glass top or not

Have always had a glass top on my tank, don't have any fish that would be jumpers. Have had ny ai sol whites for bout 8 mo now but would you lose the glass tops. Also had to move my blue tip staghorn but now in front of my maxi jet 1200, too much flow? Thanks.

 

I'd remove them, they hurt the gas exchange and amount of light that gets through, plus, maintenance is a PITA, and I'm not sure about the flow, but pretty sure most would say thats fine. I'd wait for one of the SPS peeps to chime in on that one.

 

I have glas tops on my 65, the lids dont affect any type of gas exchange, if there is water movement, you will have gas exchange. Not to mention when water goes from my DT to my sump, the sump does not have a lid there is plenty of gas exchange there. Glass lids prevent fish from jumping, bad things from your house falling in, plus they diffuse the light from your fixture. Maintenece wise, I wipe the salt creep off and keep it dust free not a big deal. I have an LED fixture suspended from my ceiling, without the goass you have a bit of a spotlight effect fromt the LED's with the glass on, the spotlight effect is gone. It gives me piece of mind that my 3 year old wont throw buzz lightyear in my DT.

 

The sump makes all the difference. Do you have a sump, Muggle?

 

Yes I have a sump

 

I tested light penetration through glass tops a while back and the amount of light blocked was nominal, maybe a few percent IIRC. They can trap heat though and possibly interfear with gas exchange. Also, they are prone to slat creep and have to be cleaned a lot. So, I would say "not" screen tops are preferable IMO.

 

They definitely trap heat. My tank dropped several degrees when I removed my glass tops. I guess this could be good or bad depending on your situation.