Open or closed top - Please Share Your Opinion

[Raven1645]

Just wondering what people's opinions are on this subject, and why.

 

[slurik]

Open top for gas exchange. I'm not one to fancy many fish, so its very easy to avoid the well known jumpers like firefish or wrasses. Though suppose I were interested in these fish, I would still maintain my open top. I would certainly engineer it differently to avoid fish breaching onto the floor, perhaps by encompassing the top in a wooden canopy, with very good ventilation your fish would be unable to exit through, or by using a high albedo egg crate over the top as just a junky lid.

 

[IluvGod'sreefs]

Open top for gas exchange. I'm not one to fancy many fish, so its very easy to avoid the well known jumpers like firefish or wrasses. Though suppose I were interested in these fish, I would still maintain my open top. I would certainly engineer it differently to avoid fish breaching onto the floor, perhaps by encompassing the top in a wooden canopy, with very good ventilation your fish would be unable to exit through, or by using a high albedo egg crate over the top as just a junky lid.

+1 I've been open top for years and never lost a fish--just lucky I guess. I agree that gas exchange is the best reason to leave it open, not to mention the fact that it is much easier to maintain the tank without a top on it( canopies excluded).

 

[slurik]

+1 I've been open top for years and never lost a fish--just lucky I guess. I agree that gas exchange is the best reason to leave it open, not to mention the fact that it is much easier to maintain the tank without a top on it( canopies excluded).

Nope, not fun whacking your elbows on light fixtures, I've knocked one right into the water once >_<

 

[IluvGod'sreefs]

Nope, not fun whacking your elbows on light fixtures, I've knocked one right into the water once >_<

Ouch! That'll ruin your day!!!:thumbdown

 

[shilala]

I use glass tops under my t5's to keep salt off my light fixture and to keep the temp up in my tank.
The glass tops and shorter than the tank is front to back, and I use two otb filters to exchange gas and regulate temperature.
I've lost a number of jumpers along the way, and check regularly for escapee snails. The snails tell me when I have voltage leaking. Most recently it was a bad pump on a skimmer.

 

[IluvGod'sreefs]

I use glass tops under my t5's to keep salt off my light fixture and to keep the temp up in my tank.
The glass tops and shorter than the tank is front to back, and I use two otb filters to exchange gas and regulate temperature.
I've lost a number of jumpers along the way, and check regularly for escapee snails. The snails tell me when I have voltage leaking. Most recently it was a bad pump on a skimmer.

I regularly clean my lights--takes about 2 minutes.

 

[dlterry85]

open top for the above stated reasons. never had a carpet surfer (yet).

 

[ChuckLawson]

Open-ish top... I use 1/4" mesh screens. Most of the advantage of open tops, without the potential for stepping on carpet surfers...

 

[Orcrone]

Open top until a scissortail goby decided to leave. Now I have egg crate on top to keep them in so it's still open top.

 

[125mph]

I have open top with with an egg crate screen to prevent jumpers. I want to take out the screen eventually once I verify the fish are comfortable and wont get startled easily ...

 

[pciscott]

If you are thinking of any wrasses a lid is a must and I had several fish jump before I added a screen.

In my experience rimless tanks seem to loose more fish as a startled fish hits the glass and then goes up, a eorobrace will keep him in the tank.

I run a 1/4 clear netting from BRS and it works well mounted to a standard window screen frame.

A glass lid creates to much heat with intense lighting and kills your par readings when it is not clean.

My vote is a screen, I have had clowns that were in my tank for a year jump, Triggers, and a few others you would not consider jumpers.

Good luck.