Aquariums without hoods ... safe?

R

R.A.W.

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Mar 6, 2010
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Deepwater, Missouri
Lately, I've seen a lot of aquarium setups at my LFS and even some here. They are super cool and I like being able to see the movement of the water and watching the fish from the top.

But is it safe? Fish jump ... or at least most of them do. I know if the water quality is bad fish will try to escape to another source of water. But I've had near perfect water conditions and still had jumpers.

What are your opinions? Any concerns or comments about open topped tanks?

I've been thinking of setting one up but don't want to wake up to flopping fish on the floor.
 
just lift the hood off of the tank when you want to see it.

If you don't want to do that, most fish WILL jump out, as will most inverts and amphibians. It all depends on your species. Anyother problem is lighting, as a planted tank will need lighting. (or you just raise it)
 
i have alot of tanks, and none have lids. only the crayfish tend to "escape" (not jump) and my cpd's - those little guys jump alot, atleast for me. but for the most part i dont have any problems
 
There are fish that will jump out of an uncovered hood and probably snails would be on that list too. I have a riparim which requires an open hood for me. Just work around the no hood part and dont scare your fish.
 
SafaditM3 said:
IDK what to say today I finally installed my new fixture so I have no hood and I can't find my ADF anywhere so it's worrying me that he leapt out. And I don't think a glass top would work with my Gouramis since they are air breathers being labyrinth fish.
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Your glass top probably isn't going to fit air-tight so there will still be plenty of air seeping in. Also, if you have cut-outs for filter hoses, wiring, etc., the small gaps around them will allow air in. If you have an HOB filter, there's a bigger gap in the front of it and the vent holes on the top of the HOB which will allow O2 into the water from the HOB since nitrifying bacteria like O2 rich waters.

Gourami's, while they do have labyrinths, they do also have gills. If your water has enough O2 in it, they don't go to the surface nearly as often (at least my Gourami's didn't). They only developed labyrinths over the eons because, in Nature, they often live in very low O2 waters and HAVE to breathe from the surface more often.

BTW, do you have live plants? If you have live plants, during the day (or lights on) they'll be producing lots of O2 and some of that O2 will not be used by the fish and may outgas into the air above the water line.

If you have a very tight fitting glass top with no cut-outs for wiring, filters, etc., then you could make a cut-out and put a piece of fiberglass screen over the opening which would solve all of the potential problems.
 
SafaditM3 said:
Thank you guys because everywhere I read it tells me not to get a glass hood. I'm going to pick one up tomorrow. Thank you again.
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What are you reading that says that? Now, if they are saying not to get a "glass hood" as in a plain old glass easy-to-break glass, I would agree since there is too much of a chance of the glass breaking and dropping lots of glass shards into a tank but if it's plexiglass, which is what I use, then I don't see the issue. Also, many of the black plastic hoods from All-Glass and others usually have a real glass panel where the light fixture fits right above the glass and this glass panel is pretty safe since the light fixture protects it from above and it's not a full size sheet of glass, just a 4" to 8" strip built into the plastic hood.

You can also use this really inexpensive stuff to cover your tanks, either one... it's a lot cheaper than plexiglass and you can usually get it in a BIG BOX home center's lighting section. The Egg-Crate louver stuff would also alleviate your concern about not enough O2 for your labyrinth fish.

http://www.professionalplastics.com/EGGCRATELOUVERS-LIGHTING

http://www.professionalplastics.com...r=3&prrfnbr=85484&sesent=0,0&search_id=480695

http://www.professionalplastics.com...r=3&prrfnbr=85290&sesent=0,0&search_id=480695
 
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