Water evaporting during cycling; what should I do (if anything)

Do you have a hood? I would think it could be an issue because your concentrations are increasing as the volume diminishes. Does that make sense? Probably more of a concern with saltwater setups, but it’s got to have some affect with a freshwater setup.

That’s the thing, I’m having a hard time finding a hood/lid that’ll fit the top. I have a weird bit of wood trim ‘round the top. I may have to get someone to cut a piece of glass.

My tank came with a hood, so it helped, especially in Winter when the evaporation was high. It also kept the jumpers in. I learned that the hard way. I think finding a glass shop would be the way to go, so they could customize it. It should open easily and have access for the filters and heater.

You have a regular shaped tank right? (by that I mean rectangular and not a bow) If so you could get a place like home depot to cut you a piece of glass or acrylic that would fit for rather cheap.

As per the evaporation I’ve had a lot of open topped tanks and during cycling I’ve always just topped them off and it’s never been a problem.

It seems implied that the tank does not lose that much water normally.

Hydrolysis occurs when bacteria fix nitrogen ( a water molecule is added to break triple N bonds and this results; H^+ and OH^- ), and this is aside from the two part reaction going on which yields ammonia and hydroxide, plus chloride ions. So, some water ” loss ” is expected here and aside from any evaporation.

Be sure to get tempered glass. You don’t want it to break.

@snowberry I really wouldn’t worry about that unless you planed on drilling it or something. I’ve had quite a few tanks that were not tempered glass and they’ve been fine.

Topped ‘er off. Thanks!