# Question about glass lids.



## mitchtalley83 (Mar 4, 2010)

So I am new to planted tanks and had a question about my current setup. I currently have a 29g tank with a few plants in it (hoping to get more soon) and I just bought a catalina pc light for my tank to give me enough light for my plants. My question is should I use the glass lid cover I currently have on my tank or should I just leave it open since the light has a splash guard on it? The reason I am asking is because as I am looking at more and more planted tanks I see people having no lid/cover on it at all. Will the glass cover take away from the light output? Even more importantly will I lose a lot of water from evaporation without it? 

Thanks for your help and I love this site.
Mitch


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

The glass will cut down on the amount of light that reaches the water. If there is a splash guard you don't have to use a glass lid. You might want to consider what type of fish you are keeping. Some fish are jumpers and need to be kept in a tank with a lid.


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## Nymsley (Mar 24, 2009)

Evaporation is inevitable but its rate will depend on temperature and humidity. Another thing you want want to consider is that a cover will hold in more heat which is nice during the winter but you may want to remove it for the summer.

The absence of a cover will also allow some plants to grow above the water without being cramped under a lid.


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## Franzi (Dec 7, 2009)

I like using the glass hood for safety reasons. It wouldn't be fun bumping the light by mistake and watching it fall in the water.

To build on the original poster's question: Would you guys feel comfortable removing the splash guard from the lighting unit, but using glass tops? I thought about it, but haven't done it.


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## Nymsley (Mar 24, 2009)

Franzi said:


> To build on the original poster's question: Would you guys feel comfortable removing the splash guard from the lighting unit, but using glass tops?


The splash guard protects the bulbs from my clumsiness when I have the top open while working on/in the tank.


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## daverock1337 (Mar 14, 2010)

i have a 29 gallon tank running 85 watts of light on it, i removed my glass top and everything has been fine. only once did i knock a light into the water, but iu just turned it off and let it dry for a day or two. i have a very small area in the back that fish could jump through, but have not had a problem with that at all. the area i lived in had very hard water and i noticed every few days i would have to remove my lid and clean off the hard water spots because it would severly reduce the amount of light getting to my water.


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