[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hello Everyone! Think about pulling the glass cover from my custom made hood! Too much salt creep on the glass and I think hindering the amount of light going to the tank! Don't want to mess with cleaning the glass all the time! What do you think?

I can raise the hood as much as I want if I take the glass off! Here is a couple of pics of the hood and the glass covering!
First one is the hood hanging over the tank!

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

What the glass cover looks like with the salt creep!

 

[Adam101]

I have actually been thinking of doing the same recently Tho Im sure evaporation would be crazily high so Im not sure yet what Im gonna do I wonder if salt sticks to plexy as much as it does to glass? make a Little switcharoo?

 

[Buzz_Hog]

Is that the center brace Johnny?

If so, how do you plan on supporting the tank walls from bowing?

 

[Casey]

Buzz i think he is talking about the glass on his hood

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

LOL Buzz! NO the center brace on the aquarium will remain there!!

I was talking about the glass covering on the hood that protects the MH bulbs so to speak!

I removed the glass covering this morning and raised the hood to about 8"-9" from the top of the water! Stoneyreef said to wipe the MH bulbs about once or twice a week!

Will see later today when the lights come on if there is any difference. Corals should like the extra light penetrating through the water!

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Well I can honestly say there is quite a difference in the lighting in the reef with the glass cover off it! I like it!!

 

[uurt]

Johnny, I just don't get why you had to remove the glass to raise the hood?

Doofus, er I mean Lee

 

[Schwaggs]

I think the glass on the light fixture is there to limit UV from the bulb. You may want to check into that for your and your tank's safety.

It also protects you if/when the bulb explodes. All it takes is a splash of water and it might break.

 

[Buzz_Hog]

He raised the hood becuase he was removing the glass Lee...

Raising the hood was a precaution to prevent water splashing up on the bulbs and possibly shattering them...

 

[uurt]

My ? was why remove the glass just to raise the hood? Can't it be raised with the glass still in it??

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hi there! I removed the glass cover from the hood because of all the salt creep on it and I believe it hindered all the light getting to the tank!
I raised the hood to about 8-9" from the top of the water so has to have minimum splash on the bulbs and I can wipe the bulbs off when needed.

I just checked the bulbs and the one on the left has a little more spots of salt splash compared to the one on the right because of more water surface agitation! I think they will be fine!

 

[AquaticCo]

Everyone,

The glass is there to protect the bulb from water splash. It does not in a sense filter UV since the UV coating is on the bulb, they are mogul bulbs. HQI bulbs do not have the UV coating on the bulb and this is why they require a lense with UV protection or what is refered to in the industry as low E glass.

Johnny, You can remove the glass if you like and you did the right thing by raising the hood to reduce water splash. The only problem you may have without the lense is that if cool water hits a very hot bulb it can blow on you. Since bulbs are typically $100 each most people don't like to chance it.

Doug

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Doug is the person who made my hood and is a sponsor of TRT!!

Doug is very helpful and will meet any needs or questions you may have in having a hood built by him.

Thanks Doug for replying to the thread and I think I will continue to run the hood without the glass lense. I even went and raised the hood another loop on the chain after reading your reply!

 

[Reefer Addict]

I accidentally touched my bare 250w bulb with a wet elbow one time, and cringed as I waited for it to shatter... all that happened is the water evaporated pretty quickly and left a nasty salt spot on it (which cleaned off fairly easily once the bulb was off).
Now, not to say that it will happen this way all the time, but I have a bit more confidence in the fragility of a rapidly cooling halide than I did before... I expected that it would immediately shatter... glad I was wrong...

 

[JennM]

Safety first - IMO the lens should go back on. Now that the hood is raised higher off the tank, the salt splash will not be as much of an issue anyway.

JMO, and JME...

Jenn

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Great point made Jenn! Maybe I will put it back on but for now I like it this way!! I really do believe it makes a difference in the light going into the tank!!

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Here is my MH bulb on the right side and you can see the little white specks which is salt splash on the bulb and inside on the hood! Not very much at all!

 

[uurt]

So Johnny, won't you have to clean the reflector now also??

Lee

 

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Yeah with a quick swipe of a warm cloth and it's done!!