Canopy

Question
With your experience in saltwater aquariums do you think that Canopies are worth it or a waste of time and money? Right now my tank is completely open (I have not added anything yet) but it has top nor glass. I am ordering glass to put over the top but I was curious if I made or bought a canopy do they get in the way with tubes for a canister filter and are they a hassle for lighting as well as wires and protein skimmers? Please help me out with this info, I like how canopies look and how they hide everything but I'm wondering if they are too much of a hassle just for some neatness.

Answer
Hey there! I am with you on this one. I like the way canopies look on an aquarium. Glass canopies are okay for a saltwater tank and unless you have pendant metal halides over your tank they are a great way to keep unwanted things out of your tank. Open top systems help with a better exchange of gases at the surface and also make it so all the light goes directly into your tank and is not filtered out by the thickness of the glass or any build up that may form on the glass. On the other hand glass canopies are easy to keep clean and less water will evaporate in your tank with one than without one. As for the filter tubes and cords, having a canopy will not obstruct them. I usually modify my glass canopies a little by removing the middle strip that holds them together so that there is just two pieces of glass sitting on top of my tank. This way I can leave off the front section and only place the back section on or can have them both on. It just gives me a choice. I prefer to have some sort of barrier between the light and the water. There is a lot of salt creep that will collect on your light where a canopy is lacking, and this can be a fire hazard.(I know this first hand!) Some fish are also very prone to jump out of your tank and having a lid on there will prevent this from happening. I highly recommend having a glass canopy on your tank mainly for safety reasons. Also more household dust and debris will fall in your tank with out a lid and some things like aerosol sprays and cleaners can be very toxic to your system, even if you are in another room when spraying them! I do not however recommend the standard plastic lids that would usually be used with a freshwater tank. They are very hard to keep clean and will almost always obstruct some of your filter tubes or skimmer unless you can cut the entire back section off of them.They will also obstruct your light and most saltwater light fixtures won't fit in the little space provided for a light on these lids. They are definitely much more of a hassle than they are worth!