# DIY tank divider substitutes



## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

i have a 5 gal tank i divided. i have fake plants and real ones and i have a cfl 15watt light for the plants. i have enough items to block direct line of sight for the divider. id like to double up my divider but it could mess with water flow. ive used crafting mesh and plastic binders for the dividers.

i have an idea i can use to block the view on the divider. a friend of mine has a gazebo with black fiberglass mesh screen. he's installed the gazebo by himself and maybe some helpfrom another person. he said he probably has a unused cut section of it. is fiberglass AQ safe? if i cant i'll have to rely on a crowded tank. i dont know if the FBG mesh screen has antifungal properties. thats my biggest worry about it atm.


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

Dunno about that stuff but I use polyfiber screen door mesh in tanks. I'm not exactly sure what it is labeled as but I get it from fleetfarm. Its black and comes in a roll for a few dollars. 

Also if you just have large fish taking a UGF plate and standing it on its end often works as a divider.


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

Do I understand correctly you have 5 gallons thats already divided and you want to divide it again? What do you plan on putting in such a small space?


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## zof (Apr 23, 2010)

While as it being glass it should be safe, the fact is fiberglass is extremely small strands of glass formed together. Small strands have a habit of breaking and while not visible if ingested by your fish could cause injury, I think the chance is pretty low because of manufacturing processes but its not worth the risk to me.

Quickest option to reduce visibility is to create another divider and just offset the holes so that way the holes are blocked by the other mesh, of course it will use a bit more space but seems like the easiest method.


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

Please ignore my other post I went back and re-read your post and now I understand. LOL I am running on about 2 hours sleep last night. ; )


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

thank you, i have another sheet of crafting mesh set aside just for this issue, i could slide another sheet in with the current one. i know it will block some water flow if i do that. i have about 20 stalks of anacharis/egeria densa i plan to put a line of them on both sides of the divider. i have an anubias and sufficient silk plants to block/occupy both sides of the tank. whould that usually do the trick before going to a second divider?

i'll look around at hardware stores for polyester mesh screen i like the idea of using polyester mesh screen and putting it on both sides of the divider.thats one option i'll definetely look into.


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

nel3- Have you ever thought about useing a piece of plexiglass with small holes drilled in it? I use to do this when I had alot of bettas and it looked really nice because it was see threw.


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

@calmwaters: i did consider plexiglass at one point but i was looking for a cloudy plexiglass. any plexiglass alone was +$25 for just the sheet, add in $5 per cut it would've reacked up pretty fast. i didnt want to spend too much to make the divider. had i found a suitable cloudy one for the right price i would've gone that route. my main goal in the first place was to inhibit the bettas from seeing each other to a reasonable degree. solid black plexiglass for the right price would've been nice if i found it on the market.


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## Calmwaters (Sep 2, 2009)

Wow here at lowes you can get a small sheet that would make two dividers for I think $15.00 and they will cut it for you for free. You could probably sand it a little with some sand paper to make it cloudy looking.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## nel3 (May 29, 2011)

Calmwaters said:


> Wow here at lowes you can get a small sheet that would make two dividers for I think $15.00 and they will cut it for you for free. You could probably sand it a little with some sand paper to make it cloudy looking.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 amazing price for that product, theres alot of stuff in Canada that charges much more than USA for the exact same product .


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