Looking for ideas to minimize evaporation.

[JerSaint]

I keep my tanks in the basement. I have been noticing a pretty good amount of evaporation from my tanks. I am wondering if anybody has any tips or tricks to reduce?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Lids.

 

[143MPCo]

Cut back on the amount of tanks that you have down in the basement Jeremy and you'll cut back on the amount of water being evaporated.

Aren't you up to something like 22 tanks now LOL

But seriously lids on everything would help specially the sump but then you run into other issues where the water starts to pool on the underside of the lids, not a big issue on the sump but, you run into issues with light penetration on the display tanks.

Other things that I've done to help would be to lower the ambient temperature of the room and slightly lower the temperature of the tank water.

 

[Pola0502ds]

I thought about adding clear plexi to the top of my display tank, beside the light being a concern is there any other reasons why someone would not want to do this? Any issues with oxygen or gas exchange? I know the skimmer provides a lot of oxygen but is that enough?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Aren't you up to something like 22 tanks now LOL

we should Hang out...At your place

I thought about adding clear plexi to the top of my display tank, beside the light being a concern is there any other reasons why someone would not want to do this? Any issues with oxygen or gas exchange? I know the skimmer provides a lot of oxygen but is that enough?

I have thick plexi lids(be cautious of heat, I have leds) but leave the lids cracked open a bit. It def cuts down on eveap, as my ato usage will testify. IMO and I could well be wrong, with the overflow and the splash zone in the the sump from the return plus the skimmer, plus good surface agitation, I think, (and well hope I suppose) it should be fine.
and yea you have to rinse them.

 

[JerSaint]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I am going to try out using some lids on the sumps and possibly displays.

And I am only at 8 total tanks right now Alex, but 22 is my lucky number........

 

[rock_lobster]

Decreasing flow and surface agitation will greatly decrease evaporation. Also the lower the temp in the tanks...

 

[Devnix]

I watched a video where some guy put clear wrap on the top this concerned me. Do you think that is dangerous or a good idea. My tank has no lid and evaporation is horrible lol. My boyfriend just asked me “so you buy saltwater like every week for this thing?” Mind you he also calls me the crazy fish lady

 

[George Lopez]

Acrylic lids are great but they end up bowing over time so make sure to cross brace to prevent this from happening our use really thick plexiglass... cross bracing is cheaper though

 

[Chuk]

Evaporation is a surface area and temperature game so depending on the size of the sump (if you have one) you could always put a lid on the sump. The evaporation will go down proportionally to the square footage covered and it wont effect the look of the display tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I watched a video where some guy put clear wrap on the top this concerned me. Do you think that is dangerous or a good idea. My tank has no lid and evaporation is horrible lol. My boyfriend just asked me “so you buy saltwater like every week for this thing?” Mind you he also calls me the crazy fish lady

I guess he's not a chemist.

Evaporation does not impact the need for salt water.

Sealing the top will potentially cause issues with oxygen unless you strongly oxygenate some other way, such as a skimmer, which itself may release more water vapor tot eh room than the tank top, unless it is vented outside (mine was).

Rather than decreasing evaporation, many of us have chosen more ventilation of basement fish areas, like with a bathroom exhaust fan.