Tank Cover

[walt8880]

Am still trying to get all my ducks in a row here in Thailand before I actually buy anything.

One of the issues I am facing is lighting. I want to be able to put low tech live plants in the tank along with the fish, but the "package" aquariums for sale here only have 20 watts of light, even up to 30 gal tank. I feel like I need a little more but looking at the inside of the cover with the package, it is pretty flimsy and does not appear to be suitable to add another fixture.

My other issue is that I don't have the tools here to build a cover.

I have found a two tube (40w) fixture made to fit onto the top rim of a tank which at first glance seems to fit my needs. If I use this however, I will not have a cover on the tank.

Finally to the question. Other than issues of evaporation, is a cover really necessary? I plan to have plants, gouramis, barbs, corydoras, and perhaps a few nerite snails or shrimp.

thanks

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Esp. with gouramis and barbs, I think a cover is essential, unless you can fill the tank to (about) 4 inches below the brim to prevent (or reduce potential) of them jumping out.... I have (often) regretted not having covers on my tank when I find dried out fish on the floor.

 

[walt8880]

Thanks. I was afraid that would be the answer.

I will have to figure out another solution

 

[anwhyte]

Thanks. I was afraid that would be the answer.

I will have to figure out another solution

can you find someone to cut a glass sheet of the right to size to cover your tank? you could leave a gap at the back to clip a light fitting on.

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with Ludwig, a cover is essential because of jumping.

You do -not- need all that much light, necessarily, to be within low-light technique. There are plenty of tech problems with the way to describe this but a very rough older guideline we start with is maybe 0.8 watts/USgallon to 1.8 w/g (sometimes described as "under 2".) It only works well for tanks that are not too small or large and it was established years ago using typical T8 or T12 fluorescent tubes of the time (they are still popular.)

Of course we all know its really all about photons hitting green leaves and so you can imagine the problems. Different devices devised to use electrical energy to release photons have different efficiencies (light bulbs.) The numbers of photons hitting the leaf can vary greatly because of tank height or effectiveness of the reflector or other focusing device.

Once you settle on a tank size, your light range will be more clear.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[walt8880]

Agree with Ludwig, a cover is essential because of jumping.

You do -not- need all that much light, necessarily, to be within low-light technique. There are plenty of tech problems with the way to describe this but a very rough older guideline we start with is maybe 0.8 watts/USgallon to 1.8 w/g (sometimes described as "under 2".) It only works well for tanks that are not too small or large and it was established years ago using typical T8 or T12 fluorescent tubes of the time (they are still popular.)

Of course we all know its really all about photons hitting green leaves and so you can imagine the problems. Different devices devised to use electrical energy to release photons have different efficiencies (light bulbs.) The numbers of photons hitting the leaf can vary greatly because of tank height or effectiveness of the reflector or other focusing device.

Once you settle on a tank size, your light range will be more clear.~~waterdrop~~

I think I have settled on tank size of 30" x 15" x 18". It has internal wet/dry filter, so I estimate actual capacity at 28-30 gallons. With a 20 watt single bulb, that comes out to somewhere around 0.7 watts/USG. Of course I am an absolute novice but that seems a little low to me based on what I read. IF that is so, I think the best time to fix it is now, and not have to retrofit later.

What do you think?

One perhaps crazy thought I had was to drape a fabric cover over the light and the tank. Could make it out of a marine canvas or something similar. Anybody ever done any thing like that before?

 

[walt8880]

I think this problem is now solved also.

Went to LFS today to order tank, etc and discussed with them. Turns out, they could install another 20w fixture in the cover that comes with their package. That will get me up to 1.3-1.4 w/gal so I'll start there. Got bulbs at another big box store much cheaper. $0.85 each.

30" x 15" x 18" tank package is to be delivered and set up in my house this afternoon, so we will see what arrives. They will also bring some filter media from the store which has been used so should give the cycle a head start. Tank has an internal wet/dry filter system which is typical here.

Ammonia hasn't arrived at chemical supply house yet, so I'll throw a little fish food in each day to keep the bacteria fed until it gets here.

Some very interesting things about setting up here which I will start another thread on as I get a little further along.

 

[waterdrop]

Did your tank arrive? Very glad to hear you will be able to go for the double tube lighting system. I think the .7/g would have been too low. The 1.4 should be better I think, but definately consider lamp timers so you can limit the hours but have lights on when you are home the most.

That size is about dead-on what I'm working with in my son's room so I'll be interested in how things go for you.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[walt8880]

Did your tank arrive? Very glad to hear you will be able to go for the double tube lighting system. I think the .7/g would have been too low. The 1.4 should be better I think, but definately consider lamp timers so you can limit the hours but have lights on when you are home the most.

That size is about dead-on what I'm working with in my son's room so I'll be interested in how things go for you.

~~waterdrop~~

It came exactly on time at 2pm Sat which was a real shock here. They had it setup and were gone in less than an hour. Everything up and running but still impatiently waiting for ammonia to arrive to be able to start cycle.

I am trying to insert a picture that I took immediately after setup. This is a typical low priced "package" here. Gravel and wood were extra.

 

[waterdrop]

Looks nice! Sounds pretty service-oriented having everything delivered! I like your natural look so far!

~~waterdrop~~