# Open top tanks?



## FLGirl1977 (Jul 24, 2007)

I've always admired people's tanks that are "open top". They seem very clean and simple...I love that look!

Before I would ever consider one though, I'm curious to a couple of questions:

Fish jumpers: Do you ever have any problems with fish jumping out? That's the only thing that scares me, I would be worried my beautiful trophs would jump out. Are there some breeds that are 'jumpers' more than others?

Evaporation: How much worse is evaporation with open top tanks? If there is much more evaporation, have there been any signs of moisture damage anywhere near the tank where the evaporation occurs?


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## dogofwar (Apr 5, 2004)

Fish will jump out fo open top tanks and there will be more evaporation / humidity in the room.

Lowering the water level a little helps, as does having floating plants.

A happy medium would be (black) netting or egg crate on the top.


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## BurgerKing (Jul 1, 2008)

I've only had jumpers when the fish are stressed out. It does look cleaner and smoother than a lid but there are glass lids without designs or handles, they look identical to the other pieces of glass on the tank, looks cool.


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## FLGirl1977 (Jul 24, 2007)

Do you have any links to these tanks/tops? I would love to see them.


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## chc (Jul 28, 2004)

Aggressive feeders can make a mess too with all their splashing. Sinking foods helps a bit.


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## chris777 (Jun 27, 2008)

All my tanks are all topless and i haven't had any problems. Evaporation is a bit more then if they where covered for me atleast however I'm also on the 17th floor in my apartment so it gets a bit hotter up here which plays a part. Kind of one of those things you just gotta try it and see if its for you or not. :fish:



chc said:


> Aggressive feeders can make a mess too with all their splashing. Sinking foods helps a bit.


Most of my fish in my one tank are aggressive feeders and haven't had any problems with that. Maybe I'm just lucky?


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Iâ€™ve got a little over 1,000 gal of open top tanks in my garage. The fish that usually jump are the ones being chased looking for an escape route. So the good news is my toughest fish donâ€™t jump 

Iâ€™m a huge fan of light stocking and I consider light stocking much more important with open top tanks, so this works well for me. I have occasional jumpers but in 6 months of the fishroom I havenâ€™t had enough to make me cover the tanksâ€¦ I do keep a few tankâ€™s water level down a bit to prevent jumpers (this is usually in heavier stocked grow out tanks).


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

An easy way to cover your tank that gives a clean, simple look is to cover your tank with acrylic. You can go to Home Depot and have them cut (or it can be cut at home) a custom piece to match your tank. Make sure to get it thick though, as thin pieces will bow.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

To prevent bowing, you can go with Lexan (polycarbonate). More expensive, but even the thinner stuff won't bow.


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## FLGirl1977 (Jul 24, 2007)

Wow! Great ideas guys, thanks! We're going to be moving soon, and I might have to look into getting a new tank when we move.


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## Chad_Asmus (Sep 27, 2008)

I have a natural tank with fish from lakes around me, and i put eggcreat over the top of mine. Then i Planted flowering plants and they have now covered almost all the creat so that you really don't even notice it.


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