Cats Jumping Up on Net

[lewis19]

Bit of an unusual one, but, one of my cats has realised it can jump up onto the net and play around and splash water everywhere and all over the glass/light. Which is very frustrating to have to clean everyday.

Has anyone had this issue before?

Looking at potentially changing the net lid to maybe like an egg crate style but not sure how this goes with letting light through and aesthetic wise

Any help is appreciated!

 

[TX_REEF]

Barbed wire?

Kidding!

That’s a tough one… egg crate won’t cause much interference with the light, just depends if you’re ok with the look of it.

 

[lewis19]

Barbed wire?

Kidding!

That’s a tough one… egg crate won’t cause much interference with the light, just depends if you’re ok with the look of it.

Haha he’s always been a troublemaker not even a year old…

Yeah thinking maybe getting a black egg crate and even just temporarily doing that at least it’s solid so cat cant reach the water

 

[VintageReefer]

Polycarbonate lid with vent holes
I know a guy if you need one

Or on Amazon you can get cat deterrent things. It’s like a dome that has a motion sensor and a squirt gun built in. Cat jumps up. Cat gets a harmless water spritz. Should only take a time or two for the cat to stop

 

[Llyod276]

There's a company who make you a lid, kraken reef. Both screen and an acrylic portion you can put over to keep the cat out. Luckily my wife's cat is too fat to try it, but I also run glass lids. Just incase

 

[VintageReefer]

There's a company who make you a lid, kraken reef. Both screen and an acrylic portion you can put over to keep the cat out. Luckily my wife's cat is too fat to try it, but I also run glass lids. Just incase

The kraken screen lid won’t help as he already has a mesh lid that doesn’t help. Kraken makes a solid cover for the screen portion but then your paying a large extra cost to get a mesh lid + piece to cover the mesh. Too bad they just don’t sell solid lids.

My guy I posted will save 100$ over kraken by making a custom polycarb lid with any needed cutouts and vent holes however/wherever you want

I bought a kraken for my Waterbox 15 and ran it for a year. It’s about to go on marketplace. Doesn’t meet my needs

 

[lewis19]

Polycarbonate lid with vent holes
I know a guy if you need one

Or on Amazon you can get car deferent things. It’s like a dome that has a motion sensor and a squirt gun built in. Cat jumps up. Cat gets a harmless water spritz. Should only take a time or two for the cat to stop

Not a bad idea, there’s a guy in Australia that custom makes them (although quite expensive). Does it being solid affect much? Or the holes do the job.

Might have to get the motion thing too that sounds like a good idea

 

[VintageReefer]

It has zero effect on the tank. I do reccomend some holes but you don’t need to go overboard

Well it does have effect but nothing negative:
Evap will reduce and tank will be more stable
Tank will get slight boost in insulation and temp will be slightly more stable, heater will come on less offen
Par will be reduced negligibly, may need to increase leds by 1-5%

That panel I posted is for a 75g tank, the tank needed 2. My cost was $130$ US for the pair

 

[Llyod276]

It has zero effect on the tank. I do reccom...

I'd imagine that the holes for cords and such would be sufficient. Some argue gas exchange, blah blah. But unless it's completely sealed, i dont see the issue... as long as the water is exposed to some kind of air gas exchange will happen.
Cleaning comes to mind though, the inital loss of par, yes, but it will drop more if its not cleaned regulary, salt creep dust and even more if it becomes a shelf...

 

[VintageReefer]

It has zero effect on the tank. I do reccom...

I'd imagine that the holes for cords and such would be sufficient. Some argue gas exchange, blah blah. But unless it's completely sealed, i dont see the issue... as long as the water is exposed to some kind of air gas exchange will happen.
Cleaning comes to mind though, the inital loss of par, yes, but it will drop more if its not cleaned regulary, salt creep dust and even more if it becomes a shelf...

I have these on all my tanks.

I completely agree gas exchange is not a concern so long as there’s some opening for cords, or a row or two of small holes

The undersides are self cleaning. As water droplets build up, they just drip back in the tank. There is never salt creep on the bottom because new evap is almost always building up and then dripping, it never dries out.

