Covering our tank

[demodiki]

We are finally ready for some livestock, and we're very excited! Actually, we bought our first baby last weekend - a little emerald crab known as Jacques :wub He's so cool!!

But anyway, we have a 55 gallon tank that we bought at the pet store. It has a crossbar in the middle of the top and two separate covers that each have a light in them, an opening in the back to make room for our HOB filter and PH and heater cords etc, and a hatch in the front that opens for feeding. Pretty typical store-bought fish tank. However, we have a Berlin Airlift protein skimmer that is too big to fit in the opening at the back of the covers, so it is in the front on one side, and that hatch has to stay open to accommodate it. Our problem is we're afraid of our new fishies and inverts becoming escape artists either through the huge open area in the front or the smaller ones in the back. We plan to build a canopy (or have someone help us :D ) before too long, but it's not going to happen right this second. But we are having a heck of a time figuring out what to do to keep our guys in the tank. We went to Lowe's today and checked out screening, but we couldn't figure out how we would make that work.

Does anyone have any ideas for us? Thanks so much!

Melissa (& Danny)

[Reef69]

I would drill it and add a sump.

[GaryP]

Melissa,

There are a couple problems with those glass covers.

1. They absorb a fair amount of the light produced by those expensive lights we run.

2. They are hard to keep clean and that goes back to #1

3. They reduce evaporation and this reduce cooling. The next thing you know you have a temp. problem.

I have hoods on my tanks but I have still lost fish through the open back that is open for cooling reasons. I suppose I could put some screen there. Some fish are more likely to be jumpers than others and you need to evaluate the fish you introduce to your tank based on that. For example, hawkfish are notorious jumpers.

[demodiki]

I'm not sure we're on the same page, Gary - I'm going to try to post some pics in a little while of the top so you can see what I mean.

Even if we go with what are hopefully non-jumpy fish, I thought we'd heard that our inverts may try to escape, too. Now, after a few days with Jacques, I think he's a big fraidy cat and isn't going climbing up the tank walls. He is perfectly happy in the same little nook between two rocks all day, and only goes about an inch away from his nook at night! haha.. But I would be heart broken if I came home from work to find one of our monsters jumped ship.

Oh, and the whole drilling and sump thing isn't going to happen. I don't think our tank can be drilled, and besides that we are brand spankin' new to this hobby. We wouldn't know what the heck we were doing. We're trying to stick to simple till we're more experienced. :)

[GaryP]

An emerald carb is perfectly happy in the LR. Some fish and perhaps one species of snail are all I can think of coming out of the tank.

Eventually it happens to everyone. I even had a clown jump through a cooling fan when it was turned off at night.

[Reef69]

Oh, and the whole drilling and sump thing isn't going to happen. I don't think our tank can be drilled, and besides that we are brand spankin' new to this hobby. We wouldn't know what the heck we were doing. We're trying to stick to simple till we're more experienced. :)

Its easier, and much cleaner having all your gadgets in the sump rather than hanging in the back of your tank, believe me, you will drill it later..

[demodiki]

So do you think I should just not really worry about it for now then? I can't seem to get pics hosted so I can post them. Pain in the butt! haha...

And Reef69, I'm sure we'll be doing all the whiz-bang stuff eventually. Like we decided that we're doing a FOWLR tank, but I'm sure that will only last so long. Corals are so beautiful - I don't see us going forever without adding them to the tank as well, but we are trying to take things slow. We don't want any major disasters if we can help it! :)

[GaryP]

If you are worried about it I would leave the back of the hood open but staple some nylon screen mesh to it. The only thing I would worry about is salt creep building up on the mesh. As long as you can remove the hood and clean it, or maybe just use velcro so you can remove the mesh and rinse it, it would probably be OK.

Having critter going into the overflows is usually a bigger problem in my experience.

[Reef69]

Having critter going into the overflows is usually a bigger problem in my experience.

You are right, I find my firefish in the sump quite often..LOL

[CD]

Melissa - So far, the only time any of our fish have jumped is at night. We are using eggcrate to cover the tank (with sections cut for the overflow box, etc.) after we go to sleep. Still lets air in to allow evap. cooling to take place, and keeps all but the smallest of fish in the tank where they belong. Anyway, the egg crate would probably work as a night cover. It's very easily cut to form fit to your tank and hanging accesories. As any other type of covering (glass, screen, etc.) it *will* deplete a large percentage of the light that goes into your tank if you leave it on during the daytime, so if you are planning on corals, you would want to take it off during the day. As hard as you try, you probably will have a fish jump at some time or another over the course of time. Even if you have a hood that is tight as a dolphin's butt, a fish could still wind up on the center brace, or someplace else (overflows, etc) that you don't want it to be. As far as inverts getting out - I really wouldn't worry about that too much...we've had tanks for years, and have never had an invert try to escape. I'd have to see a pic of your tank to be sure, but it sounds as if you could suspend your lights from the ceiling to get them off the tank (it sounds as if they are sitting on the glass covers?). Pics of your set up would really help though. ;)

Wendy

[NaCl_H2O]

Melissa, if I read your post correctly, you have a plain vanilla cover, maybe something like the one below?

If you are going FOWLR in a 55 (18" deep, right?), you need to make sure you have good flourescent lights in that hood (50/50 type). This will give you some limited coralin algae growth on your LR, but in 6-9 months these types of lights will degrade and need to be replaced to keep undesirable algae from growing. If I'm right on your lighting, you don't need to be too concerned about heat and evaporation due to the tight fitting cover - but you will need to deal with saltcreep and probably weekly cleanings to keep the glass panels under the lights clean.

Starting out simple (and less expensive!) is fine, you will learn a ton from your first tank! This setup won't support corals, well maybe a zoa or two up high closer to the lights.

Your airlift skimmer is gonna be a challenge to place through this type of hood. CD's eggcrate idea might work, but some clever cutting and fitting will be needed - buy lots more than you ned so you can make a few mistakes.

Is there any chance that the skimmer would fit in the back of the HOB filter? Or are you mechanically talented enough to add on a chamber to the HOB to house the skimmer? That would be tricky, and you would ned to push water from the HOB to the skimmer chamber and back again.

Hope this is helpful ... not meant to be confusing.

Good luck, and enjoy your first SW tank!