Overflow Teeth, Screen, SOMTHING!

[SnowManSnow]

OK this is the second time I've had this issue with my overflow.

Problem: My fish keep getting into my overflow. I have 3 in there this morning after they have been in my tank under 24hrs. Its a PAIN to get them out!

Problem: My overflow is made so that its simply a glass box that has a lower edge built onto the back of my tank. There are no teeth, nothing to keep the fish from just flopping over in there.

Remedy? What can I do to keep these guys OUT of my overflow.

Any good suggestions are welcome. Any suggestions actually built on experiance are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the ideas.
B

 

[Anonymous]

Try a rain-gutter guard, they make all plastic ones and you can usually wedge one in there.

 

[trido]

Try a rain-gutter guard, they make all plastic ones and you can usually wedge one in there.

Ditto.

I just had to build a fish fence around three sides of my tank to keep them in the tank and out of the overflows. Its just a few bucks a roll and works wonders.

 

[SnowManSnow]

hmm

thats a good idea.. too bad i just got back from walmart.

I ahve some spare 1/4 acrylic.... before going back for gutter guard I'll try to make somthing out of that.

I'll probably end up using the gutter guard though.. it sounds MUCH simplier

B

 

[Len]

My tank's overflow came with straight glass overflow too. The manufacturer's recommended solution was to cut egg crate to size and glue it to the top of the overflow. I decided to have lifereef cut me a properly sized strip of acrylic with teeth along one side. I siliconed this to my overflow box and it works well.

 

[bleedingthought]

On my next tank, I am going to skip overflow teeth to maximize surface skimming. Instead, I am going to use a piece of glass or acrylic above the overflow that leaves a gap of about .25" for the water to flow through and no fish and inverts can get in. Hope that makes sense and helps.

 

[JKDMan]

ya i was goin to say eggcrate

 

[mr_X]

there is also another material that you can get at walmart.
in the fabrics/knitting/sewing department, there is this plastic mesh people use as a base to knit on. it comes in sheets. it seems to work well for encasing a return pump to shield from it sucking up your macros...or possibly even this application. perfectly flexible and easy to cut with scissors, and very cheap. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

So what kind of fish did you get?

 

[DBW]

I made a comb out of 4.5mm acrylic. Easy to do, even if you don't have a router. You can use a scroll saw to do it, but it is not quite as neat. Best thing about using a comb is even if it does block, then the water level in the tank simply increases, and it drains over the top of the blockage.

I found that eggcrate was too large, some of the smaller fish still got through.

 

[fishinsouthga]

i used an knitting back in craft section, come in clear and white, and some tank silicon works great lets the bugs though not the fish