Lid

[mleibowi]

I see a lot of display tanks without a lid. 1) I’d worry about evaporation- I do t live in 85F weather 24/7 2) discus can by jump.

For those without lids on their tank- how do you make it work…. I also have an overflow so need the water at a particular level or the return pump runs dry.

Thanks

[AquaticNerd]

I tried the no-lid game for a bit. It wasn't a whole lot of effort to maintain the water level since I was doing 50% water changes daily, and the tank only lost about 2g/day due to evaporation (so maybe my total volume changed was 48% daily). The only time it became an issue is if I had to let it go for a few days at a time. My water is pretty stable out of the tap, so I could just top up from the tap (prime added, of course) when needed.

There were two reasons I ended up getting/making a lid. 1) I had the dreaded jumper and 2) I wanted to add some pothos and such on top to grow out, soak up some nitrates, and add some intrigue to the aquarium.

[Iminit]

Covers are needed for jumpers. Thing is things scare these fish. Open tank can be a disaster. Many of my other tanks are open and evaporation is noticed. Next with me changing water twice a week I never have to worry about the sump running low.

[CliffsDiscus]

I have no lids on 5 tanks but the water levels are a few inches below the rim, why because of the earthquakes.

Cliff

[jwcarlson]

Lids also help with energy efficiency if that's something of concern. Particularly if power outages are an issue. Lids trap a lot of heat. I've got lids on everything.

[mleibowi]

Yeah- I have lids too. Perhaps people live in warmer climates or natural disaster areas as cliff does and need to avoid lids…. I would be really anxious about an earthquake with my larger tank. Seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Cliff is your tank/stand extra reinforced?

[CliffsDiscus]

Yeah- I have lids too. Perhaps people live in warmer climates or natural disaster areas as cliff does and need to avoid lids…. I would be really anxious about an earthquake with my larger tank. Seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Cliff is your tank/stand extra reinforced?

Some of my stands are bolt to the floors and the walls. Tanks can still slide off the stands so braces are added. The last big earthquake I was lucky the freeway collapsed an hour after I got off.

[jpm995]

I've had indoor ponds for years and in my experience i''ve noticed a pond about 130 gallons and 6' x 3' would lose about a gallon a day. I think the surface area determines how much water you would lose. I'm sure there's other factors like amount of light and humidity that affects it as well. Hatchet fish seem to be the most likely to jump out. What helps is some cover like floating plants [hyacinths and duckweed]. When surprised their first reaction is to jump. Plants would be the main reason to keep the top open.