Lid or No Lid: That is the Question

[PrettyFishies]

So, I'm trying to decide if I need a lid on my tank. I have red swordtails, otos, and amano shrimp - will get GBR's, a pleco and julii cories. Aside from the jump factor, is there any reason why I should keep teh tank covered (dust?)

[nitrous]

it has extra protection if say the light fixture falls in, i dont have one over my tank even though i should but i made the light myself so i may just put some plexi glass over it so my ghost shrimp dont jump out but my fixture is hung above the tank so its not leaning directly on teh tank, also if your fixture doesnt have a covering you dont want water getting the light wet

[rich311k]

I do not use a top on either of my tanks. The fixtures are up on legs. I have had no jumpers. I think the light is better. Both of my fixtures have plexiglass covers. The only drawback is I have to constantly add water to replace evaporation.

[nitrous]

ya mine does look like it looses water quicker but i add anyway bc i dont want any co2 loss

[PrettyFishies]

None of my fish have tried to big plunge, but I feel like the divider hinders the light dispersion

[malkore]

Originally Posted by rich311k

I do not use a top on either of my tanks. The fixtures are up on legs. I have had no jumpers. I think the light is better. Both of my fixtures have plexiglass covers. The only drawback is I have to constantly add water to replace evaporation.

one word on this method...if you have more than 5dkH of hardness in your water, doing daily top offs with tap water is ok as long as you still do at least a 50% water change each week.

if you skip water changes or do very small changes, the water you continually add will increase your Kh, Gh and pH respectively. Water evaporates...the minerals in the water don't...so they stay behind and get concentrated.

A couple years ago I couldn't figure out why, no matter how high i turned up to CO2 flow, I was still at 5-7ppm.

Turns out my Kh was up to 14, and I quit the Gh at 17. Now my tap water is 9dKh to start with...but it only took 6 weeks worth of poor water changing habits to screw up my chemistry like this.

[newfound77951]

With no cover, you do have to add water to replace evaporation (I need to add a gallon every 2-3 days), but, you do save a lot of time cleaning algae off the cover glass..... personally I'd rather add water!

[rich311k]

Thanks Malkore I did not know that. I do change 50% a week and my KH is 2-3 depending on the time of year. I wiil remember this if I need to go more than two weeks without being able to change water.

[7Enigma]

Also nice in the summer to keep the tank temps down, but bad in the winter as it will stress the heater. Not a problem if your in a temperate climate, but our house is routinely 50F at night during the winter (I turn the heat off at night to save some $$$), and if I had an open tank as well I don't think the 150watt in my 20 gallon tank would ever shut off!

[Lonewolfblue]

Originally Posted by rich311k

I do not use a top on either of my tanks. The fixtures are up on legs. I have had no jumpers. I think the light is better. Both of my fixtures have plexiglass covers. The only drawback is I have to constantly add water to replace evaporation.

I'm with rich. My fixtures are on legs as well, and they have the plexi covers. Occasionally I have to pull the fixture off and wipe off any splatter with white vinegar from when I prime my XP3. The air comes out of the cannister and out my spraybar, and splatters on the fixture. Other than that, no problems, and I have rams and cories as well. Not sure if the shrimp will crawl out though.

And since I do 50% PWC weekly, I don't need to add water from evaporation.

[PrettyFishies]

right now my glosso is growing in the forground... Do I need to wait on teh julii cories for fear of them digging out the stems?

[Macrosill]

What about adding ro/di water for daily evaporation? Then just doing a normal pwc each week. Will this suffice in not concentrating anything?

[Lonewolfblue]

I don't add anything. Each week, the water maybe gets down to the top of the glass where it's just barely becoming visible, on my 75G. So I never add anything, just weekly PWC's. And I probably would have more evap than some, as I'm running 2 260W CF's above the tank, lots of heat.

[Lonewolfblue]

Originally Posted by PrettyFishies

right now my glosso is growing in the forground... Do I need to wait on teh julii cories for fear of them digging out the stems?

No need to wait. Add anytime. They aren't bothering my new clover at all, and it's starting to spread pretty nicely. Just lots of algae, haven't cured that part yet, lol.