Does anyone actually use hoods? I bought a glass hood but it seems to take away a bit of the lighting from the plants. Does anyone go hoodless? Just use a light on top? I have the light on legs above the aquarium approximately 3-4 inches above the water level and at least 2-3 above the rim of the tank.
I've seen people do that. I don't though. I've lost one betta and one bristlenose pleco to them escaping from the tank in the middle of the night so I make sure that all of my lids are tight-fitting. I keep the glass tops cleaned. Don't use household cleaners to clean them though. I have some stuff from the petstore that claims to be safe. It doesn't work very well. Might as well use water.
On some of the tanks, that don't have tops I have a lot more evaporation, ..I prefer the tops, but some of my planted tanks just can't have them anymore..