Tankerini

Is it ok to have no lid to your fish tank based on the following species;
Blue Pacific Tangs, Yellow Tangs, clowns, Royal gamma, and BTA's.

Im sure there are fish that are definiate no no's to open top tanks! Its just that Im debating doing a DIY stand to accomodate the lighting I want. I can always get glass fitted to size if not.

r0ss0

Be safer with Glass imo. Some may jump when startled or when they are playing close to the surface .. Just a safety mearsure really. Stops other things going in the tank to

Tankerini

Ive seen quite a few in the LFS's. Its the reef tanks there totally open but they did have the fish I mentioned above in them.

Yeah the more I think about it the more I realise its a bad idea! Especially as I have two little girls (3 and 2). Who might decide to share a toy or two with the fish lol...

r0ss0

hehe - I had an open top and was waiting for my glass top to arrive i ordered from the manafacturers site , For the time being i just cut a fish bag up and placed it over the top and cellotaped it down for a temp cover might be an idea , Or just get some acrylic plastic from a diy store and cut it neatly to size and slot it on the top if you know what i mean?. Perhaps as a suggestion it would be wise to get some kind of airstone in there to improve aeriation and that?

Tankerini

I have not even set up my sw tank yet, still gathering as much info as I can on EVERYTHING that you need to know including what equipment and so on.

Only when I'm fully confident with the knowledge I have, and the equipment to suit the tank habitants I have chosen will I set it up.

As for the airstone and aeriation thing, dont worry my fish will be high off oxygen lol.

For now Im enjoying reading everyones posts and learning from there mistakes and experience!

COBettaCouple

Welcome to Fishlore. I moved your thread to the SW area so our members with SW tanks can better help you out.

Tankerini

Cheers Cobettacouple,
Im done on this thread now, but I will try and make sure any new threads/posts I do will be put into the right area. Im new to this and still finding my way round the site.

COBettaCouple

No problem. We just like to help members get the best responses.

Tumbleweed

An good tank cover is light difuser "Egg Crate" You can get a large sheet of it at Home Depot for aroun $10. You just cut it to fit on the tank. It gives you the benefits of an open tank, but is a cover to keep fish in that want to jump.

Tankerini

No escapists that way

Slug

Eggcrate works well, also something along the lines of bird netting that you would use to cover fruit bushes and such. Right that into a frame with glue or silicone and set it on top.

NirvanaandTool

I would also suggest eggcrate as a top for the tank. Glass tops are nice but I've read that you can have heat issues in the tank with higher powered lights due to the lack of water evaporating off.
I didnt want to risk this and have to buy a chiller so I went with an open top for my 55 gallon but will be buying egg crate to cover it whenever I remember to go to Homedepot and buy it.

From what ive read online (gotta love sites like this and liveaquaria) you should be ok open top with the fish you mentioned but the clowns might carpet surf by accident.
The major jumpers in SW are dartfish, wrasses and anthias. I think there might be more but those are what i can remember off the top of my head.

Oil_Fan

My clowns rarely go up to the surface. I don't think you'd need to worry about them. But I would add most gobies also a being jumpers from what I've read.

Oh and flame angels are also. Which is why I put some plastic drain guard stuff to the back of my tank where there was a 5" opening or so. It cost me like $4 from Home Depot. Why does it seem like we use a lot of stuff from there for our hobby??

NirvanaandTool

My clowns only go to the surface when food hits the water. But I still wouldnt take the chance with them. Always better to be safe than sorry right?
Ah true - forgot about gobies. Maybe because I dont have one yet? Haha

Good to know about flame angels cause I plan on getting one for my 55 in a few months. Definitely will need some eggcrate for it then.
Homedepot is like the aquarium keepers goldmine. Eggcrate, drain guard, pvc pipe for QT tanks, plexiglass for sump baffles, etc etc etc. Now if only I can drag my lazy butt to drive over for some eggcrate and pvc pipe, I'll be set

Slug

My wrasse and royal gramma have not had a problem in an open top tank yet. Going on....4-6 months.