Power Compacts and Cover Glass
- Thread starter wcwirla
- Start date
I use a cover glass with my PCs as they can get fairly hot. It will also help with less evaporation.
I use cover glasses to prevent water from either splashing or condensing on the light fixture.
I recently took apart an old fluorescent fixture that had fallen into the tank (don't ask, a long time ago when I was young & silly). Though I dried what I could see and get to right away and the light worked for years afterwards, the water had rusted and sort of rotted away much of the interior of the fixture. Obviously no one's going to dip their fixture in the tank, but I think years of condensation/splashing could create a similar problem, so I use glass on the big tank just to ease my mind.
That said, I have a hood on the small tank that's (supposedly) designed to be 'splash proof' - there are rubber seals around where the bulbs screw in, and the light is raised up (the hood is sort of semi-circular with the lights at the top) above the water level. I've checked to make sure there's no water on or near the bulbs or surrouding area, but it still makes me feel a bit funny even though they say it's safe.
I recently took apart an old fluorescent fixture that had fallen into the tank (don't ask, a long time ago when I was young & silly). Though I dried what I could see and get to right away and the light worked for years afterwards, the water had rusted and sort of rotted away much of the interior of the fixture. Obviously no one's going to dip their fixture in the tank, but I think years of condensation/splashing could create a similar problem, so I use glass on the big tank just to ease my mind.
That said, I have a hood on the small tank that's (supposedly) designed to be 'splash proof' - there are rubber seals around where the bulbs screw in, and the light is raised up (the hood is sort of semi-circular with the lights at the top) above the water level. I've checked to make sure there's no water on or near the bulbs or surrouding area, but it still makes me feel a bit funny even though they say it's safe.
In addition to the above, another consideration to having a cover is whether you plan to add fish that jumps. I'm assuming you don't have any jumpers now since you said you are currently not using a cover.
