Tank divider

[Hawks]

Have a problem with 6 discus and two are now a pair. They are beating up the other fish. need to make a divider for a 48 gl breeders tank 18/17 size. Anyone have some ideas? Another tank right now not a option

[Rob321]

I have two tank dividers that I made myself from materials purchased at a home renovation store. One is made of Lexan (see thru) and the other is made of corrugated plastic (opaque). Both sheet materials are relatively rigid, and about 1/8” thick.

Lexan is a polycarbonate (plastic), which is clear like glass, yet soft enough to work with hand or power tools. I’ve peppered mine with drill holes to allow for lots of flow through.

Corrugated plastic is designed to look just like corrugated cardboard, but instead of wood fiber it is made of plastic. It has smooth outer surfaces layered over perpendicularly aligned segments, which offer considerable stiffening for the actual amount of material.

I have found that the easiest way to secure a divider within my tank is to make the divider a little bit wider than the internal width of the tank (~1” wider), so that it can be wedged between suction cups, which are secured on the front and rear glass of the tank.

[csarkar001]

a lot of people on this forum have had success with egg crate and suction cups as well. the egg crate is a little difficult to cut, however.

[joanr]

Poret foam, light diffuser crating from hardware store. It really depends on if you want to breed the pair and keep the fry on one side, or if you are just looking to separate the fish. Eddie had a great idea about splitting flexible tubing and securing in around the edges, it forms a secure cushion to keep the grating in place.

[Rob321]

Do you want the fish on either side to be able to see each other or not?

One benefit of using the corrugated plastic sheet is that it acts as a visual barrier between the fish that you’ve separated. I've calmed down a spawning pair that continued to violently squabble through a clear divider for days by putting the opaque divider between them. After a few days without being able to see each other the pair had calmed down and had seemingly “forgotten” about the reason they were fighting. I was then able to reunite them without all the fighting going on.

[joanr]

Does the corrugated plastic sheet allow water to flow thru both sides or do you have to keep it lower than the water level to allow circulation? I think ther Poret foam serves three purposes. It divides the tank snuggly with a blinder effect, allows circulation and also acts as a filter media to an extent. It also keeps fry ( or supposedly) on the one side of the tank. I've never used it but it's an interesting concept.

[Rob321]

The corrugated plastic sheet is solid and doesn’t let water pass through. However, I position it so that it sits about ½” up off the tank bottom, and since the side edges are propped on top of the outer edges of the suction cups there is probably about 1/16” clearance for water flow on the sides. So because of those gaps it wouldn’t be good enough to restrict fry from getting through.

I had only recently read about using poret foam as a tank divider here on SimplyDiscus. It looks like it would work really well to keep fry on one side, and if the piece used is thick enough I imagine that it would be quite rigid and stay in place without having to use any suction cups.

[Hawks]

Sorry I havent reply yet, I think Im going to try Joanr idea with eddies plan using the tubing to secure the egg create. I dont care if the fry get eaten. Thanks for all your advise with this. Steve

[joanr]

You are more than welcome, all the options have been tried and proven so you should be able to do the divider with little problems.

[Hawks]

Just thought i would show the divider that i made. so far all good with the fish

[joanr]

See, you did a great job. Just keep in mind that like everything else in the tank you will have to clean the suction cups and the grate itself can be wiped down during water changes. If that pair get going, you will probably want to give them their own tank and see if you can get wrigglers, that's if your interested in having a brood to raise, lots of hard work but loads of fun also.