Preferred water level height

[robroy]

Might be a dumb question but why is it I notice on so many set-ups on here that the water level is often 2-3" lower than the top of tank?

Is it to stop certain species jumping out hitting the cover (like Polpyterus, Arowana).

I'm curious as I'm just setting up a 180G and it'll have Polys and Florida Gar but have never considered this before

thanks

 

[freak78]

Drives me nuts too. I keep mine filled to the top.

 

[Drstrangelove]

I personally never wanted the water to so high it would leave slime or salt deposits near the rim where I rarely cleaned. It certainly might help with some species to keep the water level down, but I haven't seen anything empirical on that.

I put it down to evaporation, but I know some people do it intentionally.

 

[tlindsey]

Yes a preference and I have Polypterus in a couple of aquariums.

 

[Jexnell]

One of my pet peeves as well. That glare you get from the light's bouncing of the surface of the water.....

 

[robroy]

thanks for the insight-I'm certain if I did it people would ask why the tank isn't filled up.

But I see why people do it if they fish prone to jumping too