Lid or no Lid

[CzarKasM]

Hi, I'm new to these forums and they seem really great! I have one simple question at the moment..... my tank is a 100 gallon fish only, and when i have the lids on, the temp gets up to the low 80's, like 82 at the highest...... with the lids still on, but opened up, the temp goes down to about 77.7 or so, which is where i think i want it...... the question is, would it be dumb just to remove the lids completely or should I find another alternative?

Thanks for the help,
Scott

 

[Len]

:welcome:

No lid is always preferred if you can make sure your fish don't accidentally jump out. Lower temps is one reason. Higher rate of gas exchange (which helps keep the water chemistry in balance) is another big reason to have no lid.

 

[Anonymous]

welcome to reefs.org

Do you have any fish that tend to be jumpers? If not, then I would remove the lid. I don't have a lid on mine. I am not sure what is a good alternative for a lid, but others will chime in shortly.

 

[SnowManSnow]

<-- votes no lid

 

[metalac]

I'm new here as well and I'm in process of setting up my first reef. I went to the fish store the other day and I saw something that I thought of getting. it was a lid that was in essence a metal mesh. Do you think that this is a good solution? could go even cheaper by going to the Home Despot, or the like, and pick up some wire mesh. One thing i do wonder is what happens to the lights? Most lights these days say that they should be used only with the covered tanks. Are they that sensitive to water or what?

 

[Chubosco]

I can't keep out of my tank to have a lid on it. However, I had a glass cutter cut squares of glass just the size of the haligens and I put underneath the lights on the tank to deflect some of the heat. Works great too!

 

[Len]

The suggestion by manufacturers to use lids is because of the fear of the water corroding the electrical connections, or worse yet, the lights falling into the water while on. There are water-resistant connectors (endcaps) for most fluorescent lights available, taking care of the first issue. Just make sure to secure your lights so they don't fall into the tank, and put it on a GFCI (sold by most of our sponsors). GFCI will trip the circuit if it comes in contact with water. It may save your aquarium's life as well as your own.

 

[metalac]

The suggestion by manufacturers to use lids is because of the fear of the water corroding the electrical connections, or worse yet, the lights falling into the water while on. There are water-resistant connectors (endcaps) for most fluorescent lights available, taking care of the first issue. Just make sure to secure your lights so they don't fall into the tank, and put it on a GFCI (sold by most of our sponsors). GFCI will trip the circuit if it comes in contact with water. It may save your aquarium's life as well as your own.

So if put the mesh that would protect the lights sufficiently, i'm assuming and prevent any jumping fish from coming out.

 

[mr_X]

metal mesh will eventually(quite quickly actually) corrode, rust, particles will fall into the tank. you don't want that. if you need something, see if you can find a plastic mesh, as long as your lights are far enough away from it so not to melt it. some people use eggcrate(the plastic light diffusing cover on ordinary office flourescent lights). i don't have anything on my tank either, and i don't have any troubles without the lids.

 

[Chubosco]

The only problem would be a possible shadow reducing the light to the tank. Other than that, no problem I see.