how do you cover your tank?

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marie74

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Feb 9, 2013
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I have my 56gal column. It has been set up for about 6 weeks, purchased an established tank and moved it, so little if any cycle.

about 60-65lbs live rock
just purchased an LED light... so I could try coral.... but the guy at the LFS says that reef tanks need to be uncovered foe more Oxygen exchange. The sump is uncovered in the cabinet....

I have a glass versa-top.
I do not feel comfortable without a cover. I have kids.. last thing I need is them trying to "feed" the fish
 
Glass covers and SW tanks don't mix. You can use a screen top on it (non-metallic!). Gas exchange works, but kiddies can't dump things into the tank.
 
Ive had glass on mine for a while now.. 2yrs coming late summer/fall..i have birds and dont want noooo swimmin!;)
 
Still need the gas exchange. Glass tops don't work well with saltwater, especially reef systems. BRS sells a transparent plastic mesh that works great.
 
What is bad by having a glass top on a reef/SW? I have one on my 10 gal and I have experienced no problems.
 
How is the ph? if you find yourself having to add buffers and struggling with it all the time, that's the reason.
 
Generally, reefs need to export oxygen and c02 thru agitation at the tanks surface. If that exchange can't happen, then a tank with a significant bioload will start going acidic. C02 builds up in the water. Ph will drop when the lights go off more dramatically in a sealed up tank.
 
My tank has a wet dry filter. Will that be good enough for gas exhange? I want to put glass on my tank but really only covering 50% of the surface area( my light stands wont let me cover all of it.
 
That will help, but the more exposed surface area the better. Many folks end up directing fans into the waters surface to raise ph without adding tons of buffer.

Note; this effect isn't as pronounced in a sparsely settled tank. But as organisms grow and are added, the exchange of gases becomes more important.
 
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your LFS has it backwards open tank means more gas exchange. I got a DIY screen kit from BRS and have 1/4 screen netting over mine to keep jumpers in
 
I used inexpensive light covering at Lowes. Its white though but works great. Cut it to fit however you want. Scraps can be uses for frag plug racks.

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I've done open top, but lost too may fish due to carpet surfing. I did the light diffuset grating like Paul87, but hated how it looked. (If my stand was taller, it might not have been an issue, but it seemed to be right at eye level.) I did glass tops for a while, but got a lot of salt creep and thenmineral build up on the covers. cutting down light. I ended up doing the screen kit with the mesh from BRS and I think it's the cleanest looking of all of them.

41906-albums2492-picture53206.jpg
 
I have the egg crates now and somehow still lost my neon dotty jumped over the side through a hole or something. I like this screen look. Where's a link for the brs DIY?
 
Fish can see the holes and will actually aim for them. I would look for something with holes smaller than your fish, to be sure.
 
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