protective covering for bracing

[esoxlucius]

It's inevitable at some point with large fish that sooner or later one's going to breach the surface, whether it's at feeding time or through getting spooked. If the fish does this with force then the edges of the bracing can cause damage to the fish, even when the bracing is machine rounded to avoid ultra sharp edges.

My RTGG took a chunk out of her head just recently, it's healing well but I felt like I needed to protect her in case she did it again. So I covered the three glass bracings on my tank with polyethylene bubble wrap, and secured it with zip ties. It's too soon to say whether it'll be 100% effective until she has another paddy and I can observe whether it avoids tissue damage.

I've never seen any threads covering this but surely it must be quite common due to the bracing being so close to the surface of the water. Anybody got any thoughts, observations or experience with this?

 

[white specter crayfish]

I have no experience with this, but I suppose you could put soft filter sponges or something around it, I'd be worried about mold or something building up from the moisture though.

 

[Hendre]

I'm thinking a high density foam would work well, since it could take the impact without hurting the fish. Just not sure about how safe the stuff would be due to chemicals...

 

[esoxlucius]

I'm thinking a high density foam would work well, since it could take the impact without hurting the fish. Just not sure about how safe the stuff would be due to chemicals...

If my bracing was a few inches from the surface of the water i could use quite a thick foam type material. But my bracing is literally half inch from the surface so if I use anything too thick it'll be dangling in the water which would look extremely unsightly. The bubble wrap i'm using currently is literally millimeters away from the surface so anything thick and chunky, although it would do the best job, is out of the question.

 

[white specter crayfish]

If my bracing was a few inches from the surface of the water i could use quite a thick foam type material. But my bracing is literally half inch from the surface so if I use anything too thick it'll be dangling in the water which would look extremely unsightly. The bubble wrap i'm using currently is literally millimeters away from the surface so anything thick and chunky, although it would do the best job, is out of the question.

hmmm, yeah I really don't know then, my only guess would be to have several lids over the bracing that have bubble wrap or something on them

 

[Fat Homer]

What about cutting a pool noodle open and covering the edges that way??? Then you’d have plenty of cushioning if they ever smack it again...

 

[Galantspeedz]

I just lower my water level

 

[esoxlucius]

What about cutting a pool noodle open and covering the edges that way??? Then you’d have plenty of cushioning if they ever smack it again...

And we have a winner! I didn't even know what a pool noodle was, I had to look it up. But yeah, cut down to required length of brace, then cut slit in and slide over the exposed edge of brace. This would probably give better protection than my current bubble wrap idea. I may need to drop the water level by a few millimeters but sounds perfect.