Tank Lids?

[fishfanny79]

I have heard many of you talk about not having lids on your tanks. Having been a fishkeeper for years (fw fish) this sounds nuts. They don't jump out? Not to mention the other thought that comes to the forefront of my mind is, if there is no lid, WHERE DO THE LIGHTS GO!?!?!

 

[jim672]

FishFanNY79,
I'm not sure there are many of us who would argue about being called nuts ........
Anyway, the lids you're referring to are the glass tank tops.....right? I think I've seen about an even split between people who use them and those who don't. I did have them on my tank but the glass gets stained by salt, no matter how hard you try to keep it clean, and then it tend to disfuse light. That's not important if you don't have corals, but I do. Also, the glass tops tend to hold in heat. Also not important if you don't have intense lighting, but I have Metal Halide and VHO actinics, also for the coral. Hoods take the place of the glass tops......they hold the lights, generally keep fish from carpet surfing, and allow more evaporation which keeps your tank cooler. The hood I have actually has glass covering the lights but I have that on resting on a frame I built that keeps the lights about 5 inches above the tank.
Jim

 

[fishyone]

I'm new to the hobby but thought I would share my experience for whats its worth. I have a fowlr tank in my house for about five days now (previously established elsewhere) added a false percula yesterday and found him on the carpet this morning. I have a glass top but the plastic back piece had to be taken off to fit the filtration. It left maybe a two inch gap along the entier back except where the biowheel filter is (approximately 1/3 of total space). I was amazed to find the little bugger had gotten out. At this point, I know what I'll be doing. LOL

 

[jim672]

fishyone,
That does sometimes happen. I had a lawnmower blennie that committed carpet-cide through a gap like you've described. My blennie, though, was trying to escape an ick epidemic I had going on in my tank at the time. My guess is your clown may have chosen carpet surfing to being in your tank.......if the tank is only five days old, I'd suspect it isn't cycled yet and the water quality may have been bad enough to "chase" the clown out. I think you'll find that, as fish become comfortable in a tank with good water parameters, it will be less likely to try to escape.
Sorry for your loss. I wouldn't add any more fish until you've confirmed that the cycle is complete.
Jim

 

[pstanley]

Jim I think you misread fishyone's post...he said his tank was established in another location but only in his house for 5 days. The only fish I have had jump out was a moray eel which stayed on the capet all night and still lived

 

[jim672]

Pstanley,
You're right. I missed that. If it was moved, though, depending upon how quickly it was re-assembled, it could be going through a cycle, or mini-cycle.
I had a fresh water tank with some little frogs.......one got out even though I had a full hood, crawled across the room, went into a walk-in closet, crawled all the way to the back (a total distance of about 30 feet!) where it dehydrated.........ummm dried frog!
Jim

 

[fishyone]

Haven't seen any indications that the tank is going to cycle yet. Tests have all been ok. Other fish in there doing ok. Got the perc from a lfs who was supposed to bring me a back strip but forgot. Anyway I called and told them the whole sordid tale and they are bringing me a back strip tomorrow and a new perc gratis. FYI the tank was only down for a total of about 1 hour during the move so I am not expecting it to cycle(hopefully), but I guess time will tell..