Need ideas! More light, but no carpet surfing.

[Jayreefer]

On my 140 I have a 72" coralife advanced pro and I want to get better light penetration into the tank, but don't want fish to jump out. I have lost to many fish to carpet surfing.

Currently I have the 1/2" plastic grate covering the tank, but it blocks out soooo much light. I am looking for other ideas. I saw a post a few months back about a screen mesh that had 1/2" openings and was made out of somthing similar to fishing line. Does any one know if it can be found locally.
Thanks.

[rljlll]

you could do like philw and string fishline around some small pvc

[sir_dudeguy]

you could make a canopy that has open sides for ventilation...thats what i did...i still havent painted mine, and i still need to put eggcrate on the open sides so the fish dont jump out...but my temp hasnt been affected at all by the canopy...it still gets the exact same airflow as it did (i've always had a fan right next to the tank on a shelf). Maybe you could try that? i'll take some pics of it if you'd like.

i didnt do the best job building it, but it functions, nonetheless (i got it so that my fish wouldnt jump..it was just open before) and it was really cheap. I'm sure that if you have any skills w/woodworking (which i dont) then you could make one really nice, but still have the same basic thing.

[sir_dudeguy]

i also tried eggcrate over my tank, but it blocked too much of my light too.

[grenaria]

Are you using the reflective eggcrate? Anthony Calfo says that it actually increases the light penetration for MH bulbs by focusing it downwards.

[Philwd]

It only does for MH directly above the openings. If you are counting on a wide spread from your MH the eggcrate blocks the light. As Roy has seen I stretched fishing line over 1/4" pvc frame and made my own fish cover that doesn't block light. One fish did manage to jump( I had somehow moved the fish line over leaving a 1/2" gap that the linneatus found exactly) but it has stopped at least 10 other attempts I know of.

[vanmle]

Did you guys use fishing line or fishing net?

[cerreta]

Not sure how your canopy is built, but if you have an open back then just put eggcrate there. This will enclose the canopy for security but allows for ventilation. Let the fish jump all they want in an enclosed canopy and they will just flop thier way back into the tank if they get stuck on the divider.

I'll see if I can find a pic of this.

[joeyf]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you have other problems than lighting if your fish are jumping as often as it sounds.

I have only lost one fish to carpet surfing to my knowledge, and it was a yellow tang of all things and I spooked it with a magfloat by accident (found it behind the tank the next day).

I have all kinds of "known jumpers" in my tank, like firefish, a sixline, and clowns are often known to jump, and no one has jumped yet. My tank is open top BTW, with no canopy. The only thing that I have over it is a temporary hood about the same size as your standard coralife of current usa fixture that holds my T5 retro kit.

If you find out what is spooking them or bullying them out of the tank fix that and you shouldn't have to worry about covering the tank.

[Jayreefer]

Thanks for the ideas.

No canopy.

[Jayreefer]

I have lost a fairy wrasse, anthias, and a jaw fish to jumping over the past year. Also, I think that 1 lost fish is wat to many.

[cerreta]

Here is a pic. Obviously this won't work unless you have an open-back canopy.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i126/sdcerreta/TankSwitchin4Days168.jpg

[cerreta]

If you find out what is spooking them or bullying them out of the tank fix that and you shouldn't have to worry about covering the tank.

You obviously don't have any cats!:lol:

I wanted to get rid of the five felines we have, but Katherine vetoed that one!:rolleyes:

The safest way to assure fish won't escape is to enclose or protect the top of the tank so no one leaves.

I don't think it is possible to curb all tank bullys and freak accidents.Fish are like little kids, it is sometimes best to protect them from hurting themselves.

[Philwd]

Joey,
Fairy wrasses and fire fish are notorious for getting spooked. My lineatus jumped because I walked up to the tank when only 1 light was on and I surprised him. I just didn't find him in time.:(

[chetm2]

Jayreefer - Check with Fliger, he was using the mesh.

[joeyf]

I've had 4 fairy wrasses in my tank at one point along with a mystery wrasse (I went through a wrasse phase) and again, open top. No casualties. I removed my wrasses cause they liked peppermint shrimp a little too much and I was having aiptasia issues.

I now have 3 firefish as I stated, and yes they are easily spooked, but since they don't have any mean fish to worry about, they can hide wherever is most convenient.

As for cats, yes I actually had 2 when I had all of the wrasses, one passed away from cancer last year, and the other was my sisters, so when she moved out she took it with, and both loved to watch the fish, although the dog liked chasing them more :). Get some of that spray stuff for the perimeter of the tank to repel them. :D

[clkwrk]

My .02 ........... I have 10 wrasses in my 180 and have only had 1 jump in the last year or so . Something is spooking them or they just want out of dodge.

My tanks are open and I have cats ,birds,kids,dogs ect.