Weird Evaporation Problem

[zinful]

Well, maybe it isn't so weird: I have a 29 FW tank that I keep around 79-80 degrees. The temp doesn't seem to fluctuate much, but the room its in is really really warm, what with the sun and summer and all that, usually around 90-95 during the day. I stepped on the front part of my 2-part glass lid while cleaning the tank (ouch! I was pulling glass out of my foot for almost an hour) so I have...cookie sheets covering the top so my loaches don't escape and I seem to lose about 1''-1.5'' of water a day- is this normal evaporation? Can I buy the glass part I broke... because PetSmart says I can't but what the hell do most of them know? Is that whats causing this water loss, cause it's bugging me...literally, as I find dead bugs up there every day...

 

[FroggyFox]

I'm definitely not a diy expert...but you can get another glass top made if you want. You could also decide to go with an eggcrate top. I dont know why they call it that, but you can get the stuff at a hardware store like home depot and cut it to size. It might not help with your evaporation issue though. I know when its hot I lose a lot of water out of my tanks. The other option if you dont want to go for glass is that you can also get acrylic tops cut at hobby stores like hobby lobby if you have those where you are? Just get the measurement of the tank and dont forget holes for your filters/heaters etc...

 

[zinful]

wow, it didn't even occur to me to go to a craft store and have something made, but that's a great idea, thanks froggy! it's also good to know that the evaporation isn't weird, although its one of those minor irritations that i hate fixing for some reason.

 

[Seleya]

You can buy a new glass cover. PetSmart usually carries the regular sizes, so I don't know what they're babbling about. Check in the section where they sell hoods. The glass covers are usually on the bottom shelf. You'd want one for 12 X 30" tanks. I recently bought one for my 44 corner hex and only paid $22, so a 29 cover can't cost much.

 

[bfish]

if you just broke the glass out and did not damage the frame you could go to home depot and get the same thickness glass and they could cut it for you to size. I am not sure but maybe post a picture and maybe we could tell from that?

 

[discus4everGrl]

just be careful with the cookie sheet in the meantime. metal is toxic to fish and condensation then dripping can allow it to re-enter the tank.

 

[Erik]

discus gurl is correct, if any trace of metal gets in your tank your fish will die...so be careful

 

[zinful]

oh thats no good; no-one's dead in there yet, and i'm going back to stupid petsmart tomorrow to replace the glass, so i'll take the sheets off for just tonight. thanks for letting me know about the poisoning potential discus!