taking the glass out of the hood

[VulcanNinja]

Today I was at my LFS and bought some plants for my tank. They guy asked if I had glass between the tank and bulb. He said I should remove it because the glass blocks much of the light spectrum that makes the plants grow. Has anyone done this and if so, did it help?

Thanks.

 

[blakwidoe]

I havent but Id be interested to know but to my knowledge Id be afraid especially if you have jumping fish they might get hurt or worse yet the water could get into the lighting fixture?

 

[canarsie11]

KABOOM!!!

 

[kell]

hey i have no glass between the light and water it seems to kep the plants healthy and there is no kaboom because there is 2 water proof caps over the ends of the light and the hood has little bits that i can remove to feed the fish. i think that it is good ive had no problem with it.

 

[mrV]

I don't use top glass either. But Im very interested in knowing what wavelength your lfs ment... Ask him/her.

 

[Silly me]

(according to measurements archived at the Krib site) 10% is lost due to dirty glass

 

[mrV]

But if they are clear

 

[Silly me]

then they keep the water off the tubes?

 

[Bol]

SM, out of curiosity, where'd you get that 10% figure? And, 10% of what is lost?

 

[Silly me]

http/www.aquabotanic.com/lightcompare.htm

16th line from the bottom

 

[carrcn]

Talking to my buddy that designs optics, he says you're going to lose 5-6% for each surface of the glass, top and bottom. That's for clean uncoated glass. You'll also lose another 3-4% for the surface of the water. So you're going to get roughly 85% of what your lights put out. So if you have 100 watts, you're only going to be able to utilize 85 watts.

 

[Bol]

Ah, I see, thanks. Couldn't figure out where that came from in the linked page.