Need To Make A Lid To Stop Fish Jumping Out?

[craigybaby37]

Not that i have had any fish jump out the tank yet (touch wood) ide just rather be safe than sorry. Ill prob go ahead and use egg crate however ime a little concerned about using it as will it cause a grid shaped shadow everywhere?? or because the light is coming through at so many angles will there be no shadows??

 

[Crazy fishes]

What lighting do you have? I have seen numerous examples of egg crate lids even on SPS tanks. If an SPS tank can flourish with an egg crate lid then I don't see how you can fail.

Regards

 

[SkiFletch]

Egg crate cuts lighting by a mere ~5-10% which is barely significant. You will not however notice shadows from it, so go ahead and use it. There's a reason lots of hobbiests use it to keep fish in the tank

 

[Colin_T]

get some glass. It will stop or limit evaporation too.

 

[SkiFletch]

I can't reccomend glass. Especially in the summertime when you NEED evaporation to keep the tank cool. Also greatly increases your chances of CO2 buildup and the resulting pH roller coaster...

 

[craigybaby37]

thanks for the adivse ive ordered some black egg crate from ebay for £14 for 2 sheets 30" x 14" so wont need to cut them down much.

The light i may lose ill get back for sure when i get round to putting the individual reflectors on the 4 T5 bulbs in the luminaire

 

[Colin_T]

If you don't want to cover the entire tank with glass just cover the edges. Fish normally jump out over the sides of the tank. A 6 inch strip of glass around the edges will prevent most fish getting out, and still allow plenty of air movement above the tank.

 

[Hobbit]

how would you get that to stay though? Kind of like a rectanguar doughnut?
Having that made probably cost more than its worth

 

[Colin_T]

You just need a coverglass and cut it in half. Then it sits on the support strips but doesn't cover all the top. Instead of covering the entire surface from the outer edge to the middle support strap, it only goes from the outer edge to half way between the edge and the middle support strap.

 

[craigybaby37]

well the tank has got 2" wide supports straps at the front and back of the tank and then at the sides it has the same width straps only 2" in from the sides to allow for equipment pipes etc etc.

the right side of the tank has got a fair few pipes an stuff on it so wont need to worry about anything jumping out of there (unless they jump out perfectly to go through a 1/2" gap but theres not a lot i can do about that.

And the left side only has 1 pipe for external filter an 2 cables for powerhead and heater so gunna make up something with the eggcrate to cover the gap.

 

[chris348]

Has anyone got any pics of the final product for this? Or possibly the ebay reference. It is something i have been looking into but was overly worried about the Co2 issue, as my PH is constant at 7.8

 

[Colin_T]

if you have a marine tank with a PH of 7.8 you need to buffer it up towards 8.4.

 

[chris348]

Any advice on how to buffer the water up, without harming the tanks current residents, seeing as they are all happy?

 

[Colin_T]

sodium bicarb (baking soda)
add a teaspoon of bicarb to a glass of water and stir it until dissolved. Then add a small amount of the liquid to the tank throughout the day. Do that each day until the PH goes back up.

***NB, you only want to raise the PH by 0.2 per day***
Take it from 7.8 to 8.0 one day, then 8.2 the next, and then to 8.4 the following day.

 

[chris348]

sodium bicarb (baking soda)
add a teaspoon of bicarb to a glass of water and stir it until dissolved. Then add a small amount of the liquid to the tank throughout the day. Do that each day until the PH goes back up.

***NB, you only want to raise the PH by 0.2 per day***
Take it from 7.8 to 8.0 one day, then 8.2 the next, and then to 8.4 the following day.

Thanks Colin,

My only reservation is the fact that the water has never been below 7.8, so if i were to add S - B wouldnt the water return to its usual level ?