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Thread: How do you route cables into a tank without leaving a gap?

  1. #1
    Silod
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    Default How do you route cables into a tank without leaving a gap?

    Alright, I pretty much just created an account so that I could ask about this. I've tried Google and I've tried using forum searches and I haven't turned anything up. It's hard even to know quite what to look for.

    I've got a glass twenty-gallon tank with a screen top containing yellow/fire-bellied hybrids. The screen top consists of two screens set into tracks that slide back and forth. The tank contains maybe four inches of water and I've got a small submersible filter in there (who knows how much good it is doing, there is still a lot of substrate in the water from when I first got everything set up) and a little pump that is pushing water to the top of a hunk of driftwood for a waterfall.

    Question: How does one route electrical cables into such a tank without leaving a gap through which frogs might escape?

    I mean, the cables just exited out the corner of the tank and there was a gap where the lid closed against them. I didn't think it was wide enough to be an issue, but then a frog escaped and was never seen again, in spite of thorough efforts to locate him. So one of my housemates made a shim out of cardboard and duct tape and we secured that to the side of the tank and jammed it into the gap. This doesn't totally solve the problem, but the gap where the lid closes against the shim is smaller than the gap where the lid closed against the cables. No way could a frog slip through there. Or could one? In the last forty-eight hours, we've only been able to locate two of three. I poked my fingers into all the hidey-holes I could think of today while doing a water change and cleaning the filter out and still only turned up two frogs.

    The only thing left that I can think to do in order to prevent the escape of the remaining two frogs would be to tape the shim down over the gap, rather than putting it inside the gap. But surely there is a more sophisticated way to approach this than taping cardboard into place? How are folks intended to route cables into tanks with screen tops? Am I totally missing something?

    Maybe I should have just stuck with fish. Fish don't climb.

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  3. #2
    100+ Post Member Louis Charles Bruckner's Avatar
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    Default Re: How do you route cables into a tank without leaving a gap?

    I have used a non toxic putty to seal up holes that crickets escaped from on a eco-tera.



  4. #3
    Super Moderator flybyferns's Avatar
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    Default Re: How do you route cables into a tank without leaving a gap?

    Quote Originally Posted by Silod View Post
    Alright, I pretty much just created an account so that I could ask about this. I've tried Google and I've tried using forum searches and I haven't turned anything up. It's hard even to know quite what to look for.

    I've got a glass twenty-gallon tank with a screen top containing yellow/fire-bellied hybrids. The screen top consists of two screens set into tracks that slide back and forth. The tank contains maybe four inches of water and I've got a small submersible filter in there (who knows how much good it is doing, there is still a lot of substrate in the water from when I first got everything set up) and a little pump that is pushing water to the top of a hunk of driftwood for a waterfall.

    Question: How does one route electrical cables into such a tank without leaving a gap through which frogs might escape?

    I mean, the cables just exited out the corner of the tank and there was a gap where the lid closed against them. I didn't think it was wide enough to be an issue, but then a frog escaped and was never seen again, in spite of thorough efforts to locate him. So one of my housemates made a shim out of cardboard and duct tape and we secured that to the side of the tank and jammed it into the gap. This doesn't totally solve the problem, but the gap where the lid closes against the shim is smaller than the gap where the lid closed against the cables. No way could a frog slip through there. Or could one? In the last forty-eight hours, we've only been able to locate two of three. I poked my fingers into all the hidey-holes I could think of today while doing a water change and cleaning the filter out and still only turned up two frogs.

    The only thing left that I can think to do in order to prevent the escape of the remaining two frogs would be to tape the shim down over the gap, rather than putting it inside the gap. But surely there is a more sophisticated way to approach this than taping cardboard into place? How are folks intended to route cables into tanks with screen tops? Am I totally missing something?

    Maybe I should have just stuck with fish. Fish don't climb.

    Silod,
    Would it be possible to post photos of the lid?
    Please include photos of the trim ( edge) ; inside and out where it hangs over the top of the tank.

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  5. #4

    Default How do you route cables into a tank without leaving a gap?

    Trim a hole in the screen, push your wiring/hoses through, fill any remaining gap with aquarium filter floss.
    1.0.0 Oophaga Pumilio 'Black Jeans'
    0.0.10 Phyllobates Vittatus
    0.0.3 Phyllobates Terribilis 'Mint'
    0.0.3 Dendrobates Tinctorius 'Patricia'
    0.0.5 Dendrobates Leucomelas
    0.0.2 Dendrobates Tinctorius 'Powder Blue'
    0.0.2 Ranitomeya Variabilis 'southern'
    0.0.3 Epipedobates Anthonyi 'zarayunga'
    1.2.0 Phyllobates bicolor
    0.0.3 Dendrobates tinctorius 'azureus'
    0.0.1 Avicularia Avicularia
    0.0.1 Gramastola porteri
    0.2.0 Canines
    1.0.0 Tabby/Maine Coon Mix
    2.1.0 Genetics Experiments
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  6. #5
    maxQ
    Guest

    Default Re: How do you route cables into a tank without leaving a gap?

