Good and bad points open top

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MeCasa

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
288
Location
Texas
I've never had an open top aquarium and the first thing that comes to mind is odor. No mater how beautiful and clean my aquariums have been there has always been an aquarium odor when I opened the top. (at least on mine there was). Not terrible but there nevertheless.

The 150 I'm setting up now is in my bedroom so odor is very important. However I've gotten so deep into the lighting that I really hate to put Lexan between my lights and my water. I also have the room to put a large pool table sort of pendant array hanging over the tank and I believe if done right it could be a good look.

I'd like to hear some opinions from Ya'll

Thanks
MeCasa
 
Well a odor coming from a healthy fishtank should be earthy like and subtle. Like you have to take a deep breathe over my 36g to even detect it. The only time I have had a bad odor was when I ha gravel and such, from stuff decaying down in it.
Also with out a top, there is te possibility for fish to jump out

Evaporation could be a problem also
But gas exchange would be better
 
Your Tank

I've never had an open top aquarium and the first thing that comes to mind is odor. No mater how beautiful and clean my aquariums have been there has always been an aquarium odor when I opened the top. (at least on mine there was). Not terrible but there nevertheless.

The 150 I'm setting up now is in my bedroom so odor is very important. However I've gotten so deep into the lighting that I really hate to put Lexan between my lights and my water. I also have the room to put a large pool table sort of pendant array hanging over the tank and I believe if done right it could be a good look.

I'd like to hear some opinions from Ya'll

Thanks
MeCasa

Hello Me..

The odor isn't going to be the issue as much as the noise. Most filtration systems are going to make some noise and if you're a light sleeper, your days of a restful night will be a thing of the past.

B
 
You can't spray deodorant perfume or air freshener in the bedroom. Not sure id risk it even with a lid.

I had tanks in the bedroom before, you may need to keep going to the toilet in the night! After lots of earache I moved them out!

I thought the water sound was peaceful!
 
Well a odor coming from a healthy fishtank should be earthy like and subtle. Like you have to take a deep breathe over my 36g to even detect it. The only time I have had a bad odor was when I ha gravel and such, from stuff decaying down in it.
Also with out a top, there is te possibility for fish to jump out

Evaporation could be a problem also
But has exchange would be better

+1
I actually enjoy the odor of my tanks because it just gives me a "home like" feeling. I agree with the evaporation and fish jumping out being problems. Water will escape very quickly and filling you tank up every few days gets obnoxious. If you have a decent current, most fish will try and jump.
The sound has not been a problem with me because my canister filters are very quiet and the outflow goes far enough underwater that you don't here the water moving too much.
 
Only thing I dislike about having an open top is the evaporation speed. Have to fill it up every two days.
 
I've had two fish jump out on me so far and I've had open top since I've started with aquariums, evaporation can be a pain in the ***. I have HOB filters, but I don't mind the sound of the water splashing as long as my water levels aren't too low. I've never noticed a bad door ever either.
 
Geez...I never said it smelled bad

But your sniffer's not working good if you can't smell 150 gallons of water, lots of 2' tall plants, 8 or 10 big fish, 1400 gph water pumps, multiple air pumps, miles of air lines, a gajillion LED's and the transformers and power supplies that run them, containers of fish food, containers of fertilizer etc. etc. etc. :cool:

As for the fish jumping out, get some of that black egg crate that the reefers use or just get the white suspended ceiling version at Home Depot for less than $10
 
I have my open top tank in my bedroom right next to where i sleep.

I have no problems at all. My tank runs silently at night, the smell really cant be noticed in the room unless i put my nose right over the tank.

Ive never had my fish jump either. Im of the opinion that if your water conditions are good then why would they jump?? I appreciate certain fish jump naturally but common sense says dont have an open tank with these lol!!

I use deodorants in my room with no problems. Again common sense dictates dont use them near the tank!!

Water evaporation is a big problem for me though. Im sure my BML acts as a kettle!! My tank is 90litres and im prob topping up 1litre every day. Two days and the level drops enough for my HOB to make noise
 
@skelly, I'm just paranoid about the deodorant thing. No airborne chemicals.

