glass top enclosures

[1stMarDiv]

My plate glass tops are letting salt by and building up at the seams where they sit. what is the best way to prevent this and also if the three glass panels are real tight, is this healthy for the tank. i do have a 55 gallon sump below it with no cover at all.

 

[ggk1988]

Glass tops have a tendency to 1)not allow gas exchange and 2)heat the tank.

 

[AZDesertRat]

Remove them, they make good bokshelves.
You want agitation and evaporation at the waters surface for both cooling and oxygen transfer, glas tops limit this. They also get cruddy and block light which is another disadvantage. If fish jumping is an issue use eggcrate(light panel diffusers from HD or Lowes).

 

[bearpeidog]

If you have a sump with aeration I wouldn't worry too much about the glass tops from that perspective. They do add protection from things falling or being thrown (if you have kids) into your tank.

I ran glass tops for a long time but in the end decided the hassle wasn't worth it. They do end up blocking light and accumlate crud.

 

[tbittner]

What do you have in the tank as far as fish? Our one tank is topless but it doesn't have ANY fish that are jumpers. It's been like that for 9 months and I haven't lost any fish.

Our other tank is a predator tank with a snowflake eel and a ghost eel. That tank is locked down tight, otherwise, they'd crawl out.

So you see, it depends on what you have in the tank.

And as bearpeidog said, if you want/need to keep the glass tops, then you need to be committed to cleaning them every week so they don't interfer with the light.