Kitty is playing in the fishtank constantly!

I've probably mentioned before that my almost 2 year old boy likes to play in the fishtank occasionally. Well, occasionally has turned into several times a day. He doesn't seem to be able to get the fish (thank god), but he will sit on the top of the fishtank and (he's doing it right now!) he will look down in the little hole between the cover and the filter, and then stick his paw way down almost to the bottom. Then he licks his paw and for some reason it always make him sneeze. Now, the condition of my fishtank is what I like to call "natural" and "pond-like". It has a lot of algae growing in it, and despite my cleaning efforts, it always comes back pretty quickly. But anyway, my question is, could the algae be bad for the cat if he gets some on his paw and then licks it?? and not to mention that it's probably throwing off the ph of the fishtank to have his paw in there all the time...but that's another issue. what can i do to keep him out of it?? behavior modification doesn't seem to work with him, and i've tried putting duct tape over the holes in the fishtank cover, and he just peels it off! any ideas?? thanks!

An Eclipse hood would work

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=3867

There is a clear plastic cover strip that comes with hoods for beween the hood and filters. We have that with little notches cut out for cords and the power filter. Our hood came from Petsmart.

the eclipse hood looks nice, however, i am not prepared to spend that kind of money on my fishtank, at least right now.

i will look at petsmart to see what they might have that could help.

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I don't know if this would work for your tank with the filter, but you could look for tank lids made for reptile tanks. They are made to keep snakes and things in.
When I had a (frog) tank with a glass lid and a round hole to lift the lid, my cat would always stick her paw in and fish around. One day she jumped up on the tank and the lid broke in half and fell in the tank, with her on top. She got soaked at after that she never tried jumping on the tanks again!

I am not sure about other types but I know blue-green algae is dangerous for pets.
Here is an article:
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/new..._who_swim.html

and a fact sheet:
http://oehha.ca.gov/ecotox/pdf/microfactsheet122408.pdf

Add an electric eel. He'll learn pretty quickly.

I also have a kitty who plays with the fish... oh well I did... he now can't get to them anymore. I put a piece of think clear plastic between the tank and the hood with a few small holes drilled into it. Now the tank is kitty proof he got bored of trying so now just ignores the tank altogether!

As for your algae, it sounds like your tank is getting too much sunlight! Try moving it to an area which it doesn't get too much for leave your light off during the day (or put it on a timer switch to come on and go off automatically!). It will make a difference to your algae growth!

Originally Posted by LawGuy

Add an electric eel. He'll learn pretty quickly.

Click to expand...

Or a piranha!

woke up this morning, and one of his toys was floating in the tank!