wooden hood..need help with fungus/mildew

[prodrumernate]

i created a hex shaped hood for my 20g hex tank..i have used spray enamel on it.or i maybe it was spray acrylic..either way...my hood keeps getting white and black fungus on it..if i dont keep the hood on my tank.well ill say ive lost about 5 fish because of not having 1.

any idea on what i could put on the wood to water proof it and keep the fungus and mildew away?

[MSG]

People can get all sorts of strange ideas off of descriptions.

Most wood even when sealed & paint is NOT recommended to be used as tank hoods because wood is a sponge. All wood even the really hardwoods, will absorb water to some degree.... expand & contract. OSB, MDF is an even worse option for wood.

This is why most hoods are fashioned out of non-porous materials such as glass & plastic.

Not sure what to recommend for a hex tank that's DIY other than 2 panes of glass cut to specs & edges sanded down of all sharp edges.

Epoxy a handle of some sort to the front piece of glass?

[registereduser]

find a glass shop and have them cut a piece of plexiglass in the shape you need.

[prodrumernate]

thank you MSG. my dad had actually said to go to home depot and see about getting some acrylic or like a yard sign..i forgot about that..and u just reminded me :)

[MSG]

I wouldn't recommend plexiglass/acrylic because it does WARP. Also one thing I'm fully aware of NOW, is it's not strong enough to use as a lid especially for a HEX style tank.

The types of plexi that are STRONG enough, are 4x more expensive, so glass is much cheaper if you can CUT it.

I think I have an idea of the size HEX you have, but glass is the BEST solution.

I was going to recommend the glass shop, but I thought you would want a DIY solution.

You would need 2 pieces of glass. 1 for the front & 1 for the back.

Unless you want to remove 1 WHOLE piece of hex cut glass to feed your fish.


Cyroplast is not good because it's not strong enough & doesn't allow light to penetrate.

Also if you're headed to Home Depot,

• CarbonX mentioned you can get a 2 pack of Philips Brand = T12 - 24" T12 fluorescent 6500k lights for $10.
  
• I found a decent source for 6500k CFL's 100W equivalent bulbs for $10 for a 4 pack.

Personally..... I'm going with the 100W CFL's because I prefer BRIGHT!

[prodrumernate]

i was going to use it to put the wood on top of as a barrier.i have it turned so i can drop food at the top,that way i dont have to lift it..its just there to keep my fish from committing suicide as others have done in the past..mostly due to my lack of maintenance before.now ive got back into doing a major cleaning the past few weeks to lower everything and get the water more stable.plus i just went out and bought about 30 bucks worth of plants.to help with the water as well..that and im redoing my 10g divided to get an asian theme going..

but i do like the sound and image i get in my head with having 2 plates of glass on the top instead of wood.that way i can look down..the only lighting i have is 1 6500k bulb sitting outside the tank behind it shinning in.its doing great with what plants i have.infact they are more healthy than whats in my 2 10 gallons with 2 6500K bulbs..im now redoing all but my hex tank..thinking of just tearing down the 1 that houses my female betta and 2 female mollies.starting new and cleaning it

[MSG]

A lid is important to keep the evaporation/condensation to a minimum. Otherwise the constant exposure to moisture is going to destroy your custom hood.

Mold/Mildew is a sign you used the wrong material or prepped it wrong.


What is the "wattage" of that 6.5k light?
Make sure you mark it with the date on the bulb to indicate when it needs replacement.

OFL recommends every 10 months, but I'll let it go for 12 months unless I notice significant decrease in plant growth.

• The only way a fish can jump out of a tank is if the water level is TOO high. I always let the tanks water level run at least 1"-2" below the top. To prevent very curious fish from harming themselves.

• Just get the lid cut out first. Fine tweak it later after you know it FITS.

YouTube makes cutting/smoothing edges of standard panes of glass seem kind of easy, but I might have the guys @ the glass shop do that for me in the future if I need it done.

I don't like the thought of having glass powder on my hands & possibly ingesting the stuff if I don't clean up well enough.

[prodrumernate]

yes,its y i made 1..i want to buy 1.but after seeing the prices im like eeekkk..i think it was around 60 or 90 bucks for the 1 i needed.i can buy a new tank for that much.of course not hex.but i need 1.i make descent money so it wont hurt.

i had nothing to prep it correctly with.it was suppose to be a temp fix.and im not sure what kind of paint i can use on it that wont harm fish.

i think the wattage its a 10 watt bulb 40 watt replacement..i still have a bit of an algae problem and thought of upping the wattage...i didnt know my tank could handle more or i would have bought something bigger at the time.i have 6 of them.1 not in use..

i keep the water at the water level..on the hex its an inch below the top of the rim.but i wont add water until its about 3 inches or so below.infact i thought i lost a fish.comes to find out he has been stuck in a net that covers my powerhead filter.he had to of been there about 2 weeks.poor little guy..my dad and i just let him out.the fish that jump out are rosy red minnows/fathead minnows...not much info on them so im doing my own little research on them and going to post on other sites for help.these guys can jump..

i always use youtube for DIY projects.infact im on it constantly.even when going to sleep

[MSG]

The only aquarium safe paint I've heard of is the Krylon Fusion spraypaints.

I'm pretty positive when it comes to "construction" type skills, you should be more knowledgeable than moi.

Whatever you use that faces the tank shouldn't have any paint on it period. If it flakes, it can poison your fish.



IMO..... Hex tanks are not desirable due to their shape. The hex shape just doesn't fit in well with the layout of most rooms. They're even more a PITA if the "OEM" HEX accessories are missing ESPECIALLY the hood.

Fat Head Minnows......
The only way you'll keep those speed demons from jumping is to give them a ton of floaters to cover the surface & throw a glass lid on the tank. The piece of glass doesn't have to fit exactly, overlapping is fine. Hornwort, water lettuce, salvinia, frogbit would be good plants to use for cover on the surface.

If you don't have glass, get something that's NON-porous to sit on the top so if any of those brainless fish make a jump for it, they'll ricochet off the cover & bounce back into the tank.

* Since minnows are on the bottom of the food chain, instinctively they're going to be easily SPOOKED by any sudden noise/vibration. Also any time a large shadow approaches them that will also create another freakout session. Minnows are built for speed to escape larger fish and other predators such as /birds/frogs/turtles/crayfish/dragonflies, etc....

10W 65K is should be sufficient for a 5G-10G tank, but I prefer 20W & higher.
23W 65K is what I will use because I LOVE having the tanks nice & bright. Hope these 23W lights are manufactured well, because I don't want them burning out in under 6 months from defects/poor design.

[prodrumernate]

sorry for the late reply.i do know about the krylon fusion as i have made little decor before..and seen that info..they seem to be doing a lot better now that i have changed the water more frequently and got caught up on maintenance.

thehex tank i got for free.when a neighbor moved.they threw it away(sitting next to big dumpster and my dad noticed it) so i took it and did some major cleaning.let it sit outside in the phoenix desert sun during summer.i actually had to reseal it.

u seem to know a lot about minnows.i found 1 website of a woman keeping rosy reds/fatheads as pets..i did a little study myself..(dont put them with bettas)

i do want to get better lighting.i seem to still have trouble with algae.i got better at controlling it.but it still has spikes at time where the algae will consume my tank covering all the glass in a short period of time.actually today will be a clean up day.though not much algae at all.i must have done something rite ;)