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Innovative Marine Aquariums

DIY $1.98 FISH GUARD!


nor_cal_nano

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nor_cal_nano

Hopefully I'm not stepping on StevieT's toes by posting this. He makes wonderful, high-quality fish savers that are VERY reasonably priced but unfortunately for me, and I'm sure others out there, I need to save a buck wherever I can.

 

Below is a very simple how to concerning the gutter guard style fish saver. I have a BC 29.

 

Go to Home Depot and purchase some gutter guard. It comes in white and brown (at least at my local store). I went with the brown because the dark color doesn't stick out so much. Pic below.

 

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EDIT: Remove screen from guard. Also, remove any excess adhesive left over.

 

Cut off a piece of the gutter guard that is 18 1/4" in length. I used simple diagonal wire cutters.

 

Cut top of gutter guard down to a level where 3 1/2 diamonds show in a single, vertical column.

 

Begin cutting tabs in the clip side (left side in pic 1) that will allow space for the chamber walls (pic 2 and 3)

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PIC 1

 

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PIC 2

 

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PIC 3

 

Then, cut space in the guard trim to allow for the surface intake grate ON BOTH SIDES

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IMG_0786.jpg

 

Lastly, cut the tops of the guard at angle to allow space for the power cords.

IMG_0782.jpg

 

Umm, so that's it! Too easy..

 

Pics of fish saver installed

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Nice work. No worries the gutter guard and egg crate have always been an option. There are always other options out there and I only invented the commercially available option after being asked by a media basket customer. Oh and mine block fuge light ;)

 

Good cut job, nice and clean

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  • 1 month later...

Thank you for the tips! I just finished mine, also got the materials from Home Depot, I think it was like $1.69 though. Anyway, while cutting the notches out to separate the chambers, the guard cracked about 1" tall :angry: I super glued it back together, and I am now just waiting for it to cure before I put it in.

 

Cheers.

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  • 3 weeks later...

nice, i actually just made one similar to this today after i woke up and found my blue spotted jawfish in the back filter area, lucky for me he landed in that area and not the out of water tray,, but yea these are definitely important if you have a jawfish.

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