To cover or not to cover?

[LesbianChap]

I've had 1 cherry barb end up on the floor, and a couple of crabs and a couple of shrimp, but still think open top is nice. I've been playing with partially closed tops to reduce evaporation, but find it blocks a lot of light.

What are you using for covers? Plywood windows? [/sarcasm]

I had a plastic cover for my 12g when I had it set up in Korea...and water would condensate on it like crazy and drip back into the tank. I found that there would also be some sort of deposits left on the cover after a few days, and the longer it was there, the worse it got...though those stains never seemed to do worse then a poor diffuser for my lights (it looked like salt stains). If this is your problem, you may need to take off your clear plexi/glass covers and wipe them with a vinegar mix as part of a monthly maintenance cycle...though I found plain water and a rag worked well for me. If the tank weren't covered, I figure I'd lose about an inch of water a week...not that big of a deal on a 12g, but still annoying.

 

[mellowvision]

nah, it's plexiglass, 1/4".. clear. it's the water condensed on it that refract the light. it's a noticable difference in light intensity, and a few days after adding the covers, my aquatic clover sprouted a ton of taller, 3 leaf shoots, as if to go after more light that it was used to. this is in my 10 gallon, with 40 watts of dual daylight.

 

[Gouramigirl71]

I keep mine covered to keep the fish in and the children OUT! But I don't use that back plastic strip, it's just a pain to cut around for my filters, so I leave it off. I've had one fish jump out, but that was at feeding time, and she was a little enthusiastic.