Should I go topless?

[Zzippper]

 
I knew that would get more attention!

The real question is... Should I continue to use my tank lids or not?
What are the pros and cons of using tank lids vs. not using them?

Some cons of going topless:

- risk of fish jumping out
- more evaporation?
- more salt creep?
- err... I'm shy?   

Pros of going topless are:

- tank gets more light
- I like the feeling of the sun on my skin.

.. Anyone else have thoughts and/or experience with this?

Z

[shutterbuggy]

I was told one of the more important advantages to having an open top is that there is much better gas exchange....

[fishboy]

i would use a top for sure. its not worth it, you have to constantly worry about your fish not jumping out. i lost a shrimp and a clown  and a goby in the first 3 weeks.
use a top ! 

[redbelly]

Personally I would never run a glass top on my tank.
If you are worried about fish jumping build a canopy and install fans to reduce the heat that it will trap.

[Nyx]

Our set-up is what redbelly describes. Our 150G aquarium stand is basically built like a large enclosed cupboard so we never use a glass lid and we have strong, quiet but well-concealed fans to remove the heat. The tank gets the full benefit of the lights. On our smaller 45G, we do not have a glass lid and it isn't enclosed in a canopy but we haven't lost a single fish, shrimp, crab, etc. We have a lot of macro-algae growing in that one (no tang) so that may prevent any escapes. We find our tanks do much better without glass lids.

[greddy]

Another consideration would be it you have any other pets (with hair) as I have 2 boxers and when I didn't use glass tops I could see alot of dog hairs in the tank (and I dust and vacuum alot).  I also get less dust, fly's and other bugs floating on my water....Also My longhorn likes to spit water at me when its feeding time, which can be scary cause its so close to the lights.

[RoxyDog]

I use glass tops, but only partially.  I'd rather clean the salt spray/creep off the glass than my light reflectors, and after having a goby jump on me, it wasn't worth it.  If you're worried about gas exchange you can buy clear-ish cross stitch plastic @ Walmart for very cheap and use that to cover your tank, but it's not as pretty.  I use a combination of 3 out of the 4 glass tops and the plastic when I remember to put the plastic on.