Tank hood

Hello, I have a 40 gallon tank that has a wood lid, and I have heard that it isn't a good idea to have a lid on a saltwater tank. I am wondering if this is true, and what problems it could cause.

 

hoods are the main cause of heat build up, because of the lights inside.... although i have never heard of a fire risk, im sure its there, what type of lights do you run?

 

No problems with mine. I guess it can get hot with the Metal Halide, but my fans do a good job.

 

"what type of lights do you run?"

I have a t-5 light fixture (built in fan, etc.) with 2 blue, and 2 white

 

fans deffinately help, but T5's shouldnt be producing that much heat....are you having problems??

i dont know who told you that but under the correct circumstances you shouldnt have a problem.

 

The problem is with glass covers on the tank impeding gas exchange. I have not heard anything regarding problems with canopies. With proper cooling and/or installation I cannot imagine there would be any issues WRT lighting

 

I'm not having any problems, everything seems to be fine. I just heard about hoods being a bad idea, and being new to the hobby, wanted to make sure that I wasn't asking for trouble. If I do get a heat problem, I have a sump that I could run a fan over. (Sump, one of the best ideas I had )

 

T 5's run about a max of 170F a long different areas of the bulbs this also depends on ballast used and how hard the bulbs are being driven. take 4 bulbs and a closed hood they get rather warm. nothing like a M/H I'd run fans on any full hood and I like a fan on the surface with a open hood even as it moves out the heavier gases of the waters surface .

 

Sounds like a good idea. Thanks for the reply!

 

ya i was deffinately referring to MH's, although cuttingras told me that pc's produce more heat than T5, so i am to understand that T5's are on the lower end of the heat totem-pole??