Cat (not Fish) Advice.

Probably going to buy a 40 breeder soon for my first aquarium in over a decade.

I have a cat now, and he's a pain. He will jump on top of the tank until he has decides it's no longer fun and there's not much I can do about it.

I intend to use a glass versa-top lid so I can add an LED light bar, but they seem pretty thin and I'm worried that he could break it. Plus the 40 gallon breeder top is about as big as versa-tops get, thus increasing the stresses on the glass. He's a normal-sized cat, about 11 lbs.

Anyone have experience with this? Should I go with the versa-top or should I possibly DIY the lid with thicker glass?

Thanks in advance.

 

My cat used to jump on it, till the moment there wasn't a lid on.
Splashhhhh. Never again

 

My cat used to jump on it, till the moment there wasn't a lid on.
Splashhhhh. Never again

Haha I'd prefer him not to learn the lesson the hard way. What kind of tank/lid did you have?

 

A plastic one.

 

My cat jumped on my sunfish tank. The versatop is a little small for the tank, so there's a gap.

Well, kitty's tail was hanging over the fish side and a fish decided to bite it...

 

My can jumped on my sunfish tank. The versatop is a little small for the tank, so there's a gap.

Well, kitty's tail was hanging over the fish side and a fish decided to bite it...

Seriously?! That's hilarious. My kitten always walked across the top until one day he ran over it and I had pulled a glass lid off ALMOST went in nose first.

To the initial question, I'd DIY one if your worried. My lids on my 45 are 1/4 glass, 4 pieces in total. (My tank has the centre brace) glass cost me maybe 30$ for all 4 pieces and then I just super glued black handles onto the front two pieces. They look like 100$ lids.

Or you wait for the cat to fall in.

 

I Had taken to using the spray bottle method. Every time I caught them up there they got sprayed. Combined with one cat knocking the lid aside enough to fall in, my 4 have stayed Off the top of the tank.

 

My cat used to jump on it, till the moment there wasn't a lid on.
Splashhhhh. Never again

My cat also learnt this lesson in the same way. Funniest thing ever :') she keeps a healthy distance now lol

 

Set a fall in trap. Let him fall in. Then put your top on it. With a spray bottle on hand. And post the video of h9m "figuring it out"...lol

 

Probably going to buy a 40 breeder soon for my first aquarium in over a decade.

I have a cat now, and he's a pain. He will jump on top of the tank until he has decides it's no longer fun and there's not much I can do about it.

I intend to use a glass versa-top lid so I can add an LED light bar, but they seem pretty thin and I'm worried that he could break it. Plus the 40 gallon breeder top is about as big as versa-tops get, thus increasing the stresses on the glass. He's a normal-sized cat, about 11 lbs.

Anyone have experience with this? Should I go with the versa-top or should I possibly DIY the lid with thicker glass?

Thanks in advance.

Tape! I can't believe I forgot about it. I used electrical tape sticky side up to keep him off the counters.

 

You can also make sure there is no "easy" path to the top of the tank. If they have to jump from the floor straight up with iffy landing most cats will pass on that.

 

my cat has broken several glass aquarium tops . I stopped buying glass tops and now use poly-carbonate green house panels . He also stopped after the 3rd time swimming lol.

 

my cat has broken several glass aquarium tops . I stopped buying glass tops and now use poly-carbonate green house panels . He also stopped after the 3rd time swimming lol.

3 times?? Wow. He either likes water or is that dumb...

 

I now have two open top tanks....I have 6 cats! They can't reach the top...or so I thought, I saw one of my cats had figured out a way to get to a cabinet so it could look out over the cichlid tank that he use to sit on top of, now that he can't sit on top of it anymore and he sees that he will fall in, he hasn't tried to get on top (luckily).... I have a 10 gal tank that they all could get into, I put one of those reptile cages on the top of it so if they do jump on, they'll get wet, but they won't fall in. The other 10 gal just has my old top to my 55 gal sitting on top of it, but they don't ever seem to be interested in that tank, there aren't big fish in it that catch their eye!

Usually if you play with your cat, they won't feel obliged to play with the fish

 

3 times?? Wow. He either likes water or is that dumb...

Hes very stubborn and likes to try to drink the running water

 

You can also make sure there is no "easy" path to the top of the tank. If they have to jump from the floor straight up with iffy landing most cats will pass on that.

My apartment is small so there is really no place I could put it where there isn't something he can jump from...besides that he can jump over 5 feet so I have little doubt he could make the jump from the floor.

Anyway I went to the petco today and had a look at the 40 breeder versa top. It's much thicker glass than any of the other versa-tops, which I don't think will have any problem supporting my cat's weight. My initial concern was based on the assumption that the 40 breeder top would be just as thin as the smaller versa tops I had previously seen.

I guess that solves my problem, but thanks for everyone's help.