Do I need a cover?

[lukeb321]

I have a tank thats not setup yet, but I was going to buy a dual compact light (260 watts) for a 55 gallon tank with mounting legs.
Can I just mount the legs and leave the tank open with no cover or will too many nasties (hair, dust, etc) get inside the tank? Should I just buy a glass cover?
Its going to be just a FOWLR (for now). But if I wanted to add some corals, would this be enought for some?

 

[rygoodm6]

get a top...if you dont water will splash out and et salt everywere...plus the bottom of the lights will be covered in salt...

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by rygoodm6
get a top...if you dont water will splash out and et salt everywere...plus the bottom of the lights will be covered in salt...
No that's not true! Depending on how you had it set up with your powerheads or wavemaker. Mine don't splash any water out of the tank nor does it cause salt creep everywhere, there's NO salt on my lights. I keep my glass tops off during the day while the lights are on to keep the temp stable because of MH lights and evaporation helps to keep the temp low, plus better gas exchange. I put the glass top back on at night before I go to bed, it's located in my bedroom. I keep a fan running at night while I sleep and I have a very hairy dog, Siberian Husky, I DON'T want all her hair in the tank. Her hair gets everywhere!!!! There's some in the tank, but not a lot....The powerheads, protein skimmer and filter catches the hair, then I have to remove it, but it would be worse if I don't have the tops on at night.... :happyfish

 

[newfishguy]

I don't use a top and don't have any problems. There are a lot of people on this board that don't use tops.

 

[hot883]

Here's a pic. of mine. No problems for me.

 

[fishmamma]

I use glass tops and still get splash and salt creep on my tanks/lights. Must be the bio-wheel filters.

 

[huntoaks]

Don't we get plenty of gas exchange through our wet/dry filters and skimmers?? Will having the top off for a period of time each day really help??

 

[reefnut]

My 55g is wide open like hot883 and I have never had any problems.
Glass tops do more harm than good IMO. They will hold in heat, block lighting and hinder gas exchange. The only good they do is keep in jumpers... but there are other methods to do that.

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by ReefNut
My 55g is wide open like hot883 and I have never had any problems.
Glass tops do more harm than good IMO. They will hold in heat, block lighting and hinder gas exchange. The only good they do is keep in jumpers... but there are other methods to do that.
That's a beautiful 55! Once I get mine all ready with the rest of the stuffs I'll post mine. :happyfish

 

[madison]

Topless is the best...IMO....more room to work with and easier to control the temp...also I think the water evaporates more, that means more topping off...that means more "nutritients" going back in, therefore a more stable envirnoment.
BUT...if you display your tank (your lights) above eye level...such as in the living room / family room where you SIT DOWN to watch TV, It can be very distracting if the lights are not enclosed in a canopy.
Regardless if you have a canopy...topless is still the best! :cheer:

 

[unleashed]

if your running the pc light fixtures they do state must use glass on your tank.(this is what it says on the fixture) I have4 tanks up at this time no glass tops on anyof them.my agressive does have eggcrate top..as far as appearance goes I prefer topless. but it has its price I have lost a very very not so cheep fish do to jumping.we have caught some in time not to lose them.but have had our share of losses due to not having lids.oh and I do use pc light fixtures on all my tanks

 

[bandcampme]

i use eggcrates

 

[reefnut]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
That's a beautiful 55!
Thank you.
if your running the pc light fixtures they do state must use glass on your tank
That depends... my PC's came with a protection lens that protected the bulbs. I even removed that...

 

[bacardi151]

Originally Posted by ReefNut
My 55g is wide open like hot883 and I have never had any problems.
Glass tops do more harm than good IMO. They will hold in heat, block lighting and hinder gas exchange. The only good they do is keep in jumpers... but there are other methods to do that.
Very nice 55! What type of lighting do you have running there. Hard to tell from the pic but it looks like PC. If so, how many wpg?

 

[bacardi151]

Originally Posted by ReefNut
Thank you.
That depends... my PC's came with a protection lens that protected the bulbs. I even removed that...
My tank is topless. I remove and clean the plexiglass lens that covers my PC's about once every 3 mos. No downsides I can think of. I've had 1 LMB jump out but that's it.

 

[reefnut]

Originally Posted by bacardi151
Very nice 55! What type of lighting do you have running there. Hard to tell from the pic but it looks like PC. If so, how many wpg?
Thanks, 4-65w PCs. BTW, if you see any sps corals in the tank... they were in transition and given away shortly after this shot... I'll have to get an updated picture. I do not have any sps corals in the tank (because the lighting will not support them)... all soft and LPS.

 

[seahorse11]

HOT883,
Beautiful tank! Nice aquascaping! Are those lights the Coralife lights? I was thinking about getting the Coralife Aqualight Lunars for my tank with the mounting legs. The aquarium specialist at another aquarium supply place told me that the lights will fit on the tank with a glass cover. How do the legs attach to your tank?

 

[unleashed]

the legs rest on the plastic rim of the tank the glass tops rest on the inner ledge so they do work together

 

[seahorse11]

Thanks Unleashed, I was hoping that the lights would fit. I just wanted someone in this forum's opinion,,,someone whos opinion I trust LOL. After all, this is where the REAL experts are! THANKS!!

 

[unleashed]

well we arent all experts, speaking for myself here but I try to help when i can.but please when it comes to alot of fish related topics we all can give our experiences, we all started out just like you. the real key is research and lots of it.you will get alot of very good advice here on the forums but in rare cases you will also gets some that are not as useful as you would hope.some things work for one that hasnt worked for anoher.you will get alot of different oppions and this is what we have to offer.all of our oppions.so do alot of research and you will be more able to decide which info is the best for you and your fish needs.welcome to the hobby your gonna love it.and yes i have coral life fixtures on all my tanks I lovem