Open or closed over aquarium?

izau3138

New member
I see from time to time that some people leave their glass top on and some leave it off(or open). What are the advantages and disadvantages of leaving the glass top off of the aquarium?
 
If you leave the glass off the top you trap a lot less heat that can be transferred to your water. The pocket of air can act as an insulative layer and make it difficult for heat to escape. Saltcreep also can occur on the glass, blocking light, which is not best if you are keeping LR or corals.

A disadvantage for some, not in my experience, fish can jump out of the tank. Some will use eggcrate (lighting section of homedepot), but this can metal if you have intense lighting like MH.

Hope this helps.
 
Glass tops are okay if you have any fish that are jumpers, but you could just as easily use egg crate.

Disadvantages of glass, it cuts down on gas exchange, can trap heat, and may cut down on your light.
 
I use egg-crate on my 75 and glass on my 20 gallon qt tank. The other 3 tank I have don't have a cover of any kind.
 
I recently put the glass lid I had back on my FOWLR tank and am pleased by the following results:

1. The temparature at night remains more stable when the light is not on b/c the heat cannot escape. I was noticing before that I was having a 1.5 to 2 degree drop at night. I am pretty sure its healthier for the tank not to have changes of more than 3 degrees. I was uncomfortable with the drop at night.

2. Much less evaporation in the tank. I only add water like every 4 or 5 days. This means of course more stable salinity. Also I use less distilled water which I buy at Wal-Mart.

I have not noticed in difference in my PH levels at all.

I hope this helps, I like the lid back on and think I am going to leave it. No too many people are advocates of lids, so I thought this might help you.
 
I'm a fan of leaving the lid off. With my lighting, anything to keep heat down is a plus. Evap was a pain until I got an RO. rObin, I suggest you get an RO or better RO/DI. It makes life a LOT easier.
 
Back
Top