The Puffer Forum

I am wondering.....I am probably going to go with some t5 lighting over my puffers tank. The only lighting I can find goes over the tank with some mounts, thus not covering the tank up at all. How does one do this lighting while covering their tank sufficiently to keep their puffer from jumping out?

Why T5? Are you keeping some serious corals?

Nope no corals. I guess my question is more for just keeping any fish from jumping out in any tank with t5 lighting.

Cover glasses for the tank are standard LFS or chain store items. These are mated to the particular tank brand and cover the top of the tank fully, with a plastic strip along the rear which can be notched or cut for electrical cords and/or tubing and other filter connections. These can form quite secure closures for keeping potential jumpers enclosed, and also reduce evaporation markedly (tank temps tend to be higher than ambient room temps) for fish up to six inches or more. Certain larger fish may need heavier glass covers due to fish mass and speed of jumping, but that is unlikely for a 75 - it is more likely for fish such as Fahakas and T. mbu in larger tanks.

Elevating the lights above the cover glass reduces the waste heat from the lights transfer to the tank water. That is especially important for high-light tanks such as reefs or FW high-tech planted tanks. It is less significant for low or moderately lighted tanks, where light wattage is not so high.

Elevated lights can give some glare off the glass tank covers.

HTH

Thanks for the answer RTR! So if I am just plannig a fowlr tank with my gsp's which type of lighting am I going to need?

Any fluorescent lighting will do.

I wasn't too thrilled about the prices on the glass tops available in my area, so I made some tops. They're not super glamorous. This doesn't do well to help prevent evaporation, (But will keep kitties mouths and paws out lol) I went to Lowes or Home Depot, I don't remember which one, and bought some plastic egg crate, sold in the fluorescent lighting section. You can cut it to the exact size of the tank and it should sit nicely within the grove in the top of the tank frame. Unless your puffer is tiny enough to jump through the squares, it should be good. You can cut it to fit around anything with wire cutters or the like. I paid about 12 dollars for a large enough sheet to cover a 75 gallon, with some left over. I also cut out two doors in the front, and used cable zipties to make hinges. If evaporation is a concern, and heat entrapment is not, you can attach a clear plastic sheet over the top, making sure you don't completely cover it so you still allow gas exchange. You could either silicone it in the corners, or use zip ties to attach it to the egg crate. I've only seen it in white, so if you prefer it in black or something, I've read that krylon fusion is safe to use even inside a tank (If dried properly). I have not personally used this, but I'm not concerned with my top being white though, I don't really see it.
As far as making sure it cannot be pushed up from the inside, I have the light hoods situated so they help keep them in place.