Glass tops or no glass tops

[DLANDINO]

That is the question....

[rifishguy]

i say no.

[mylifeismyown66]

I use them for now, when summer comes I will probably be forced to make a screen top if the temp gets too hot. I have a fairy wrasse, and will be getting a mccoskers and a mystery at some point and they are known to be jumpers so I need a top.

[rifishguy]

I started with glass but after about a week of cleaning it three times a day I went with the mesh. Ryan I have some left if you need it.

[ANGRY JOHN]

i dont like them for both of the reasons above. They always need to be cleaned, they reduce par by acting as an additional filter, they reduce gas exchange, and are just a pain. They do reduce evaporation, and can keep in heat if you need that during the winter. i dont likem

[mylifeismyown66]

Is there a mesh with a wider pattern that works well? I could always make an egg crate top again, but Im not sure how those diffuse the light and if they reduce PAR as well.

[mike33]

I guess it depend on what you decide to take care of. I highly recommend a mesh/screen top. I had no top for a while and had jumpers. I had glass tops and the heat was a problem. I have had a mesh screen for the past six months with nothing but positive results. No abnormalities with corals and fish have stayed in tank. One of the best things I have done with the tank.

[ANGRY JOHN]

i like natural selection, although i would cry if i lost a fish so guess better safer than sorry.

[mufnman]

Definently have to pass on the glass. Eggcrate works but got to make sure you have the correct side down!

[SleepyJ]

I always had egg crate which seemed to work well; at least kept the yellow wrasse and clowns in the tank. I'm not sure if egg crate is small enough to keep something like a small goby from jumping.

[cccharliecc]

I would go against using glass because of gas exchange and cleaning is a pain. You dont need another maintenance task.

I've used egg crate in the past but didnt like that either because it seemed to really block some light.

BRS sells a clear screen on their site and it looks pretty good.

But I go with nothing on top.

[LRLS]

Dave I used to have the glass top and about 2 yrs ago I removed it and have been very happy. Yes there is more evaporation but the dust and the salt build up is not there anymore. I say get rid of the glass........... just my opinion.


KJW

[rickcSMF]

I ditched my glass when I went from a FOWLR to (semi quasi) reef tank.
The main two reasons are as mentioned above: 1>Gas exchange and 2> Lighting.

Sure evaporation is a bit more, but I have an ATO system setup, and I've found that it helps keep the tank cooler in the summer. I haven't had my tank up a full New England winter yet, but I hope it keeps the house less dry, being that my tank looses apx 5G a week. We'll see though.

As far as fish jumping, other than your known jumpers, IMHO, you can't keep a unhappy fish from jumping unless you totally enclose the tank. I've had fish in my old FO setup somehow make use of the 1/2" space I cut for the filters in the plastic to jump.

I'm using egg create now, but plan to goto screen or bare soon....My fish are staying in, its the snails that are crawling out via the overflow box....
The wife and I were watching TV the other night and we heard a few click, clack clangs, and sure enough, two snails jumped out... lol

Still debating. (perhaps that can be the next topic )

[cato]

No glass

[Reefir]

Topless!!:d

[Rwinfrey]

nope to the glass

[DLANDINO]

Ok! Thanks for all of the responses. I'm goin' topless. Try and keep your lunch down ladies....

[FroMan]

Originally Posted by SleepyJ

I always had egg crate which seemed to work well; at least kept the yellow wrasse and clowns in the tank. I'm not sure if egg crate is small enough to keep something like a small goby from jumping.

I had two fire fish go carpet diving last year through egg crate. I'm not sure how both of them made it through, but they did. I guess I should of had them on a suicide watch or something.

I don't have a top on my main tank, but I do cover my sump and frag tank now that it is winter. I'm more concerned about keeping the heat in than a slight loss in PAR on the frag tank.

I do like the screen top idea that BRS has on their web site. It seems like a good idea. Although there still has to be some light loss with the screen material.

[osrascom]

I have a glass top on my fowlr tank (i have a snowflake) which has worked fine. On my reef tank however, I had heard that it takes away 30% of your light's par. I have a wrasse that has jumped a few times(luckily I was around and he still lives..lol) so I put up some eggcrate. IMO it takes away from the looks of the tank. A friend of mine has mesh that is attached to the light and the top of the tank by velcro. It makes it easy to do the maintenance on the tank. I will be putting up some mesh soon. But no glass.

[firstlight10]

I have an acrylic top 1/4" thick on my tank. It does a good job of keeping heat in the tank and the fish from jumping out. The main downside is it needs to be cleaned at least once a week. The main reason I put a top on my tank is my light fixture is too short to span the length of my tank and I didn't want to hang the fixture from the ceiling. I am not sure how it effects the strength of my lights, it would be interesting to measure.

[DLANDINO]

8 hours in with no glass and increased evaporation is very noticeable.

[cato]

Originally Posted by DLANDINO

8 hours in with no glass and increased evaporation is very noticeable.

Dave you really need to get out more.

[DLANDINO]

Ya think?

[charleneatkins]

I guess this means you finished power washing the inside. I like the looks of an open tank but my debit card does not like the look of replacements.I am still on middle ground

[Gillundr]

I would think with no sump you would want to try to keep the top off to help with O2 exchange. I know you have an oversized skimmer that helps but still. I top off about 3 gallons a day in my tank lol.