I may do something similar. Most of my tank is like that apart from it's 2.5" wide glass
New to Polypterus - Substrate Advice!
- Thread starter ShanerBock888
- Start date
Oh no! Sorry to hear about your retro. 
Love the comparison shots - thanks for sharing! Some dramatic changes for sure.
Love the comparison shots - thanks for sharing! Some dramatic changes for sure.
The Lap has changed even more in the last 14 hours, looks very green now and I'm loving it
so sorry to hear about your retropinnis. It sucks losing a cherished pet. :[ At least he made it into the new substrate. Perhaps he got spooked.
Sometimes we do all we can, but things happen that we can't control even with all types of preparation. So sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing your fix to the top of the tank! I'm going to have to do something like for a lid. Where did you get the silicon from?
The Lap looks great!
Thanks. very true, it's just the nature of the hobby. I think you're right about him getting spooked. In his previous tank he spent 99% of his time burrowed under a rock, so I almost never saw him. In the new tank he didn't have that option. I think he would've gotten used to it with a little more time, but it was still new so I think he kinda freaking out at night and saw that little crevice and tried to squeeze in. The only good thing that came out of it is that now I have room to add a fish, so I think I'm going to get a fire eel, which I've wanted for a while
As for the poly-proofing, I did another version on a different tank which didn't have the lip on top, where I basically extended the existing lid by attaching a piece of acrylic to the glass lid that added a few inches on gaps in the back. It worked just as well, just didn't look quite as good. I use GE silicone 1, which you can get at any hardware store. There are other brands, but you're basically looking for something that says 100% silicone and isn't anti-mildew or scented.
I looked for acrylic at home depot and one piece of 24"X 48" was $27. Do you just stack that on top of the tank? I have a standard 55. How did you fit the acrylic to your tank? Is this possible with a canister filter?
yeah $27 sounds about right for a piece that's like 1/4" thick. It's pretty pricey stuff. I'm assuming the 55 has the top rim, and most of those rims have that lip on the inside that's meant to support the lid. the lip goes around the whole top of the tank, so when you put the lid on, the gap in the back still has the lip. So you cut the acrylic to the size of the gap, cut notches for power cords, air lines, or canister returns or supplies. Once you have the piece cut to the right size with the right notches, you put a little bead of silicon on top of the lip of the rim, on the surface the lid would sit on, and then you put the acrylic piece in place and push down so that the silicone presses on to both surfaces.
Obviously this is a lot easier to do if you have a miter saw or a table saw, but if you don't you can get away with just a drill and an acrylic knife, which is just a little blade that will be in home depot right next to the acrylic sheets, it costs like $5.
It's night time in my fish room right now, but if you want I can take some more detailed pics tomorrow so you can get a better idea of what I'm talking about.
Obviously this is a lot easier to do if you have a miter saw or a table saw, but if you don't you can get away with just a drill and an acrylic knife, which is just a little blade that will be in home depot right next to the acrylic sheets, it costs like $5.
It's night time in my fish room right now, but if you want I can take some more detailed pics tomorrow so you can get a better idea of what I'm talking about.
I just realized my gold dust has a little fin like Nemo! I've had her for 2 months but she hides so much I haven't seen her often. When I noticed it I thought maybe it was from a squabble but I looked at all the pics I have of her and it turns out it's been like that all along! doesn't seem to slow her down at all
