Topless???

[737mech]

Sorry, I couldn't help myself... Anyway, do you guys keep a glass or acrylic cover on the top of your tank or do you go topless?
I'm wanting to replace my acrylic cover with a glass one. The evaporation would be a pain without a cover. The a/c runs all the time in my house this time of year in TX.

 

[tangman99]

I removed my glass tops and I go topless. It allows more of my VHO lighting to enter the tank. You do get more evaporation and some salt on your bulbs, but no big deal. I evaporate about 1 gallon per day on my 90 gallon reef.

 

[luvnluk]

I have glass tops, which decrease evaporation and allow maximum light penetration when kept clean.....JMO

 

[bwmichael21]

I go topless aswell, due the fact i have metal halide system on the shevle above. Water is cheap to buy compared to other things necessary to be in this hobby. Most of the salt will remain in your tank so make sure you don't let the water drop too much

 

[bwmichael21]

I believe that i read somewhere that a specific gravity of 1.040 will immobilze inverts. NOt that you'll let it get to that point anyways. (what you'd use before curing LR to pick and choose the inverts you wanna keep)

 

[lionstorm]

I have a top on my tank but I'm not a reefer. I do it to cut down evaporation and keep my fish from going carpet surfing.

 

[escape2thewater]

Nice title! Topless???
I put a top on my 75 and it cut my evaporation down to a small fraction of what it was. Its a FW tank though.
So far using and planning to continue to use glass top on my 120gal FOWLR.
Kyle

 

[jon-paul]

I'm topless on my 37 and have about 1 litre of evaporation a day. As stated before you let more light through but salt gets on your bulbs which is easily cleaned off.
Jon-Paul

 

[steven the fish]

I have a glass top on my 55 gal. It cuts back on my evap and prevents my fish from going carpet surfing.

 

[sammystingray]

To cut down on evaporation, is to cut down on gas exchange (AKA oxygen for life) and cooling. Evaporation is a good thing although annoying also. Obviously a reef should never have a glass top.....atleast in my opinion since glass reflects light. If you think the gas exchange is sufficient, and the temp is OK, then I see no trouble with a glass top on a FO tank. It's good for jumpers, but so is saltwater safe screening. The reason glass slows evaporation, is because it allows less interaction with outside air....this is how cooling and gas exchange is done......the same reason folks add fans to canopies.....to force more outside air in for more interaction. Your choice in the long run, but cutting back on evaporation is not really always a "good" thing. Good luck.

 

[sammystingray]

BTW think about this....if you totally enclosed the tank.....you would never lose water at all, but you would quickly run out of oxygen for animals.

 

[tlk]

I got tired of cleaning the slat creep every other day, so I am topless now on my 75

 

[hookedonreefs]

I had the AGA versa tops on my 75 since it's begining. Ran that way for about 4 months or so. Than at the end of July I decided to take the big risk and go topless.
I say big risk because my MHs are only about 6-7 inches off the surface of my water and one day I'm sure I'll get some splash on the bulbs and blow them... I digress.
In the short time I've been topless, my corals have show SUPERIOR growth. I did also keep my tops clean, but there must have been some filtering/refraction of light 'cause things are way better now.
JMHO.

 

[lionstorm]

my tank is covered but not entirely sealed, theres ample space in the back where the filters come in and the plastic on the edge of the glass has been 'modified'
Oh i was wondering has anyone else had problems with things drowning in their tank? So far in my main display tank I've fished out two flies and one wasp, in my QT just one wasp.
Very annoying.

 

[beaslbob]

As stated in the previous posts, a cover will reduce evaporation and gass exchange. It is also a function of circulation and heat from lighting. Another concern is whether or not you have a hood which will prevent any fish from jumping out.
My macro algae culture tank is topless, my 55g display has the glass tops the came with the tank. I do have to clean the glass each week to prevent light loss.

 

[reefnut]

I've been topless from the beginning ... Personally I have not had any fish do any carpet surfing.
The loss of gas exchange for me outways the risk of a fish jumping out.
edit, except my 6- gallon nano has an eclipse top. I use two fans for cooling and circulation. It evaps about 1 1/2 to 2 gallons a week.
My 125 evaps 1 1/2 to 2 gallons a day.

 

[madd catt]

I use a canopy because my pc lites dont have the acrylic lens protective cover on it,it ona glass canopy.
Btw the only folkes who should go topless are woman aquaria hobbiests. umm..the smile button isnt working.

 

[leboeuf]

i live a few minutes from you and guarantee I have more watts than you. Go topless. Topoff water is a small maintanence cost compared to diseased fish and dead corals. My ac has not stopped all summer either. I add @ 20-25g of RO water every week as topoff........

 

[the claw]

It's amazing that I was just debating this with my wife last night. Not much of a debate, since she could care less. I have to clean my salt creep every couple of days, and know I am losing light. I am also going metal halide, and know that the tops create more problems with heat transfer, and holding it in the tank. I had thought about using plexigalss and putting a rim around my tank to slow down potential jumpers. I saw this in an acrylic tank this weekend. That will let more light in, and help with everything else. I thought that "crating" would still block some light. Anybody think this would work to keep them from jumping?

 

[squidd]

What, NO pictures???