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Do most of you have a glass cover separating the light fixture from the water. Does the glass top diminish any of the light. My current setup has a splash shield on the light fixture itself, plus I have a glass top on the tank.
Am I still running 2wpg if using 96w over 46gallon?

My Scapes

Hi,
I have a glass cover separating the light fixture from the
water. It was cut specifically for this tank to leave just
enough gap for any filter tubes along the back. I have an
"All Glass" brand tank and the 1/4 inch glass sits inside
rim, all the way around, on the plastic lip. I have a two
tube power compact bulb fixture on timers. The timer
is set so that the bulb and fan come on for 10 hrs/day,
and a second timer turns on the second bulb from 10Am to
2Pm.

I think the "purists" would argue that there is some
absorbtion with the glass, but frankly, I doubt that it
is enough to make any difference.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

That definitely answers my question. Thanks much Frank!

My Scapes

I have quite a bit of lime in my water. The chemicals stain (encrust?) the underside of my glass. Every twoo weeks, I srub the glass to eliminate the residue that would otherwise block light.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

from a technical point of view, any time you have light incident on a surface which has a different index of refraction than the original medium (in this case, air-&gt;glass-&gt;water) there will *always* be a portion that reflects off the surface as long as the new medium has a higher index. so when the light hits the glass, a portion is reflected away, then when it goes from air-&gt;water, another portion is reflected away. this is pretty much a non-issue since the majority of the light is coming straight down at on the surface, so the loss you experience is minimized. the only way to be sure that you have no reflective loss is to submerge your light fixtures, and so far they haven't made any for the home aquarium (that i know of )

---

"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman

well.... sometimes i fill my tank too much, and the water comes in contact with the hood, it doesnt leak thru and i think it reduces the loss of light.

maybe you could do that? if its safe..

I have glass covers on my tanks cuz of the condensation and heat loss. The condensation will cause calcium buildup if you have hard water, so you'll have to clean that off occassionally.
I use those two glass planes that you slide open and close, you can find them at a good aquarium shop.