How it all Started 6, The Importance of Tank Covers

They say a picture is worth 1000 words, so how bout 2000?

This is my second fish death. First fishaside or jumper. Now who says catfish don’t jump?


And the space the fish managed to jump through… Pretty amazing. Bummer, I’m now down to 45 fish. I based my guess about where the fish jumped from on the landing position which can be seen as a wet spot by the valve in the photo to the right.

It is important that all backyard Aquaponics Practitioners provide fish tank covers, Not only to stop what I pictured above from happening but also to keep small children and larger pets out of your fish tanks. Additional benefits of fish tank covers include;
Keeping leaves and debris from falling into the fish tank,
Keeping sun out of your fish tank (avoid the pea soup stage,)
And providing security.

I have added locks to my fish tank covers in many cases. Cattle Panels make a pretty good cover materials that plastic, netting, or shade cloth can be attached to. Zip ties are good for attaching netting or shade cloth. Now days I have several layers of black shade cloth over the netting on my big fish tank.

Here are the pictures of the measures I took to secure the waterfall tank better. I moved the plastic and fence panel cover down past the waterfall screen and in the areas where the fish tank cover didn’t reach, I added netting which also allows a convenient place to drop feed in for the fish.
A fish tank cover need not block out all light, just most of it. Fish don’t need sun but they do need to be able to tell night from day. Netting can protect sections of tank where the cover isn’t adequate and provide a way to view fish and feed fish without needing to lift the cover.

For those who wish to go read the detail version check out my original system thread. BYAP System Thread Pages 36-37 (April 27, 2008) are the time frame for this Blog post.