Tron Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 I bought a piece of glass from Crystal Glass. The dimensions are 12" x 40" and its 5 mm thick. I've been putting T5 36" 39 Watt on top of the glass. It has been on for about 9 hrs when all of a sudden I heard a crack then a sploosh. My glass cracked and part of it went into my aquarium. Luckily the light didn't go in. Now my question is that has this happened to anyone else? Does the light need to be elevated from the glass to prevent this glass from cracking? Or do I just get a thicker piece of glass ... 7 mm. I suspect the heat and some water splashing on the glass made it crack? Has anyone tried going with Arclylic? Any advice? Tron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurensdad Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 i keep my lights above my tank i use the legs that come with my lights. what kind of lighting?. we have a bunch of heat from our lights. a bit of water could do it . acrylic warps from the heat of the lights i keep flipping my 3/16 ones over Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tron Posted June 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2011 Ok acrylic isn't a good idea. I think I'll just build a frame out of wood to put on top of the aquarium and put the light on top of the wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted June 9, 2011 Report Share Posted June 9, 2011 T5s will definitely break the glass - it happens to me every time I forget about that! :s. Pretty much any other light (except MH) will be fine right on glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magma Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 (edited) Its the heat from the Bulbs, mixed with the colder water that cracks the glass, you need to keep at least an inch of clearance between them or as suggested you can try acrylic but it scratches really easy which some people dont like. Also dont forget the thicker the glass the more the light is diffused before it hits the water so if you have coral or plants that need the light just keep that in mind. Edited June 10, 2011 by Magma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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