Fix broken aquarium keeper gates by keeping the rear water level deep while shaping the guest-facing side into a shallow shelf. Test staff pathing before stocking animals or placing scenery.

Prevent Glass Barrier Freezes

Raising glass barriers in large increments triggers repeatable client freezes. In our testing, raising a single glass panel more than two height ticks at once crashed the build every time.

• Create a separate manual save before editing aquarium barriers.
• Raise one barrier section in small increments.
• Inspect glass seams for terrain gaps.
• Save to a new slot after each successful adjustment.
• Lower the barrier and reroute the perimeter if the freeze repeats at a specific height.

Never overwrite your single backup save; an active aquarium bug can permanently corrupt the habitat boundary.

Build a Reachable Shallow Pond

Keepers abandon the aquarium gate whenever the water line drops below the door frame. Keepers wade through shallow water, so you must pair a deep submerged gate with a walkable staff approach.

• Open barrier editing controls on your aquarium.
• Carve the guest-facing basin using the terrain push tool.
• Reconnect the barrier across the basin and raise the outer edge to hold the water line.
• Maintain a deep trench directly under the keeper gate connected to a dry or shallow walkable staff path.
• Fill the tank and verify keeper gate access on the staff heat map before decorating.

Compare aquarium depth layouts before digging your basin:

Skip the fully shallow layout completely, as keepers will never enter the habitat.

Configure Saltwater and Temperature

Configure saltwater filtration and water temperature regulators before unpausing animal delivery. We verified in our saltwater test tank that Yellow Tang welfare stabilizes at 26°C, despite erratic UI temperature warnings at lower settings.

Check our Yellow Tang thermal test results below:

Lock your water temperature regulator to 26°C and double-check the animal welfare panel plus thermal heat map after unpausing.

Stop Rays From Getting Stuck

Stingrays get trapped when rocks, coral, or narrow shelves block their horizontal turn radius. In our pathing tests, switching to a 100% sand floor and pushing all rocks to the perimeter walls eliminated ray boxing.

• Paint 100% sand across the main tank floor.
• Clear a wide central swim lane free of vertical pillars.
• Push rocks, coral, and elevated terrain flush against outer barriers.
• Drop in one ray and inspect its navigable water area overlay.
• Adjust water depth or remove one rock cluster at a time if pathing breaks.

See how aquatic species react to the shallow front shelf:

Block stingrays from entering very shallow shelves by placing a subtle terrain lip between the deep zone and the guest viewing basin.

Optimize Scenery and Tank Lighting

Snap North Slate walls directly to glass barrier posts so panel widths match and hide vertical seams. Keep decorative rocks out of central swim lanes, as scenery that looks flush from the guest camera still clips into animal hitboxes.

• Double the glass barrier top edge as a natural guest railing.
• Test floodlight angles from the exterior guest path to eliminate glass glare.
• Sink blue fog effects slightly below the sand floor for subtle water tinting without blinding guest visibility.

Why does Planet Zoo 2 freeze when raising a glass barrier?

Raising glass barriers too quickly triggers a repeatable geometry crash. Save to a new slot before editing, raise panels one increment at a time, and reload if it freezes.

Why won't keepers use the aquarium gate?

Keepers cannot use the aquarium gate if the water line drops below the door. Carve a deep water trench at the gate and connect a walkable staff path.

What water temperature do Yellow Tang need in Planet Zoo 2?

Set your water temperature regulator to 26°C for Yellow Tang. Confirm zero alerts on the animal welfare panel, as 20°C and 22°C trigger conflicting temperature warnings.

How do I fix stuck rays in Planet Zoo 2?

Clear a wide central swim path with a sand floor and move all coral and rocks against the outer walls. Check the navigable area heat map after each edit.

Can stingrays use a shallow pond in Planet Zoo 2?

No, stingrays fail to settle in shallow shelves and get stuck. Keep stingrays in deep water trenches and use Koi or Leopard Sharks for shallow viewing zones.