Covers on planted tanks

[bertolli]

I was wondering if there is is any particular reason I never see covers on planted tanks? I am planning one in my future and it will be in the kitchen/dining area. I am sure there will be plenty of complaints about humidity/smell if theres no cover on the tank so is there a specific reason I never see them or I just happen to not see the ones with covers?

 

[Tony]

Covers on all tanks are a good idea (though I don't have them on all of mine).

Just a thought, most planted tanks use high lighting - either multiple T5s of a couple of power compacts. These get hotter than the standard T8s. Glass lids prevent splashing, which would be especially bad with higher/hotter lighting.

 

[Matt]

covers on the tank can reduce the intensity of those fancy, expensive lamps that you have to help your plants grow. depending on the types of plants you want to grow will determine the type and number of lamps you will need, t5's, pc's or even MH. The tank will evaporate faster without the lids but it wont affect your surrounding house and there should not be any smell unless you have plants rotting or you dont take care of the tank. Talk with "AndrewTFW" as he does a bunch of planted tanks and is a wealth of knowledge on the subject.

 

[Tony]

Oh yeah, evaporation. duh!

Yeah, what Matt said... I need another cup of coffee.

 

[chris_todd]

Mark, Matt nailed it - when you spend extra money to get the higher intensity lighting to grow plants, you don't want glass cutting the light transmission. I only keep glass tops on planted tanks that contain jumpers.

 

[hollyfish2000]

I don't put glass on any of my planted tanks (Andrew from TFW was the one who pulled off my glass cover two years ago and told me it was messing with my lights!) I don't have a smell from my tanks and no humidity that I'm aware of. I do get some evaporation, but I just top off with RO water occasionally . . .

 

[Tony]

I wish I could remove the glass from my 45, but I have rainbowfish. They're know to be jumpers, no?

I'd like to avoid bosmani jerky.

 

[Matt]

I wish I could remove the glass from my 45, but I have rainbowfish. They're know to be jumpers, no?

I'd like to avoid bosmani jerky.

Tony, they are most definately jumpers.

 

[chris_todd]

I don't put glass on any of my planted tanks (Andrew from TFW was the one who pulled off my glass cover two years ago and told me it was messing with my lights!) I don't have a smell from my tanks and no humidity that I'm aware of. I do get some evaporation, but I just top off with RO water occasionally . . .

I really like not having tops on my tanks... if I ever *do* notice a smell, it's usually from algae, and is a clue that something is amiss in the tank that deserves investigation. Or, sometimes the smell is from a fish that wanted to see if he could evolve into a land dweller.

Plus, if I get enough evaporation to be able to see the water line below the tank rim, then I know it's been too long since my last water change. So not having tops has been, for me at least, a useful diagnostic tool.

 

[Spine]

Tony, they are most definately jumpers.

Most of the time the plants offer cover and a kind of calming effect so fish don't tend jump to often.

 

[bertolli]

hrmmmm I like the answers I've gotten. Was talking to the guy at the lfs today and he said if I'm going low tech then glass covers shouldn't impair plant growth. Something about going coverless scares me, probably cuz I'm a lazy water changer and before the tank in my bros room had lids it was always like a sauna in there and smelled even more like @ss.
But I am looking for a 24" deep tank so I might have to be brave....

 

[Matt]

it all depends on the types of plants with that deep of a tank, I say get some halides and some co2 and go for it

 

[George]

Decent tops do not knock down the lighting intensity much. I have VHO lights and a top on the tank.

Evaporation is not the only problem. If you only have one or two tanks I guess you don't have to worry about it but once you get into real fish rooms uncovered tanks can cause mold problems that can actually sicken people. Evaporators can help but they get expensive. My advice is to put covers on your tanks.

George

 

[Pat Kelly]

Like George said.... Cover the tanks.
I went topless for years in my fish room.
Then one day I walked into the front door and noticed the tile in the foyer was loose. When I picked it up the sub floor was soaked. I then found that the moisture was coming down the wall just outside of the fish room.
I now have covers on all the tanks. Some may not be closed at times but that helped a lot. No further problems.
Of course I also run a timer on an exhaust fan that pulls the moisture out of the room a couple times a day and a dehumidifier. Of course if you are running just a couple tanks the humidity will not be that bad. In fact it will help in the winter. But with 52 tanks running, I need the help.

 

[Andrewtfw]

Someone should design a glass lip to fit inside the rim on tanks to prevent jumping, but otherwise let the full spectrum/intensity of light through. Similar to the idea on the Oceanic Tech tanks, though that was done to help prevent salt creep.

 

[Andrewtfw]

open top is not just a risk for jumpers. I watched three waterfall shrimp escape from my tank by walking up filter intakes and climbing down cords.

 

[bertolli]

Ok, I'm going low tech but I wanted to go with LEDs, I'll look into T5 VHO's and see which will benefit my plants more.