It stems back to my very first tank as a kid, usual story 3 goldfish for six months. I sort of blamed my mum for spraying polish on the death of my first fish, little to no water changes, lots of food, inevitable disaster. It just happened that on the day they died she sprayed polish.


The more educated me obviously forgave her! It's engrained though, but it may not be a cause for concern, I just think that. . .


(And they are so peaceful in a bedroom, sleep instantly, before my fish house got rebuilt I had a 5 ft tank running an fx5, it sounded just like niagra, it was bliss, the other occupants of the house were less than impressed and they don't even share the same room!)
 
@skelly, I'm just paranoid about the deodorant thing. No airborne chemicals.



It stems back to my very first tank as a kid, usual story 3 goldfish for six months. I sort of blamed my mum for spraying polish on the death of my first fish, little to no water changes, lots of food, inevitable disaster. It just happened that on the day they died she sprayed polish.





The more educated me obviously forgave her! It's engrained though, but it may not be a cause for concern, I just think that. . .





(And they are so peaceful in a bedroom, sleep instantly, before my fish house got rebuilt I had a 5 ft tank running an fx5, it sounded just like niagra, it was bliss, the other occupants of the house were less than impressed and they don't even share the same room!)


I was in no way suggesting that your way was wrong :) was simply offering the OP another direction that it can be done. I must admit im extremely careful while spraying anything whilst in my room. I only hope my girlfriend shares my caution lol
 
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Water evaporation is a big problem for me though. Im sure my BML acts as a kettle!! My tank is 90litres and im prob topping up 1litre every day. Two days and the level drops enough for my HOB to make noise

I think evaporation is what made up my mind for me, not so much adding water because I'm plumbing in an automated system but all that evaporation goes somewhere :angel:

I live on the Texas Coast and we fight humidity on a daily basis, I'm not sure an open tank of water will help me win the fight. And I never thought about it till this thread

MeCasa
 
I was in no way suggesting that your way was wrong :) was simply offering the OP another direction that it can be done. I must admit im extremely careful while spraying anything whilst in my room. I only hope my girlfriend shares my caution lol


I didn't think you were suggesting that! (y)

The great thing is diversity, there are many ways to skin a cat or something.
:popcorn:

(I'm careful too, I think most tank owners are)

Ive never had my fish jump either. Im of the opinion that if your water conditions are good then why would they jump?? I appreciate certain fish jump naturally but common sense says dont have an open tank with these lol!!

Right, I love this, none of my tanks have lids, one had a lid but I broke it a few weeks back, another had a sort of lid but that tank is destroyed. The rest of them, no lids because I didn't make them yet. The only fish I had jump was a bichir, it died, the second bichir had a lid, that died of worms! I don't keep bichir anymore. I do agree though happy fish stay put.

(I must add, I use a humidity control fan otherwise the walls would be running wet, but one or two tanks is ok by my experience, normal size tanks to about 120 litres)
 
Bawaha! Can't believe I'm not allowed the spotlights off the side :(
Eventually there's another subject that most people ignore and that's using ground fault breakers. I'm building a new light array and all of a sudden one day it dawned on me. We use a lot of electricity on a big tank of water :eek:

I broke down and put a ground fault circuit breaker that same day.
 
Eventually there's another subject that most people ignore and that's using ground fault breakers. I'm building a new light array and all of a sudden one day it dawned on me. We use a lot of electricity on a big tank of water :eek:

I broke down and put a ground fault circuit breaker that same day.


Same here - RCD switch on the wall plug near the fish tank. We already have the usual breakers and compulsory RCDs in the circuit box but that's at the front of the house.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_device
 
Do you have a cat? I ask because I do and we are having the same debate in our house. Alas, we will have to cover because he is just too interested. It would be sad if he ate our $8 fish, but even more sad if our $1800 cat drowned in our 180g tank. We ended up ordering an extra set of lights to compensate for the cover.
 
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