# Will New Glass Canopy Suffocate My Fish?



## MrWynO14 (Jun 6, 2009)

I just bought a new glass canopy for my 135 gallon, and I don't have an air pump. I don't have a hang on back filter either, it's a canister. Basically, none of the water in the tank gets any contact with the outside air. I've read about surface agitation and how an air pump helps exchange carbon dioxide with oxygen, and I've come to the conclusion that I'm slowly killing my fish. I put the glass canopy on last night, and when I woke up and looked at my fish today, it seemed as if they were breathing a bit harder than normal, but I'm not sure. So.....is this suffocating my fish?


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Only if there if the water is ALL THE WAY up. If there is a gap, such as only filling the tank up the bottom of the trim, there is no need to worry. I have glass tops on all of my tanks and no air pumps on any of them, with canisters on many of them.

Glass tops are far superior to the plastic hoods.


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## MrWynO14 (Jun 6, 2009)

I agree, glass hoods are way better than plastic hoods. They look more sleek, and do a great job with evaporation, which should keep my wood in good condition on my wood canopy I will be putting over it. Thanks for the 411 on the air gap. Any body else have any more input out there?


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## tanker (Mar 13, 2010)

I have glass lids on my 250-litre (with a timber canopy over the top of that). Aside from what jaysee said, my lids do not cover everything and therefore are not airtight - there's a little bit cut out of each back corner where the tubing from my canister filter and the cord from my heater and airpump (yes, I know I'm not supposed to have one ) go through. Lots of people have them so they definitely don't smother any fish.


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## MrWynO14 (Jun 6, 2009)

I like what I'm reading. I've have canopy tops before, but never without an air pump.


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## tanker (Mar 13, 2010)

Byron told me not to have an airpump with plants, but when I looked at my 250-litre, it looked stagnant. It made me uncomfortable looking at it so I put an airpump up the other end. To me it looks "right" and I don't feel like holding my breath when I look at the tank. I haven't put an airpump in my new 165-litre because that looks "right" without it. As far as the plants are concerned, the water sprite in my 250-litre has gone absolutely mental and I'm going to have to pull some or all of it out. The other plants are holding their own, nothing has died on me, so I'm not concerned about having the airpump in there. I may have done the "wrong" thing, but I'm comfortable with it. The fish seem ok, my plants are alive, the water parameters are good, so.... shrug.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Good filtration negates the need for air pumps.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

tanker said:


> Byron told me not to have an airpump with plants, but when I looked at my 250-litre, it looked stagnant. It made me uncomfortable looking at it so I put an airpump up the other end. To me it looks "right" and I don't feel like holding my breath when I look at the tank. I haven't put an airpump in my new 165-litre because that looks "right" without it. As far as the plants are concerned, the water sprite in my 250-litre has gone absolutely mental and I'm going to have to pull some or all of it out. The other plants are holding their own, nothing has died on me, so I'm not concerned about having the airpump in there. I may have done the "wrong" thing, but I'm comfortable with it. The fish seem ok, my plants are alive, the water parameters are good, so.... shrug.


There really is no right or wrong. The quite delicate natural balance in a planted tank has many factors and each aquarium is somewhat different. As long as you achieve a relative balance between light and nutrients, it will be fine. All of the "suggestions" we toss around are intended to help guide those basically new to planted tanks; so many have them fail, and give up, so it makes sense to recommend things that are less likely to contribute to failure. As we each progress with experience and success we learn how to fine tune.

As for fish suffocating, this is highly unlikely unless the tank is overstocked, something gets in the water, the bacteria die off in the substrate...basically some disaster has to occur. There is more oxygen and CO2 in a healthy tank than you would imagine.

Byron.


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

If fish are short on O2 they will gasp at the surface, so its not hard to tell if you have proper dissolved O2 levels or not. A lot of fish can be fine is completely stagnant water.


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