    Ive also used aquarium silicone, no?

  7. #6

    Default How do you route cables into a tank without leaving a gap?

    You can use silicone, but then you have to cut it out any time you need to remove the top completely or replace equipment, ect.
    1.0.0 Oophaga Pumilio 'Black Jeans'
    0.0.10 Phyllobates Vittatus
    0.0.3 Phyllobates Terribilis 'Mint'
    0.0.3 Dendrobates Tinctorius 'Patricia'
    0.0.5 Dendrobates Leucomelas
    0.0.2 Dendrobates Tinctorius 'Powder Blue'
    0.0.2 Ranitomeya Variabilis 'southern'
    0.0.3 Epipedobates Anthonyi 'zarayunga'
    1.2.0 Phyllobates bicolor
    0.0.3 Dendrobates tinctorius 'azureus'
    0.0.1 Avicularia Avicularia
    0.0.1 Gramastola porteri
    0.2.0 Canines
    1.0.0 Tabby/Maine Coon Mix
    2.1.0 Genetics Experiments
    0.1.0 Bed Bully

  8. #7
    GreenTree
    Guest

    Default Re: How do you route cables into a tank without leaving a gap?

    I hate this problem!! Ive run into it a few times...ironically enough the firebellies are always the ones to escape!! SUCH GOOD CLIMBERS!!! I eventually started making my own custom made lids made out of window screening/framing from home depot with the roller tool with NON RUST screening. You an cut the frame with a hacksaw to your desired measurement to limit your hole size pretty much where its so tight you have to sqeeze the cords in with a bit of force and you can buy the tank lid clips at the petstore or any online market to hold the new and improved lid down and secure and it works fine. If you are not good at PRECISE and small measurements you can also route the cords through PVC piping and do the same outlook. (soak your pvc piping in vinegar to minimize the risk of the toxic plastic exposure to your frogs for 24 hours) It should at MOST cost you about 45 dollars if you have some of the tools at home to have the professional look that is very easy to accomplish. (I can walk you step by step with at most 1 hour time phrame assembly) The cheap method would to follow bills advice with the aquarium filter floss. Its not as eye apealing but it should prevent the firebellies from making the climb of death. Best of luck.

    EDIT: If you have a sliding screen and the window phraming is TOO THICK. You can use an extra length of frame and use L-brackets with 2 screws per side and secure and L shaped lid to hide those holes as well. Its a fun project =)

    GreenTree

    Links for items used:

    CLIPS
    SCREENING & TOOL KIT
    WINDOW FRAMING
    HACKSAW
    TAPE MEASURE
    L-BRACKET
    ALUMINUM SCREWS
    Last edited by GreenTree; February 24th, 2014 at 10:40 AM.

  9. #8
    Silod
    Guest

    Default Re: How do you route cables into a tank without leaving a gap?

    Thanks for the response, everyone. I'm not sure whether I am relieved or frustrated to find that I don't seem to have missed something ridiculously obvious. Indeed, I would prefer to avoid the use of a putty or silicone, as I do need to slide the screen open regularly to service the pump. Originally, I thought it would be no issue to just clip a small opening in the screen, but when it came down to actually doing it, I realized I would have to make any hole large enough to fit a plug through, so I decided not to go that route.

    I found some black duct tape and just put it over the top of the gap. This actually turned out to be quite discreet - barely noticeable at all.

    I'm sorry, Lynn, that I sort of just blew off your request for images. I do have a camera, but it didn't seem worth the trouble taking and uploading a photograph. Y'know how sliding closet doors are set into a pair of tracks within a door frame? The screen top on this tank is pretty much exactly like that. Just as if you wouldn't be able to shut your closet door flush against the wall if you ran an extension cord into the closet, the screen is butting up against the cables for the pump and filter.

    Either way, problem solved. Thanks to all.

  10. #9
    Silod
    Guest

    Default Re: How do you route cables into a tank without leaving a gap?

    Quote Originally Posted by GreenTree View Post
    I hate this problem!! Ive run into it a few times...ironically enough the firebellies are always the ones to escape!! SUCH GOOD CLIMBERS!!!
    Yeah, what the heck! They do seem to be climbing a LOT less since I upgraded them to their twenty-gallon and their enthusiasm also seems to be abating as they get larger (they're now about half grown). At first, though, it was as if it were their collective lifelong dream to be tree frogs!

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