Be honest here! Are you protecting your fish from......

[csb123]

Even with the screen top, over the last 2 months I’ve lost 2 fish to suicide. A McCoskers managed to just out of a 1/2 hole I cut into the screen for feeding.

 

[Venzzla]

I use a glass cover over my 40 gallon breeder, just not worth the risk IMO.

On the con side every other week I have to rinse the glass off to clean the salt creep up.

 

[ngoodermuth]

Tank full of wrasses... enough said. My moyer's breaks the surface on a daily basis...

 

[reacclimating 2 the hobby]

OctoAquatics for me as well, will use him again when the new tank comes in. Part of the agreement with the wife is no tanks without lids. She doesn't want nothing to sneak out, travel 2 flights of stairs, open our bed room door, unarm me, get past the dog, and kill her in her sleep.

This cracked me up...

I do not have a top, but I would like to get one when the budget allows for something nice. The moisture inside my 1100sqft house from the tank is very noticeable on the windows. Plus, I'd like to stop jumpers when fish are back.

Perhaps someone could raffle one

 

[EMeyer]

I use a glass cover over my 40 gallon breeder, just not worth the risk IMO.

On the con side every other week I have to rinse the glass off to clean the salt creep up.

I have canopies or glass lids on all my tanks. I'll never understand the aversion to glass lids. Exactly like you describe, they have to be cleaned every now and then. But so does the rest of the tank

 

[sfin52]

I use eggcrate to cover the top. Easy to cut areas for cords to drop in.

Thats exactly what I did after a chalk bass came down with the patato chip disease

 

[BestMomEver]

I don’t have a lid. My 60 cube is completely open. I’ve never had a Wrasse jump. I did have a pajama cardinal jump, which is the very last fish I would ever have thought would jump. I’m sure it’s inevitable that something will jump. I’m crossing my fingers.

 

[saintsreturn]

I am in the minority here, but i do have a canopy. I kept screens on even with the canopy and hated taking them on and off. One day i got lazy and found my reef safe puffer behind the tank. This killed me and my response was swift. I went to my local LFS that sells a non metallic gutter guard and placed it across the back of the canopy. Now any jumpers can only go on top of the lights or into the return, but that risk is way better than out.

 

[Cassian]

I learned a long time ago to cover my tank. lol. I have a canopy on mine and I cover the vent with window screen.

 

[Cassian]

I don’t have a lid. My 60 cube is completely open. I’ve never had a Wrasse jump. I did have a pajama cardinal jump, which is the very last fish I would ever have thought would jump. I’m sure it’s inevitable that something will jump. I’m crossing my fingers.

same thing happened to me. I had a wrasse and guess who jumped out? nope, not the wrasse. my peaceful, slow moving filefish. lol

 

[4FordFamily]

yes BUT on my 180 it only covers roughly 50%. It DOES have a canopy, also and it covers the back end where fish can leap out. I'd be lying if I said that no one ever got out, I had one jump on to the lid and dry out and die there once... but overall it has been pretty effective with the canopy. The 500 gal system has egg crate across the top.

 

[madweazl]

I think I've had three jumpers in the 20+ years I've been in the hobby, two this past year since our canopy was removed (both were diamond gobys). The other jump was a McCosker's wrasse.

Oh wait, I did have a clown (captive bread ocellaris that always slept in the top corner of the tank) jump from the DT to the external overflow a couple years ago (through a gap in the back of the canopy). Ended up dying at the gate valve of the primary drain.

 

[Amps Reef Life]

Absolutely! All three tanks in the house are covered. I started out with a DIY lid made with window frame from lowes and clear screen from BRS. The tank built into my wall has the DIY screen still as you can't see it but when I was able to I ordered two clear view lids for the other two tanks. They are beautiful and I love them I was able to snag them last black Friday for a decent discount. I keep a lot of wrasses and a lid in a must plus almost any fish is a risk of carpet surfing even if they aren't known to jump. Everyone should have a lid eventually a few fish are going to jump and the cost to replace them will eventually add up to the cost of a lid. Plus we should be taking care of our animals.

 

[Bob Weigant]

Sad story here. Had my net ordered and was using egg crate for the week. Net arrived Friday but Thursday night my Rhomboid and Earmuff jumped. So bummed. It took me awhile to find that Earmuff

 

[Jon Fishman]

I have a canopy-thingy over mine, but I plan to put a very thin piece of acrylic over it before placing the canopy to lessen evaporation.

 

[Scorpius]

It's a no brainer. Cheap, easy insurance against unnecessary fish death. I don't feel an ounce of sympathy towards anyone who loses a fish due to not having a lid on their aquarium and I can say this because I started out in this hobby without using lids. Lesson learned the hard way.

 

[ZoWhat]

I personally have a 10in hood to mount lights.

If a fish can jump 12ins to clear the hood at an angle....then bye bye birdie

AS A SIDENOTE.... if a fish jumps its prob bc one of two things IMO. 1) being chased, 2) a sudden event like a Powerhead kicking on starling the fish



.

 

[MnFish1]

Be honest here! Are you protecting your fish from the floor?

How do you protect them from the floor? Well a tank cover of course! But there are pros and cons to covering your tank and the cons may keep people from actually using a cover.

Pro: Keeps those fish likely to jump in the tank and safe!

Con: Is annoying to constantly have to remove to work in the tank.

What are some pros and cons that you know of?

image via @MadCityReefer

I bought the Red Sea cover - not really expensive - but - it didn't come with the required pieces to make properly for my XXL tank - so I thought - how hard can it be - I'll just adjust it - well big mistake... I have a cover that doesnt fit. Does anyone have any ideas for a better cover for a Red Sea reefer XXL?

 

[scriptmonkey]

Huh. Didn't realize this was an epidemic.

Changed my mind going to remove the lids. I am going to just repurpose this:

 

[Mariette]

Talk about a pejoritive question...

No, I don't cover my tank. It's a look thing... and no, I won't be putting a cover on it.

And Yes, I consider myself a very contientious caregiver for my marine friends.

The two are NOT oxymorons.

I make an effort to select fishes that are not known jumpers.
I attempt to keep agression between fishes to an absolute minimum.
I keep stocking levels low... uncrowded conditions.
I feed heavily, and often, under the theory that fat and happy fishes are less likely to jump.
I strive to keep outside influences... sudden lighting changes, loud noises, banging on tank, etc. as rare as possible.

I have lost ONE fish to jumping in two and a half years. Including that loss, I've lost a grand total of TWO fishes, period, since I started this tank. One was the jumper... a caramel clown, the 2nd was one of a pair of Spotbreast Angels that just never really acclimated. Lasted about 2 weeks after purchase, but displayed stress signs over pretty much the entire time I had her. The 2nd Spotbreast, purchased at the same time, is healthy and growing.

How many other reefkeepers here with a 2.5 year old tank can honestly say that they've only lost two fish?

You must be doing something right. Keep up the great work!