Daniel@R2R
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My Tank Thread
Been seeing lots more posts lately about people using tank lids (glass or acrylic) to control evaporation on their tanks (and of course to keep fish from jumping), but I thought it was common reef wisdom that lids were a bad idea? Three reasons I've always thought they were a bad idea are:
1) they prevent gas exchange which is necessary for a reef
2) they obstruct light, especially when salt begins to build up and create a haze on the glass (I'd think these lids would need to be cleaned a lot to prevent this)
3) unlike mesh tops, lids are hard and won't give when a fish jumps into them. A fish can literally die because of jumping and crashing too hard into a lid. (I've actually watched this happen to a blue spot jawfish that I had in a biocube. It was awful.)
Just wondering if the wisdom has changed on this, or if it's just that more people haven't been warned of potential issues with lids?
I am not in favor of open tanks. I use mesh tops on mine.
1) they prevent gas exchange which is necessary for a reef
2) they obstruct light, especially when salt begins to build up and create a haze on the glass (I'd think these lids would need to be cleaned a lot to prevent this)
3) unlike mesh tops, lids are hard and won't give when a fish jumps into them. A fish can literally die because of jumping and crashing too hard into a lid. (I've actually watched this happen to a blue spot jawfish that I had in a biocube. It was awful.)
Just wondering if the wisdom has changed on this, or if it's just that more people haven't been warned of potential issues with lids?
I am not in favor of open tanks. I use mesh tops on mine.