MadSnowman
New Member
would it be ok for me to put a glass top on my tank to keep my eventual fish from jumping out, or would it decrease the amount of light my tank gets?
tank cover question
- Thread starter MadSnowman
- Start date
Either would be fine. Glass will block your light more than acrylic or plexiglass.
The negatives of covering it are:
It will raise the temp of your water quite a bit, and decrease oxygen exchange. If you're running a skimmer or a trickle filter then the O2 exchange isn't really an issue.
The positives of covering it are:
Your fish can't jump out.
You'll have less evaporation. So you won't need to top off as often.
If you're just worried about your fish jumping out, you can always go with some egg-crate. If you don't know what it is, it's the plastic grid material they use with flourescent lighting in office buildings. You can buy it at Home Depot, or Lowes, or most hardware supply stores that have a lighting department. They don't call it egg-crate. It's cheap and easy to cut to shape. Since it's an open grid it won't block the air movement over your tank, so your temp will remain constant.
What kind of fish are you planning on getting that you think will be jumpers? There are only a handful that are known for it.
B
The negatives of covering it are:
It will raise the temp of your water quite a bit, and decrease oxygen exchange. If you're running a skimmer or a trickle filter then the O2 exchange isn't really an issue.
The positives of covering it are:
Your fish can't jump out.
You'll have less evaporation. So you won't need to top off as often.
If you're just worried about your fish jumping out, you can always go with some egg-crate. If you don't know what it is, it's the plastic grid material they use with flourescent lighting in office buildings. You can buy it at Home Depot, or Lowes, or most hardware supply stores that have a lighting department. They don't call it egg-crate. It's cheap and easy to cut to shape. Since it's an open grid it won't block the air movement over your tank, so your temp will remain constant.
What kind of fish are you planning on getting that you think will be jumpers? There are only a handful that are known for it.
B
MadSnowman
New Member
i got a glass top and my tank was done cycling a couple days ago, so I snagged a peppermint shrimp yesterday around say 3pm (had a blue velvet damsel in there i got as a hitchhiker 
. Sadly, something was wrong with my levels, maybe both me and the LFS guy got a false pH reading, the test kits read 8.3, but I checked again later and it was 7.8. Bad times.
My shrimp died yesterday around 5pm and I was dissapointed, probably the bad pH reading.
Got back from classes this evening and my damsel was dead I'm gonna take a water sample to the LFS I work at and have their saltwater person check my levels. I am still doing daily water tests, and water changes every Monday, one so far.
When I make darn sure everything is where it should be, I want a goby and a pistol pair as my main critters besides the eventualy zoos and cleaning crew
. Sadly, something was wrong with my levels, maybe both me and the LFS guy got a false pH reading, the test kits read 8.3, but I checked again later and it was 7.8. Bad times.My shrimp died yesterday around 5pm and I was dissapointed, probably the bad pH reading.
Got back from classes this evening and my damsel was dead
I'm gonna take a water sample to the LFS I work at and have their saltwater person check my levels. I am still doing daily water tests, and water changes every Monday, one so far.When I make darn sure everything is where it should be, I want a goby and a pistol pair as my main critters besides the eventualy zoos and cleaning crew
7.8 isn't that low a PH. Most tanks go through a swing during the evening that can go from 8.2-8.3 to 7.8 or so. This shouldn't have killed your critters by itself.
I'd definitely get someone that knows what they're doing with saltwater tests at the LFS test it. Are you using a dripline to acclimate you critters?
B
I'd definitely get someone that knows what they're doing with saltwater tests at the LFS test it. Are you using a dripline to acclimate you critters?
B
shaggydoo541
New Member
I used to have swings from 7.8 to 8.2 with no noticeable effect on any of my livestock. It would swing like that from every night to day. I now have it at a more stable 8.2 by keeping fuge lights on 24/7 but a swing like you described shouldn't have killed everything off... especially a damsel. Those things could survive a nuclear holocaust :lol: JK not really but they are extremely hardy. I would look at other causes for this problem.
MadSnowman
New Member
yeah, i found the problem. my salinity is way, way too high, so I'm doing a small water change with some RO water to try and bring that down a bit. I'm going to try the drip acclimate when I get my salinity at an apporpiate level and new livestock.
I also have to return my light, the starter is bad and my actinic light only turns on about 5% of the time, and the other 10K light runs fine (twin tube light, no PC but I'm trying to find one)
I also have to return my light, the starter is bad and my actinic light only turns on about 5% of the time, and the other 10K light runs fine (twin tube light, no PC
but I'm trying to find one)aww man, salinity high? How did that happen? A lot of evaporation and you didn't top off with RO? Or hi salinity saltwater to begin with? Well at any rate, I'm glad you figured out the problem, it's just a shame you didn't find out sooner to have brought it down to save your fishies.
MadSnowman
New Member
yeah, lot of evaporation and I didnt have use RO to top off, big mistake but atleas its a fixable one. I need to get a new hydrometer, the one I have was my dad's when he was 21 and clearly, its none too accurate