Hobbyists sometimes choose to keep a cover on their aquarium for various reasons. Often times it is to help with evaporation control, or to keep fish from jumping outside of the aquarium. There can however be disadvantages to having a covered aquarium, such as overheating.

In the interest of helping others decide, please vote in the poll and share your experiences and solutions in this topic.

My params love it topless

Well I have a canopy, it's 8" high so I would consider it open top.

No, but I will be making a mesh/net cover soon.

Open with a Sunpod... Love it!

No, I do have a screen cover but until I get a fish that'll jump I'm keeping it off.

All my tanks are open top.

closed, I only top it off once a week or once every two weeks.

Not sure how to vote here....

Running four tanks right now

1- AIO covered
1- mesh screen covered
1- well, mostly covered by the light fixture LOL
1- open

So, once again, I am of no help here whatsoever.

IMO it really depends on: the set up, lighting, cooling, inhabitants etc.

covered so that my fish don't go carpet surfing... again

I have lost two fish to carpet surfing, so I made this cover from bird netting to keep everyone in the tank.

Very easy to fabricate from window screen frame you can buy at HD or Lowes.

Click to view attachment

I decided to go with an AIO with the stock hood to prevent my 5 yr old from introducing toys into the reef and to prevent the cat from "overeating".

I like my tanks like I like my women.

glass top. dramatic reduction in evaporation and no jumping issues (have a jawfish). Central air keeps tank below 82 degrees. NO fans or controller for temp control

I'm finshing my new top now. Acrylic covers te skimmer and back chambers, then there's glass in the middle and egg crate and mesh around the edges. Extra complicated but it works nicely.

have the jbj HQI hood. Love the all-in-one look, plus there is no light leakage into the room.

+1

I have 4 pieces of glass covering my tank, mainly to minimize evaporation (which would make my salinity bounce around like Pam Anderson's jubblies). Also, I have a Purple Firefish now and they are known to be jumpers... I want to build a 'tidepool' tank one day though, completely open air but not viewable from any of the sides, only the top.

... Kind of. I use egg crate to create a fish guard, but I also have a hole in the middle to not block any of the halide. Works great and I haven't had a jumper since I put the egg crate on. (lost two clowns and a bicolor blenny to jumping before hand)

I like to keep it closed on most tanks as to much evaporation

i like this picture

Mine is enclosed for now (BC8) but my new tank will be open top, at least in the beginning. I may add a net-type top later depending on what fish I add.

I use a screen/mesh in the summer and a glass lid in the winter. I voted for mesh because that's what I'm using right now.

i have a partial top it only covers the edges so i don't have any escape artist. but the middle is left open for less light blockage.

Lid down since my tank is next to my cat's litter box. It gets pretty dusty pretty quickly.

This is a pretty nice top. I've lost a few treasured fish the same way, especially jawfish. In fact, I stopped after the 2nd jaw decided to kill himself.
How did you build the frame?

glass top over a picoaquarium barracuda.

I have a glass top, but use it only when I leave for the weekend or longer to help control evaporation. When I can tend to the tank daily it's east to top-off and I don't need the cover to stop evaporation. Plus, there is no chance it is blocking light while it's not in use.