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Hi All

I just started up my first new fish tank (in a few years) it is approximately 108 Litres (not sure what that is in gallons sorry . The fish I have in my tank are just plain old goldfish (x6 babies) and mountain minnows (x8). To start with I had no lid on the tank (silly idea as one of my mountain minnows decided to take a wee ride in my bubbles and go flying out the top of the tank Lucky i saw him and put him back in the tank and he is doing great now).

Anywho today I purchased a perspex lid for my tank... What i want to know is should I be drilling some tiny holes into this to let in a wee bit of air or will the tank be ok if it has a filter, air filter and bubbles going in it constantly? I cant make the holes to big as I dont want my mountain minnows flying up through the holes. I didnt have time to ask anyone at the pet store as I did a flying visit to collect some fish food.

Any help is great Thanks!

Tracie-Maree

well, it must have a spot to let food in i assume. but anyways it shoud not matter as oxygen enter water through jarring or disturbances in the wtaer caused.in short you have a bubbler and a filter when the water is moved it cases friction and air bubbles, when the air bubble enters the water it floats towward the surface, in this time some of the air is transferred from the bubble to the water...especially if the bubble bursts.i see no need.

Cool thank you very much I didn't think I would need any but thought I would check. I will have to build in a wee opening for the food might have to cut a bit off the perspex lid and hinge it in.. Too worried about the fish getting out again.. They are so small they would only need a wee gap to get out of.

Tracie-Maree

Hello Tracie

Welcome to Fish Profiles
If you point to Interactive you will see Calculations ad that will do that for you your tank is 28.53 US Gal.

There can be problems with perspex other than go very hazy it can bend twist and bow all over the place especially if you have lights on top of it.
I have 1/4ins - 6mm glass tops on both my tanks, i dont like the thin standard glass usually supplied.

For feeding I have the glass cut in two widths the narrow front one about 10cm wide this is the one I lift up for feeding.

Warning if you are going to drill holes in my opinion totally unnecessary be careful as perspex can split and star crack very easily also dont do it underneath the lights last thing you want is moisture getting into the light.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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Hi Keith,

The perspex on my tank is 6mm which is nice and thick. It hasnt started to bend yet which is good. I am just using it until I can get a glass lid made for the tank. It takes anyshop here about a month to make them and I didnt have time to wait a month for a lid so this is just a temporary thing.

I managed to drill 2 holes in it and it didnt crack which was good . I dont have any lights on my tank as I didnt think I would need them. Do you think I should have a light on my tank? Its only a cold water tank and gets quite a bit of light during the day as its situated in the lounge and the lounge lights keep it lit up during part of the night.

Tracey

Tracie-Maree

you dont necessarily need one, its all preference upon your opinion, if there is enough light for you to veiw th efish then it doesnt matter

That is a decent piece of perspex.

One month for a piece of glass to be cut I would hate to break a window in your town. If I could not get a piece of glass cut to size and be back home under 1hr I would be screaming.

Lighting not actually necessary unless you have live plants which will help the tank any way BUT the light heat could effect the perspex.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Yes one month is definately a long time. I made my own fish tank a few years back and it took atleast 6 weeks to get the glass cut. Noone seems to be in a hurry to get anything done over here which is a shame when some of us want things done in a hurry.

The place I got my perspex off said 6mm would be the best and they gave it to me the same price as a 4mm one so that was pretty good I thought

Tracie

Tracie-Maree

not doing well so far with the new fish set up. Already lost 2 goldfish.. One dead due to picking on by the looks and another by some sort of illness... I just dont think fish are for me

Tracie-Maree

If your tank is established there should not be deaths so quickly.
Did you acclimate them correctly by that I mean floating the bag and slowly adding a little of your tank water over a period of about 30 minutes.
There is a good chance they could have had a problem before you even bought them.
If one was picked on you could have a very aggressive fish or it was already sick and could not defend its self.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Hi keith,

Yes I floated the bags as per the LFS advise. I have had Goldfish before and never had these problems before.

I found the Goldfish that was nipping and have removed him from the tank and put him in his own one which should give the rest of my fish a chance to get better.

I have a post started up in the Hospital forum re what my last fish could have died of as Im not sure what it was there is also a picture attached to.

I have been down to the LFS and got medications etc for the tank so have got my fingers crossed that this fixes my problem

Tracie-Maree

It only takes one nasty fish in a tank to cause havoc. Other that nipping it possibly caused a lot of stress on the other fish. At least you got the problem solved very quickly.

I have had small SAEs in my 45lt Cardinal tank ever since I set the tank up I buy them small grow them on and at the same time they get big and healthy eating the algae. Three days ago I noticed it chasing the Cardinals within one hour it was in the big tank and now my Cardinals are moving around a lot better.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW