single ai prime :)
I'm not an expert by any means, but they grow zoas/montis/birsdnests/hammers all fine, you just need to par test with them, and plan how they will be mounted
 

JNalley

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Where i am, the cost of black box vs name brand made the decision easy for me, 2x black boxes was still $70 cheaper than buying a single ai prime :)
I'm not an expert by any means, but they grow zoas/montis/birsdnests/hammers all fine, you just need to par test with them, and plan how they will be mounted
Oh for sure, I'm not saying don't get them, I'm sure they have their use cases (as you've found), just stating that I shyed away from them for reasons of bad reviews. This video: also makes it difficult for me to purchase them for myself.
 

tharbin

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I think you have to weigh several things:

Where you live: I live in Arizona now so I use evaporation to help keep the tank cool. I use a mesh screen. When I lived up north I used glass tops but took them off during heat waves.

If you intend to use auto top off: the mesh top will evaporate much faster so the smaller the tank the more important having auto top off becomes with a mesh lid. Glass, not so much.

Environmental factors: if you have animals that shed heavily or dust storms (I cover the tank with a towel during major dust storms), glass may be better.

Aesthetics: personal choice. I prefer the look of a polycarbonate/mesh lid, over glass.

I don't think light loss is enough of a factor to weight the decision one way or the other.

I have a feed cover on my lid and it was worth it. It's easy to remove the lid but even easier to pop the cover plus my jumpers don't get any ideas. I don't use it to feed very much but I use it all of the time to fill pipettes for testing or for dosing.
 

fluked

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Oh for sure, I'm not saying don't get them, I'm sure they have their use cases (as you've found), just stating that I shyed away from them for reasons of bad reviews. This video: also makes it difficult for me to purchase them for myself.

We are taking this thread slightly off topic, but just a few points, this is using a mars aqua (the worst black box) and the black box community (if thats the right term) is pretty set that you just remove the lenses (super easy, hell i managed to do it) and you end up with completely different spread result. Obviously brs isn't going to mod a light they don't sell to optimise it, that would be so out if their way, and the fact that they tested it in general is great. But for anyone after reviews, look up telegraham and his pretty extensive testing with them
 

fluked

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I think you have to weigh several things:

Where you live: I live in Arizona now so I use evaporation to help keep the tank cool. I use a mesh screen. When I lived up north I used glass tops but took them off during heat waves.

If you intend to use auto top off: the mesh top will evaporate much faster so the smaller the tank the more important having auto top off becomes with a mesh lid. Glass, not so much.

Environmental factors: if you have animals that shed heavily or dust storms (I cover the tank with a towel during major dust storms), glass may be better.

Aesthetics: personal choice. I prefer the look of a polycarbonate/mesh lid, over glass.

I don't think light loss is enough of a factor to weight the decision one way or the other.

I have a feed cover on my lid and it was worth it. It's easy to remove the lid but even easier to pop the cover plus my jumpers don't get any ideas. I don't use it to feed very much but I use it all of the time to fill pipettes for testing or for dosing.
I think this is the best comment so far. OP should consider their general climate when deciding the lid/mesh conundrum.

In a general sense hot climate I would say mesh, could climate glass/acrylic lid is best.

Somewhere in the middle depends if you want to manage heat or evap more.
 

JXNATC

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I'm setting up my first saltwater mixed reef tank. Its a 40 gal breeder that is almost ready for water. I was wondering how much a glass lid would effect my lights. I'm running 2 ai prime reefs. Im trying to figure out if the benefits of glass for evaporation outweigh the effects on the lighting? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
I bought the Red Sea DIY Aquarium net at BRS. bulkreefsupply.com/customizable-diy-aquarium-net-cover-kit-red-sea.html. It was simple to put together. The splining was a pain in the rear, but otherwise it was a breeze.
 

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Wow, wasn't expecting such a response. I think I'm gonna go with the glass lid and see if I have the issues some have had, if so ill change over to the net lid. Thanks so much for everyone's opinions!
 

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I'm in the process of putting up a WB 15 as well. I will use a mesh top but will have a glass panel that I can insert.

I really like having less evaporation. I live in a cold climate and find that a lot of water condenses on the windows at night in the winter. Anything to cut down on that is worth it to me.
Good luck on the tank
love mine
 

Chrisv.

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Blerg, I wanted to revisit this thread to add one additional data point. I added an acrylic sheet over the mesh lid on my wb 15 tank and wow, the Plexi/acrylic (not exactly sure what brand of clear plastic sheet it is) cuts the par by like 50%. (As determined by apogee 510 par meter.) Mind blown.
 
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