The top surface will get salt creep from us spilling, dripping, and not wiping up.

Dust can accumulate, but if you didn’t have this it would just end up in the tank, and I’d rather my tank to avoid the dust

Same for aerosol sprays - solid lids protect the tank from accidents

 

[Fish Fan]

Maybe you have one of these guys:

 

[CrayHawk]

I had to use this - cut to size and zip tied to the cover. Had the same problem.

Amazon product ASIN B09NLKML9V

 

[lewis19]

I have these on all my tanks.

I completely agree gas exchange is not a concern so long as there’s some opening for cords, or a row or two of small holes

The undersides are self cleaning. As water droplets build up, they just drip back in the tank. There is never salt creep on the bottom because new evap is almost always building up and then dripping, it never dries out.

The top surface will get salt creep from us spilling, dripping, and not wiping up.

Dust can accumulate, but if you didn’t have this it would just end up in the tank, and I’d rather my tank to avoid the dust

Same for aerosol sprays - solid lids protect the tank from accidents

Yeah nice, I think I’ll try get a piece of polycarbonate and make a lid myself. Hopefully goes okay. I think that’ll be the best solution will just have to keep up with making sure it doesn’t get dusty and stuff with the lighting

 

[UnnamedReef]

One thing you might want to try is aluminum foil around the edges of the tank's top. Cats HATE when their paws touch foil and it makes noise. I use it as a deterrent for areas in the house I want them to "learn" to stay off of. Would require some planning so you make sure it doesn't touch water or leak into the tank, though.

 

[Dr. D]

I was worried about my 15 lb cat taking a swim in the tank, and got a polycarbonate lid I’m happy with. Funny thing is the cat shows absolutely no interest in the tank, even when she’s on my lap looking at it. Birds, on the other hand, drive her completely bonkers.

 

[Tamberav]

Just remove the lid and when he falls in, he will self learn…

Then put the lid back, he will probably stay wary :)

 

[lewis19]

Just remove the lid and when he falls in, he will self learn…

Then put the lid back, he will probably stay wary :)

Have seriously thought about this!!

One thing you might want to try is aluminum foil around the edges of the tank's top. Cats HATE when their paws touch foil and it makes noise. I use it as a deterrent for areas in the house I want them to "learn" to stay off of. Would require some planning so you make sure it doesn't touch water or leak into the tank, though.

I’ve tried this! He doesn’t seem to be phased by it at all when I tried it previously.

I was worried about my 15 lb cat taking a swim in the tank, and got a polycarbonate lid I’m happy with. Funny thing is the cat shows absolutely no interest in the tank, even when she’s on my lap looking at it. Birds, on the other hand, drive her completely bonkers.

Think I’m just going to go with the polycarbonate, will draw one up in cad and get it laser cut. Will post results, hopefully…

 

[gbroadbridge]

Bit of an unusual one, but, one of my cats has realised it can jump up onto the net and play around and splash water everywhere and all over the glass/light. Which is very frustrating to have to clean everyday.

Has anyone had this issue before?

Looking at potentially changing the net lid to maybe like an egg crate style but not sure how this goes with letting light through and aesthetic wise

Any help is appreciated!

Just leave the net off -- the cat will learn fast.

:)

edit: Sorry someone else said it first.

Funniest thing to see when my cat did that about 30 years ago into my freshwater cichlid tank.
Never did it again.

 

[ReeferMadness1023]

Yeah nice, I think I’ll try get a piece of polycarbonate and make a lid myself. Hopefully goes okay. I think that’ll be the best solution will just have to keep up with making sure it doesn’t get dusty and stuff with the lighting

Not as hard as I thought! Just made one for my biocube. Granted mine has the net center. But solid would be even easier and Lowe’s actually cuts it for you for free. They can get you to any square size you want and than they make plexiglass jigsaw blades for the rest. I used some 100 grit wet sandpaper to smooth the edges out. Far from perfect but it’s super functional and didn’t cost an arm and leg nor did I have to wait a month for it.

 

[VintageReefer]

FYI Plexiglass should not be used

Polycarbonate is what you want