Amano proofing and aquarium

[Left C]

How do you Amano proof an aquarium with a partial glass top? As we know, these guys are great escape artists.

My hinged glass top covers around 7/8's of the surface area. This means that there is about 2½" of open area all the way across the back. My 40 breeder has the two Eheim installation kits (intake kit #1 and spraybar kit #2) that come out of the water and then hang over the rim of the tank. I know that Amano's can easily climb over this plastic stuff and escape. The rest is open. What would work well to fit over the installation kits and keep these "Houdini" shrimp inside the aquarium? You can see in the picture below before the tank was planted that the installation kits are side by side. They are actually touching each other now.

Installation Kits

 

[Biollante]

Window Screens

Hi Left C,

Window screen works well. :gw


Cut it out for any openings for tubes and wires a bit snug with a slit to the back.


Overlap the slits in back, let the material around the tubes and wire point down into the tank as though everything were pushed through from above.


Biollante

 

[ShadowMac]

I didn't know they crawled out!!! I always thought the occasional and rare escapee was one that slipped out with cuttings when I trim. Maybe they crawled out. Damn, now I have another project. Just when things were slowing down and I can spend more time enjoying rather than working on it.

 

[Left C]

@Biollante: Thanks a bunch! I'll have to dismantle the intake and spraybar somewhat to build this Alcatraz in Cville. It is all that I can think of to do as well. I just wish that there was a preformed "hat" to put over this open area. I guess there is if I had bulkhead fittings for the intake and spraybar instead of hang-over-the-side models like I have. I could simply use the plastic back section that comes with these Versa-Tops.

@ShadowMac: I purchased 20 of the Houdini shrimp last month and about half of them were gone by the next day. They are terrific escape artists!

 

[Biollante]

Crafty Little Bugs, They Are

Hi,


It is amazing what they can get through and Amanos are relatively docile.

One of the advantages of drilling the glass and using sumps is nothing has to go over the top.



Shawn, it never ends…


Biollante

 

[shoggoth43]

Wierd... Either I've never noticed their external wanderlust, or mine have been relatively content to stay put.

-
S

 

[Left C]

... It is amazing what they can get through and Amanos are relatively docile. ...

I remember the first time that I purchased some Amano shrimp. The salesman at the LFS netted a handful of them and proceeded to try to pull them out of the water. Before he could get his hand over the net, most of them had ran out of the net, were running up his arm, jumping on the floor and jumping back into the aquarium. It was a sight! I was shocked as to how quick, elusive and devious they are!

I helped him catch the ones running around on the floor. The salesman turned around to me and said, "These sure are smart little critters!" and then he busted out laughing. I didn't know what to say, so I laughed too.

 

[Biollante]

Maybe The Get-up-and-Go, Got-up-and Went

Wierd... Either I've never noticed their external wanderlust, or mine have been relatively content to stay put.
-
S

Hi S,

Amanos are not as bad as some, but once they are in "get-up-and-go mode" they go...

Biollante

 

[Left C]

What #, % open area and wire diameter should I get? This is the 316 stainless steel mesh on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...-keywords="stainless+steel+316+mesh"&x=7&y=23

36" x 18" (40 breeder) aquarium screen mesh, Tetra 26911 30/40B/50/65-Gallon Screen Top, 36-Inch by 18-Inch: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003E2MDK6/?tag=barrreport-21

Saint Gobain FCS7350-A Micro-Mesh Insect Screen, 36-Inch by 7-Foot Roll: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0022NH8FS/?tag=barrreport-21

 

[Biollante]

What Part of Evil Don't You Get

Hi,

I just use screen door replacement screen from the True Value. It kind of looks like that Saint Gobain FCS7350-A Micro-Mesh Insect Screen, 36-Inch by 7-Foot Roll, stuff, but at the True Value they sell it to me by the foot.


I am sure the Tetra 26911 30/40B/50/65-Gallon Screen Top, 36-Inch by 18-Inch would keep them in but, I worry about the light being shaded.:gw



The meshes look good a #8 mesh is 2.38-mm so the Stainless Steel 316 Mesh Sheet, #8 x 8, 0.047" Wire Diameter, 39% Open Area, 12" Width x 12" Length would be fine.



Or, since you live in an apartment complex, they have plenty of windows with screens, a box cutter and hey...

• Then you can wander by complaining about them dad-gummed kids and there even-worse parents…

Biollante

 

[Left C]

Thank you for going through all that stuff and picking them out for me. I had no idea what numbers to look for. There isn't a True Value near me. The closest one is maybe 45 minutes away. Ace went out of business. The fantastic mom-n-pop old timey hardware store downtown went out of business too. They had everything!

The landlord is putting new windows in this house within the next month or so. That is a great idea to nab a screen!

I don't think that the Tetra screen will work. It is for a reptile. The openings are too large, I believe. Check this picture out: http://www.petmountain.com/show_pro...gle&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_term=11442-519284

The Saint Gobain mesh may be a good deal. It'll be plenty if I happen to munk up.

The #8 mesh may work just fine. It may be able to form into a shape that will hold its shape.

 

[tjbuege]

Hmmm....I've been curious about this too, as I consider getting a rimless tank. Of course, you never see any sort of top on the tank in the pictures, but do most people have some sort of top they keep on tanks all the time? And how much does it affect the amount of light? I've used glass tops, but those get foggy over time and are hard to keep clean. I thought about screen, and even purchased some from a local hardware store, just haven't had time to put anything together.

 

[Biollante]

Swarm Intelligence

Hi Jim, All,


I just tore down an aquarium and the built in cabinet as part of remodeling, over the years I realized we lost the occasional shrimp to wanderlust. I found dozens of desiccated little shrimp carcasses it rather shocked me.


We have a little vertical hydroponic tomato planter a short distance away that has develop quite a little shrimp colony, I always assumed it was a result of sloppy process, I now think it may have simply been a migration.


Shrimp are funny sometimes you can go long periods with increasing populations, even seeming crowded and little or no escapees.


Other times even in lightly populated aquariums, that would seem to be shrimp paradise, they all head for the exits.


I doubt there is rhyme or reason, perhaps “swarm intelligence,” think of shrimp as bugs…


With rimless or any other aquarium, keeping the water level, twice the length of the shrimp below the rim is a good first step to keeping them in.

I am an advocate of drilled glass; I know this is not an option (for whatever reason) for many folks so “things” will hang over the top.

In addition to the water level, use stand-offs to keep pipes, tubes, wires from direct contact with the glass or rim above the water line. This will not keep all the little bugs in but it will deny extra “footholds."




Biollante

 

[nipat]

Heck just found one walking across the floor in front of my desk.
First thought it was a strange species of cockroach.
Wondering how many I've lost this way.

 

[Tug]

I knew it wasn't those dad-gummed kids!

My RCS would do the same thing. It was either jump out of the tank or be eaten.

The hardware store would also sell the aluminum frame, vinyl spline, the corners to hold the frame in place, a rolling tool and the screen that would give your cover a more finished look. 2.5 inches might be a little tight to fit the corners that hold the frame in place. .

edit~ DIY screen top for aquariums
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0CzorCknWQ
This could also work for rimless tanks using tabs to hold in place.

 

[nipat]

Thanks

BTW, would like to add that from what I saw, it was quite capable of walking on dry floor.

 

[Left C]

Thank you Tug for the 'DIY screen top for aquariums' link. It is most excellent!