Glass lid or Aryclic lid?
 

Which allows more light to go through? Which is prefered and why?

If your intent is to cover your entire top then no lid is preferred. A cover will trap heat and harmful gasses and not allow it to escape. A lid is also a pain to keep clean as you will have to wipe it frequently (lots of salt creep) otherwise the buildup will dramatically reduce light.

So why are you wanting to put a lid on it? If you want to keep critters from jumping out there are other approaches, like building a mesh net cover.

It is funny though, some people like to put lids on their tanks to reduce the amount of evaporation, which works great for that, but that evaporation is what's helping to keep your tank cool.

Anyway, that's my take on it, others may disagree :biggrin:

If you decide on a lid, go glass.

It will let more of the light spectrum in, and easier to clean.

Ken - BWA

everyone is telling me to get a lid because of the evap and jumping fish

If I had the glass top on my tank that came with it I'm sure my temps would be in the 85+ range rather than the solid 79 I have with evaporation. Of course evaporation might be nicer with a 34g rather than a 180.

If you must have a lid and you have halides i think you have no choice but to use glass. Won't those bulbs melt/crack the acrylic much like they can do to bracing?

In regards to jumping fish...what do they place under circus performers just in case. Glass, acrylic or netting? And why? Lol...there's your answer. Be nice to those jumper!

Ya, this is another one of those cases where the individual hobbyist has to weight the pros and cons and decide for themselves which route to take. A lid will definitely cut down on evap and keep your fish inside your tank, but at a cost (or several costs).

Acrylic can sag when you use it as a lid. I tried it and that's what it did. Looked bad and always had to be cleaned.

If you're into making things you can go to RONA or Home Depot and pickup a framing kit that's used to make screens for doors and windows. Instead of using a wire screen go and get some bird netting and use that instead. Real easy to build and not expensive.

It's nice to be able to feed the fish without having to take off the lids and there are no shadows that I can see from the netting.

I know some have been able to purchase the clear stuff as opposed to the black bird stuff. I'm just winging it right now but after my first jumper I plan to build some sort of mesh and source some of that clear stuff.

Yea i saw the clear stuff after I already made mine but it doesn't seem to make a difference in how the light penetrates though. Mostly cosmetic as far as what you like the top of the tank to look like.

My vote is for a DIY mesh top, easy to do keeps the fish in and allows for evaporation to keep the tank cool and no constant cleaning needed.

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