Juwel Rekord 96 - "Dribbly Lid"

[bushbrother]

Hi All,

Have had my tank set up for almost 4 months now, fish have been in for about a month. I have noticed that because I am now touching the tank lid more (opening the feeding flaps at feeding time) this disturbance sometimes causes little dribbles of water to run down the front of my tank. This water is coming from the tiny splashes that the air-stone bubbles are making and collecting on the inside of the tank + condensation (I guess).

Now because I have fairly hard water (London) this dries out and leaves white marks down the front. Now I have been cleaning it but it happens literally hours after I have removed it Anyone else with this tank or similar have this issue? Any ways round this?

I thought maybe run a really really thin beading of some sealant round the inside of the lid to make a more "tight" fit, but would this cause me more trouble than its worth?

 

[waterdrop]

Hmmm, interesting problem BB, I've always liked and used various forms of "drop lids" for my tanks. This is where the vast majority of the surface area of the lid drops down a quarter or half inch toward the water surface and the condensation drips fall back into the tank. Some of the edges of these covers come back up near the tank wall and are suspended on the tank walls. The older ones I remember were entirely clear plastic and you could cut semi-circles at the back for equipment to go through. Only the front and back were suspended on tank edges. Now, years later, I get the same effective implementation but its the plastic top rim of the tank that has a little ledge about a half inch down from the top edge of the glass and two pieces of glass, hinged, form the lid, which sits lower than the top tank edges or the light strips which are up just above it.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[bushbrother]

Thanks for the reply WD, its a bit hard to describe but my tank lid does not appear to be like your "drop down" type ... the best way is to show using a picture:

So you can see that the bottom 1 inch or so slides down the outside of the glass and sits there, then water builds up in the tiny space between and eventually "breaks" out and dribbles down the front. It normally occurs when I am using the lid flaps and I guess disturb the water thats collecting there, allowing it to flow.

So I need to somehow "fill in" the tiny gap between the lid and glass, enough so that water cannot dribble down, but not so much that I cannot get the lid off!

 

[waterdrop]

Yeah, I don't like any sort of "overlap" designs for that very reason. ...let's all think about it a while

 

[bushbrother]

OK, I guess we will have to wait to see if anyone out these has any ideas

 

[Deleted member 55926]

I bought my first tank a month or two ago - the Rekord 800 (110L) - which is basically an update of your tank. The lid style is the same, with the overhanging lip, but you can open up the entire lid, or just a small feeding flap.

I can't say I've had any problems with condensation build-up in the gap, but I also live in London and it is annoying when a splash goes over the edge and leaves a residual mark after it has dried. I don't know if sealant would be the best idea, as it may not actually create a complete seal, or you may risk applying a layer that is too thick and causes the lid to have to be forced on. The only other solution I can think of is to create a sort of skirt of clear plastic that is attached around the inside of the lid, and hangs into the tank. It would only be about 1" long so that you can't see it outside the tank and it doesn't touch the water. I was thinking maybe the moisture on the inside of the glass would help keep the palstic stuck to the side, and therefore stop condensation from making its way to the outside face of the glass. On second thought though, that sounds stupid ...let me know how you get on though, if you do try the sealant idea.

The new Rekord lids have a new problem, in that when you open the large main flap, water drips off the bottom of the open flap and runs down the back of the tank. I find this annoying as that is where the wires are running down back of the tank, and I have to make double sure that water can't reach the plugs. I'd be interested to hear of any solutions for this problem too.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes Mig, when I wrote "let's all think about it a while" I was actually thinking about some sort of "inside skirt" glued into the lid to let condensation run back into the tank prior to it reaching the tank edge. It just seemed like it was going to take a lot of writing to describe the idea, lol. It still seems like a difficult project and a shame to be doing since this should be the tank/lid designers job. Of course, with some pieces of plastic and some silicone to stick them to the inside of the lid...

~~waterdrop~~

 

[bushbrother]

Thanks for the replies guys, I think I am going to try the silicone approach first and see what happens, it only seems to run down the front so am just going to run a tiny bead of silicone along the front edge only. If it does not work out then the skirt idea also sounds possible, but a little more labour intensive

As this silicone is not going to be in contact with the water in the tank, as it is on the outside, would it be safe to use a bathroom type silicone sealant? Or would you still recomend I use an aquarium silicone? Or is there no difference?

 

[Haych]

wouldnt a condensation trap work?

the plastic sheets i used to use for the old style tanks (wood lids etc) and it keeps the water in really well