High Tide Aquatics

Lids totally ruin rimless tanks

kinetic

kinetic

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I love the look of rimless tanks (ever since my ELOS 120 back in the day). But with my Reefer 170, I have a lid. It totally destroys the esthetics relative to an open top rimless tank. Is it even worth getting rimless if we're all just putting a mesh lid on it? I used to just deal with a few fish who jumped, but it seems awful so I started using a lid.

Anyone keep their tanks open top?
 
I do. I bought the redsea diy mesh kit and it’s still new in the box. Hate the mesh look and hassle to remove . I have not had any carpet surfer yet.
 
I keep mine open top but it really limits my stocking options. I really dislike mesh lids and I also am not happy about not having one. I’m pretty conflicted about it.

Anyone who doesn’t have strong feelings against having a lid probably should have a lid, but then I don’t know why you’d get a rimless tank in the first place. I suspect basically everyone who buys a rimless tank is not planning to get a lid (probably many just haven’t thought about it).
 
I hate how lids look in pictures. Especially the ones with giant 3in acrylic borders. However, once I lost a clown I'd really liked from jumping I built one.

With it on the tank, I don't notice it at all, and kind of like the look. Definitely needs to be one that sits recessed into the tank versus on top though.
 
Reefer 350- mesh lid. Not a fan but I have zero trust in fish not jumping, even if they’re not normally known to do so. I’ve heard them hit my lid before at random points of the night. Also had a Firefish get out even with the lid, but I think I’ve fixed that problem since then.

Honestly, it seems like rimless tanks are just making a huge portion of the sellers market. I knew id have a lid when stocking the tank so buying rimless was not a selling point at all to me, and honestly would rather not go that route to pay extra for something I don’t need, but it just seems that’s where majority of the supply is. At least when I was looking/what else I was looking for.
 
Go eurobraced with a recessed screen.
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Personally I don't like rimless tanks. Structurally I think bigger rimless tanks are sketchy. And even on small ones it's too easy to spill water out of the tank. Working in my IM25 lagoon I'm constantly splashing water over the side.
 
When I had my ELOS 120, I had no fish jump (clowns, firefish, anthias, chromis), but in my Reefer 170, I had one fish perish from a jump and I actually witnessed in time one of my clowns jump and saved him. I think the size of the 120 and lots of rockwork helped, but yes, I didn't risk it anymore and got a lid.

For photos I'll remove the mesh lid, but overnight and when I'm not around, it feels so much better to have it on.
 
For me I keep lids on when I'm not around the tanks. I usually make my lids to sit flush inside the glass so it doesnt look as bad when they're on.
 
I do use lid mesh for my red sea 350
And none for my nano.
Lids are for my little ones!
Without it, it’s a game on.
As the old saying goes “when the cats are away, the mouse will play!” Hahaha
 
Never used lids, but then again I also researched which fish were "jumpers" and never got them (well almost never), I will say I always did typically keep a low fish count compared to most for similar size so that may have had something to do with it.

That said, yes rimless/lidless looks nice BUT the reflection off the top of the water (especially if it is in any way turbulent) is going to make viewing into the tank from the top iffy at best unless you turn all the pumps off in which case who cares about a lid. I had used a 300g stock tank (roughly 6 foot by 5foot oval shape) and I loved looking down on it... that is until I upped the flow rate up and there were too many ripples in the surface then it wasn't even really viewable unless a blurry yellow shape swimming by (yellow tang) is your idea of "looking nice"
 
I had so many fish jump out of rimless, even stuff that doesn't typically jump like hawks and clowns.

I think eurobrace is a good compromise. They usually get spooked, run into the glass and then up so they'll hit the brace rather than flying out.
 
sfsuphysics said:
Never used lids, but then again I also researched which fish were "jumpers" and never got them (well almost never), I will say I always did typically keep a low fish count compared to most for similar size so that may have had something to do with it.

That said, yes rimless/lidless looks nice BUT the reflection off the top of the water (especially if it is in any way turbulent) is going to make viewing into the tank from the top iffy at best unless you turn all the pumps off in which case who cares about a lid. I had used a 300g stock tank (roughly 6 foot by 5foot oval shape) and I loved looking down on it... that is until I upped the flow rate up and there were too many ripples in the surface then it wasn't even really viewable unless a blurry yellow shape swimming by (yellow tang) is your idea of "looking nice"
Click to expand...

I see my tank like an art piece in the room, almost more than actually just looking at what's in it. This is probably a different perspective than others, so my definition of "looking nice" is almost purely just looking at the tank in the room. I really love that open top, rippling water look. And of course it's impossible to see down into it from the top, but the tank+water itself is beautiful if done right.

At times I feel like I'm more about the tank itself than the animals inside. Don't get me wrong, I love the animals, but the tank has to look awesome.
 
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