bah humbug

coralreefer

coralreefer

No Pistons
Santa brought a beautiful pick fairy wrasse Christmas Eve. Fat, sassy and eating like a pig.
Looked for her Christmas afternoon to show a friend...no fish, strange since she was very much "out and about" every time I looked at the tank. Figured she was back in the rock but something made me raise the hood. Sure enough in the middle of the center brace was $40.00 worth of fish jerky :furious: :furious:
Had the poor thing 29 hours. :sad1:

Sooo other than completely covering the tank with eggcrate any creative suggestions for blocking off an Oceanic center brace?
Three sides of the tank are enclosed by the hood and the back is covered with gutter guard so I only need something to fish proof the brace.
Ideas?
 
Could you make some type of pyramid out of plexiglass or glass so that if a fish did jump up there it would just slide back down into the tank? Just a thought.
 
Bruce
The problem is the brace is a 17" long piece of glass. She was directly under the center halide. :rolleyes:
I'm thinking maybe put eggcrate, or gutter guard about 6" high to box it off. Just not sure how to secure it.
I really don't want to cover the tank with eggcrate if I can help it. I'm not worried about blocking enough light to matter but it's a pita to move every time you get in the tank.
 
Amy could you use some of those plastic zip ties, and go through the eggcrate and around the brace, through the other eggcrate and then zip it tight.
 
I know my hours of browsing would come in handy one day!!!

This wasnt the orginal thread I had read months ago, but this is the same idea. The info might be included in this thread, I didnt read it all the way through... But in the original thread, the guy said that it didnt block any light, & the mesh was thin & did not retain heat.
 
I would say build a frame or frames that would fit down in the lip like a tank lid does and attach some type of clear mesh to it.
 
Chuck that's what we're going try. Build a 1x2 frame to sit on the brace, remember this is a foot and a half long glass brace, then attach gutter guard or egg crate.
If that doesn't work Mary's idea would take a heck of a lot of zip ties but it could work.
Travis I think they were using something like needle point mesh. I'm not concerned about blocking light but it's a pain to move a cover every time you need in the tank.
Thanks guys.
 
Matt turned me on to egg crate. Honestly, it does not block any light. I use two sections for the front and back of a 90 and a 75, so it's easy to remove at feeding time.
Sorry, but you will not be able to keep any fairy wrasse without a tight cover. I wish I could get one for $40. I've bought several, all cost more. Love them, though.
I HATE Oceanic aquarium center braces, at least the old ones made of glass. I don't maintain any new ones.
It would be easy to cut the egg crate into sections for your 220. Like I said, it's pretty much a must for fairy wrasses and many other fish, like dartfish, etc.
 
Yeah, it would have helped had I put the link in that message.... Probably would have made some more sense...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=888670

The pic & description sounds like it would be a really nice end product, that is easy to move out of the way. The post says the stuff can be found at Lowes, the only thing that maybe of concern would be the aluminum corroding, but I am not sure how wet they would actually get, & how much of a concern it would be. Looks like you pretty much had the same sort of idea, just with eggcrate instead of the mesh.
 
I just read that thread. Old farts like me fear aluminum like the plague. Way back when, we learned (the hard way) aluminum was bad news for aquarium life. Aluminum is light-weight, strong and non-corrosive, and was thought to be just the thing for aquariums in my youth. Until our pets began to die....
Plastic egg crate has no down side.
Feel free to repeat the mistakes of my generation at your peril.
(Insert evil laugh here.)
 
Thx for the tip!

What happens to it? Does it just corrode & drop crap into the water? I was thinking of getting thin pieces of PVC & stretching then gluing the material over a frame of that. It wouldnt look as nice as that guys, but it would keep livestock from taking the plunge.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8831360#post8831360 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WVfishguy
Matt turned me on to egg crate. Honestly, it does not block any light. I use two sections for the front and back of a 90 and a 75, so it's easy to remove at feeding time.
Sorry, but you will not be able to keep any fairy wrasse without a tight cover. I wish I could get one for $40. I've bought several, all cost more. Love them, though.
I HATE Oceanic aquarium center braces, at least the old ones made of glass. I don't maintain any new ones.
It would be easy to cut the egg crate into sections for your 220. Like I said, it's pretty much a must for fairy wrasses and many other fish, like dartfish, etc.
Click to expand...
It's an "old" 1998 Oceanic and I HATE the center brace on it. Love the extra foot in length though.

Three sides of the tank are jump proof and the back is enclosed already since I've kept dart fish and wrasses before just never fish-proofed the brace. I should have known better because I lost a wheeler's goby to it several years ago...one of my all time favorite fish.
I used egg crate on my old 75 and in the summer on the 20 just seemed like it was always in the way. I'll have to get a full sheet anyway so I might give it a try again since I could put it on the center brace when I'm in the tank :lol:
I know it was a great price for the wrasse that's one reason I bought it. He gets some in the $30-40 range sometimes especially this time of year. They are awesome fish but not cheap for sure.
btw it was a pink fairy not a "pick" darn spell check should have know what I meant.
 
Thats ironic, Terry and I were debating fairy wrasse jumping earlier today, and I was on the no jumper side of the fence, but after he left I remembered the one that jumped into my overflow and drained into my sump, he lived though. Then I get on here and read this......sorry Amy, after you get your top fixed up, stop in and I'll fix you up the best I can. OMG, I guess its gonna come out now.....Terry, you were right!
 
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