Building a wrasse protective device

[rbonick]

Don't use egg crate. I have the top of my aquarium completely covered and still have lost several expensive fairy wrasses. They still seem to be able to squeeze throught the holes. So far I've lost 2 lineatus and 2 labouti.

[dhoch]

Chip, (and everyon else)

 

Here is a diagram of what I'm trying to do:

 

 

My tank (acrylic) has two openings cut in the top as seen in the top part of the above image. My lights are fairly close (3-4" above the top). The idea is to build a fence that pretty much comes up to the lights around each of these openings.

 

My construction plan is to use 1/4" square dowling as the frame and fiberglass screen as my mesh to make my fence.

 

This will allow air to pass thorugh and to hopefully bounce any jumpers back into the tank...

 

Thoughts (now that I have provided a picture).

 

Dave

[ErikS]

Thoughts (now that I have provided a picture).

I see nothing wrong with the design, but why not just a flat (horizontal) cover? (just curious)

[dhoch]

Erik,

 

I tested that design in a number of configurations and here is my concern:

 

1) solid configuration (original acrylic covers) not enough gas exchange, not enough evaporative cooling, and salt creep = blocking of light

 

2) gap configuration (some kind of mesh) this solves the gash exchange/evaportaive cooling. I tried with deer mesh and egg crate... egg crate blocked too much light (I think I put the numbers in this reply somewhere), the deer mesh while it didn't block that much was just too porus and I was concerned about fish making it through.

 

Dave

[davelin315]

I'm still not sold on the idea of a fence around the openings. I would think that the wood would warp and that you'd run the danger of the whole contraption falling into the tank at some point in time. Also, I would think that with the heat and humidity in there, even if it didn't warp enough to fall into the tank, it certainly could warp enough where the whole thing simply falls into the tank.

 

If you're sold on this, why not take a tap and die set and put some acrylic rods directly into the top of the tank as fence posts and then use these as fence posts for the screen you're talking about? Also, I would think that your lights (I don't know that much about T5s) might generate enough heat to melt the screen or make it brittle enough to fall apart. As an alternative, how about basically taking some glass or acrylic and notching it like an overflow and using that as fence material? That way you don't lose the air exchange and I would think that from the little I do know of T5s, you won't lose any light since they are not a point source or whatever the term is light source (I have no idea what the light is called, only that it's the reason you don't get shimmer and that you get better overall coverage with no shady spots with T5s).

 

Overall, I'm still not sold on a fence, though, as I think it poses a danger to the fish by itself. I am assuming that the fish have jumped out before and made it back in, but since they are powerful leapers I would think that a well placed jump would put them over the fence and into an area where they have no chance of making it back in to the tank.

[flowerseller]

Pond cover mesh material is 1/4x1/4 and thread thin.

It might be a better mesh material choice than what was used in the link Dan posted.

An easily removeable section for each opening would likely solve Dave's issue in a jiffy.