Mr. Saltwater Tank TV Friday AM Quick Tip #123: Keep This Part Of Your Saltwater Tank Open
Saltwater tank gear can ruin the look of your tank. You don’t want to look at cords and piping, you want to look at your sexy corals and fish! While I can’t blame you for covering things up, make sure you keep this part of your tank open.
Browse the Store! Questions?
What about alge in the over flow I have mine covered to prevent alge
I got weary of collecting one of the Wrasses after washing into the overflow, usually once a week. I used the same clear netting ( on a screen frame ) to prevent them from going over. You already have vertical netting in your video, just wrap the curtain wall of netting around the overflow box. It moves out of the way when you need access.
Nope! I gota cover mine because if a fish or a snail gets in there and my tank over flows my wife will never let me hear the end of it.
Trust me the cost of a new fish is less hart ache than the alternative lol
Mike…getting a fish out of an overflow shouldn’t be a hassle if you don’t blue your pipes into the bulkheads. Just pull the pipe, drain down the overflow and you can easily net the fish.
What if I used a pitched roof angled back into the tank? huh huh?
I think what Mike means is that a fish or snail could block his overflow pipe and flood the display. For the sake of the price of a fish, i hate to say it, but it’s a small price to pay compared to the cost of a flood. I’m afraid I don’t agree with you on this one Mark, it’s asking for trouble.
Get a durso standpipe and snails or fish won’t have a chance to overflow anything. Unless your return is nearly maxing the overflow speed.
I think it fully depends. I got a double overflow. One is a backup for the other one. Meaning i don’t need one of the two.
If you just got one, i would try to make it (virtually) impossible for a fish to jump into it. I haven’t seen any healthy fish go into it. But i’m also thinking of covering it up to make it harder for the fish to get into it.
What would make a fish jump into the overflow?
Guess I’m lucky so far, Knock on Wood, I’ve never had a fish get into my overflow. But then my tank is a corner unit so it has some advantages you don’t get with a horizontal tank. The overflow is in the smallest area in the back. it also has glass over the top that comes with-in a half-inch of the top of the overflow box, the box has multiple slots in it and is double walled so the water can flow into the box even if the top was completely blocked off. the pipe in the overflow box is 2″ and curved on top so the suction isn’t that strong and a 2 inch pipe should allow most any of my fish to flow through it to the sump tank and from clogging it up. I do find a snail or two in it very now and then but they generally find their way back to the main tank.
Cheers.. everyone
I have netting around the overflow boxes as well. My return are silent so; rather than messing with flow, I cut some gutter guard and zip tied it over the top of my drain pipes to deal with those snails that always find a way into my overflow boxes
I agree unless you have narrow overflows like mine, and one that drains so fast it doesnt pool enough water to keep the fish alive. I use egg crate cut to the shape of the overflow BUT I angle it up so the fish has to fall back into the tank.
Here’s why — A few months ago I took off the crate to do some cleanup and forgot to put it back on. I came back the next day and my wonderful clown was dead in the overflow, but wedged in the outflow pipe and never got down far enough into the water! My overflows are in the corners and only a few inches wide. Mike
Great timing. I was just considering getting a piece of black acrylic to cover my overflow.
Regarding algae: You want it there. It’s nice and cheap filtration.
Fish will get into your overflow if they can cause they’re stupid! I got sick of fishing out fish and snails , BUT! since I made a Hofer Gurgle Buster I have had nothing in my pipes and the tank is nice and quiet
By far the biggest issue I had was algae and all the snails following algae. So I covered it up few months back. No algae problem anymore. And yes my net covering back of canopy does go around the overflow.
Much happier now 🙂
Totally disagree with you on this one, not Bly will you get algae buildup in the overflow the chances that a fish will jump and live in there without being able to catch it are extremely great..
Case in point, I have had two clowns jump into the over overflow at different times. One of a pair of clowns jumped in and I gave him up for dead because I had no idea he was back there so I replaced him with another clown to keep a pair. He lived in there for 9 months and once he jumped back into the DT he was attacked by the new mated pair. So I netted him out and put him in my fuge.
Two months latter one of the new mated pair did the same thing, but this time I knew he was back there because of the experience of the last one. I gave a corner 92g tank and the overflow is very tight so. Could not get him out of there. After a few months I re-introduced the clown in my fuge back into the DT, endless to say I still have the other clown still alive in the overflow and it will be a year come this July.
As for undoing the pipes to drain the overflow to net him is way too much trouble, s I do suggest that you cover the overflow and with the DT covered by a clear mesh canopy you don’t have to worry about another fish jumping out and landing on the overflow clover and drying out.
I just fished out my clown fish from my overflow today after almost 3 months of trying to catch her(I finally had the time today to pull the drain pipe,clean it and clean the overflow of algae). I want to cover the overflows to prevent algae from growing in there and to prevent fish from getting in there.
Rinfante…if your drain lines aren’t glued into the top of your bulkhead, then to remove them you simply pull up. Takes about 5 seconds.
mark show us the canopy!!!!! 🙂
I do cover the overflow box too for algae related issues, without the cover, algae grows there like crazy. Algae grows and blocks the flow of the water draining down to the sump. I dont want any water spill problems. None of my fish have ever jumped out. Yet.
How about if ever you really do have to cover it to use a slanted panel instead of a flat one?
I’ve put a type of plastic mesh on the overflow walls boxed in by some glass strips that are just thick enough to allow these strips to be lifted out for cleaning. They are on both the front & side of the overflow structure & go up to the glass lids that I use to keep the lights I had on. (Tank was originally for freshwater fish ) but would work as well on open top tank. Can supply photo if requested.
Re: algae in the OF. I purposely light the OF 24/7 with an LED stunner strip to encourage algae growth. It acts like a algae scrubber. When I do my regular maintenance I remove the excess. My main tank is virtually algae free. I don’t use a refuge. Every once in a while my wrasse does jump in but it’s easy to scoop out.
Lou…you’ve hit the nail on the head about algae in the overflow. The key is to remove it regularly. On my 90g tank I’d remove the algae that grew on the overflow once a month.
Pierre…a photo would be great as I’m not 100% on the setup.
Well not all things are perfect one way or the other it goes wrong, anyway can you show me the diagram and probably study it and try it out who knows. Thanks again.
Mene Zamora
I have a Coast to Coast Bean Animal overflow box so never needed to cover it. What do you think of that style of box is it outdated already?
I KEEP MINE COVERED WITH BLACK PLASTIC “EGG CRATE” BECAUSE MY SNAILS LOVE TO GET IN AND THEN TRY CLIMBING IN MY SIPHON TUBE, CAUSING MAJOR PROBLEMS… (oops, sorry about the caps)