I will try to give as much detail as possible and I am wondering if anyone has experience with the situation.
I used to have a 150g Saltwater tank more than 20 years ago. Want to get back into the hobby and I am considering a Red Sea Max S-650 or Reefer S-850. Both have lights that attach to the top rim. I also have an 18 year old Greenwing Macaw. Both the tank and the cage will be in the same room. I also have multiple high grade air filters that keep "bird dust" to a minimum. My Macaw ("Scooter") spends a good bit of time in his large cage. He is NEVER out of the cage unattended and he very seldom even come down from his cage unless he's on my shoulder. I'm not at all worried about him "messing" with the tank. (I don't think he would ever go fishing and it is highly unlikely that he would be able to perch above the tank and leave any "presents" in the tank water).
Nevertheless, I will certainly put a net on top of either tank to prevent any fish from jumping out. I am, however, a little worried about "bird dust" getting into the tank. On one hand, I think any dust may help with bacteria growth and most of it would get filtered out anyway it would be a very very small amount, with the Air Purifiers and I get very little dust in the room), on the other hand I want to make sure I would not have any issues with water quality (in terms of more material that would turn into ammonia, I'm sure the good bacteria would take care of the Nitrogen Cycle, I just don't want to be doing water changes every couple of days should the Nitrates get too high).
I'm just wondering if any reefers here also have at least one large bird in the same room as their tank and if you have seen any problems with filtration on an open tank. putting a glass or acrylic top on the tank would be an option, but it is expensive to have it custom built. I only would want to put a top on the tank if there are any known problems with the configuration I described above.
