The Puffer Forum

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hot weather... want an open topped tank....

my brackish puffs jump so i keep thei lid down...... but any experience of a porc or stars and stripes puffer jumping...?

dont have an answer on wether or not they jump but you could jet one of those metal grate lids like they have for the reptile terariums, or just make one and secure it with some sort of metal clips, that would let the heat out and keep any acrobatic puffers in, just an idea.

I wouldnt use anything metal if its going to come into contact with any water because it will rust. You could use eggcrate or something similar which is made of plastic. None of my tanks have lids though and my Canthigaster sp. have never jumped out.

aluminium wont rust, which is what most of the tops are made of, i mean the one i have and every one i have seen is made of aluminum.

They're generally rust free, as often reptiles need very high humidity.

but would the inevitable salt creep cause it to erode if it was metal..?

egg crate might work, is it heat proof, the light isn't suspended at the moment.. so is lying across the top of the tank at present..

egg crate? could it be a british term or am i just blanking out? sorry try and help out an american here lol

lol, an egg crate I assume is a crate that holds eggs? hehe

When you talk about fish tanks, it's actually a rather coarse plastic mesh that looks a bit like egg crate...

ha ha.. never thought about it actually being an 'egg crate'...

just got told in a fish shop that the plastic square stuff was egg crate and accepted it...


do we think it's heat resistant.... ?

oh that looks like the stuff they make milk crates out of, if it is the same plastic then those things can take some serious heat. i was using one to hold my dirtbike up while i was wokring on it (had it running) didnt realize the pipe was tuching the crate and must have had the bike running for 35 minutes and it barly started to melt the stuff so unless your lights get hotter than an exaust of a motorcycle i dont think you have a problem.

edit* wait your using marine lighting so idk how hot that stuff does get so you might have a problem lol i was comparing it to regular flourecent lighting for freshwater do they get much hotter than those?

We leave the lid open frequently. Our porcupine and stars and stripes have never shown any inclination toward jumping.

Egg crate is an 11/16 inch square grid of stiff white plastic about 5/16 inch thick. It's often used to make home made sump/wet dry filters. I also use it to make under gravel filters. It is sold for use as the bottom cover for flush mount overhead fluorescent lighting. It is inexpensive and can be purchased at Home Depot, Lowe's, and most any home improvement store. Because of its application in lighting, it has a significant degree of resistance to heat. Cutting a piece to size is easy using dikes or a similar cutting tool. Clip your piece slightly oversize then clip the broken ends flush. Follow up with a light sanding if you want the edges smooth.
-Robert

wow very nice post fichfancier! lol i think he just finished this thread lol

yep, fishfacnier is like a human fish book isn't he? hee hee hee...

i may egg crate it.. although neither puffer has shown any jumpy jumpy action... i'd hate to risk not doing it thoigh..


Upgrading to my 100G in about three months.. think i'll treat myself to hanging halides/multi T5's.. and keep an open top tank...

may look into a sump, but 100G in a second floor flat is bad enough, i wondered if an extra 20G sump might just be too much weight... don't want to drown our downstairs neighbors..

ok well first (not to make it sound bad but) are the apartments really old?

second you want to put on a wall the its perpindicular to the rafters of the building, or well in an apartment building just try and but in along a weight baring wall that way you are putting the weight on as many joints as possible and not just a couple. but otherwise 120 gallons+liverock+sand should be a prob.