Each day when i look at the top black rim of my tank the water gets father and lower each day, only by very small increments though. Is this because the light is evaporating it or what? Im going to do my weekly water change soon so it'll be back to normal but why does it to do that?

lol not to make fun of you but gezz think haha evaperation lol

They will usually evaporate more in the winter, when the heated air has less humidity, than in the summer, with more humid air.

Tolak

lol, i dunno it could be a leak...

Depends on how much you're losing a day. My 29 gallon will end up going down about 1/2" in a normal week. If your's is dropping an inch or more a week it could be leaking but you would definitely see a wet spot on the floor. It's not a real problem in FW tanks. Just fill it back up when you do water changes. In SW tanks, you have to top it back off everyday to keep the salinity from changing too much since only the water evaporates and the salt stays in the tank.

The better sealed your tank is the less water you will lose to evaporation. If you're super bothered by this get a really tight fitting glass top and just cut the backing to fit your filter and heater perfectly. But it is nothing to worry about. Just make sure you remove water when you do a water change- never just "top it up" (unless you're a pro and are in a specific situation where thats appropriate) but as a general rule, always remove X amount of water and replace X amount of water. If you've lost 2" of water, you'll want to remove 6 and add 8 so your water level is always to the black frame of your tank. Know what I mean? You already get it I think.

This post has been edited by spanishguy111: Sep 18 2005, 06:19 AM

What kind of filtration system do you have? I have the "waterfall" type on 2 of my tanks, and lose more water daily on those than on the one with the undergravel system. Good luck!

Unless you have an air pump do not cover the tank too much or you will not get any oxygen in your water. Evaporation should not be too much of a concern as mentioned before just top it off when you do your water changes. If you have an internal filter/pump you may have to add a little water every few days to keep the filter from causing too much splashing.

You can top it off, as long as you are still keeping to your regular water change schedule. In the winter I loose nearly 1/2 a gallon daily in my 65 due to evaporation. I top it off every couple of days, I keep gallons of dechlored water next to the tank. I've let it go down between weekly water changes, the hob gets noisy, and you can start to see the surface of the water beneath the frame.

Tighter lids are the trick, I've tried seeing how much difference 2 10 gallon tanks evaporate, 1 with no top, 1 with a good tight fitting lid. The one with no top looses more than twice as much water to evaporation in a week.

Tolak

Ya, my whipser is really loud right now, like a water fall. Thanks for all the replies, i just wanted to make sure it was normal