to lid or not to lid

[ashleynicole]

Do you guys run your planted tanks with a glass top or leave it open? While I like the fact that I get less evaporation with my glass tops, I really dislike having to use a razor blade to scrape mineral deposits on a regular basis due to the amount of water condensation I get. However the condensation under the glass prevents my lighting fixtures from getting mineral deposits on the covers... so I'm on the fence here on whether to keep the glass on or not in regards to the plants getting optimum lighting with the least amount of maintenance.

[misterc007]

I do not have a lid on mine. my light is 4 inches above the water and it really doesn't get dirty. I probably clean it once a year and it only gets deposits on it where the water exit is on my can. I do get more evaporation especially in the winter. I just use that as my water change guide. Probably every week and a half or so I would lose maybe 2 or 3 gallons in my 55. Glass lids just don't work well with my T5ho so I really didn't have a choice. I've been going without a glass top for almost two years. I like it better at this point and I think it looks cooler. hope that helps!

[Mebbid]

How badly is the water in your tank splashing? You should be able to get away with minimal issues from the mineral deposits either way.

[Rivercats]

Only one of my tanks has a lid, the 24g Nuvo which has several nano fish that jump along with Cobalt Blue Gobies that can walk right up the glass and out of the tank (I've watched them do it). All the rest of my tanks, even the 220g is without a lid which allows no lighting loss for plants. I also hate trying to keep lids clean.

[ashleynicole]

Well I'm running a fluval 306 and AC 50. Only the aquaclear splashes when the water level drops.

[GUZILLA]

I have not noticed a difference in plant growth and light quality since adding glass tops to my 75 gal. I need to cover mine due to kamikaze jumpers, like my bala sharks. I have also caught my cat "fishing" after losing an extremely healthy guppy to a stomach infection...

However, if your lighting system is not being splashed and you don't need a lid to protect your fish, I think they are unnecessary. True evaporation is more significant, particularly at this time of year.

[flitabout]

I run mine without a lid. Mainly I do it because I have golden pothos hanging out of the tank

[Pass_lake]

I took my lid off last week so i could chane the lighting from t8 fluorescent to 2 kessel amazon sun leds. I notice that evaporation is about 1 L per day. I just top it up every couple days

[molly100a]

I don't use glass tops on any of my tanks, tired of cleaning them and I like the fact that more light gets into the tank. I have my fixtures laying on top of Hardware Cloth purchased from Home Depot. This also keeps the fish from jumping out.