glass canopy vs. plexiglass

G

Guppy

I need to construct a canopy for my odd sized aquarium. I have plexiglass, just need to cut to size or I can buy the glass cut to size for $40. Would it be ok to use plexiglass? I am wooried about how salt creep might affect it.
 
Are you talking about a top, as in a lid? If so, neither in my opinion. Your risk having temperature issues, a reduction in light penetration, and a reduction in oxygen exchange. You will find that most saltwater aquariums are run open top for these reasons. If your worried about jumping fish, use egg crate to cover the top.
 
I can tell you one bad thing about using Plexiglas or acrylic over the tank. Well two depending on the strength of your lights. One if the lights are intense enough, they can warp and distort the plastics and won't glass. With all the salt creep that will be on it, you will be cleaning anything constantly that is over the tank. Acrylic or Plexiglas will be full of scratches in no time and become a lot less clear because of all the scratches. Of course if you plan on putting a glass cover over a tank,which I do not recommend. It can get hot enough with high enough lights, that they will shatter if the water gets splashed on it.
 
eggcrate is the way to go then, home depot carries two varieties last time i was there, no clue the difference, but one white sheet costs like 3 bucks and the other 10...look back in the light department, close to the cieling fans and such
 
I used to use eggcrate.. Worked fine but I worry about dust (my dad's a smoker and I'm not exactly a clean freak).

My new tank's hood is really cool. It has two glass panes that slide over each other. The back one is about 2 inches lower than the right. There's room for hot air to escape from the very back edge (about 1" room), the middle where the two overlap (2"), and the front glass corners are cut so there's two little corners where it can creep out. A bit complicated but it works really well.
 
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