aquarium Lid

[BrackishMaster]

hello, im new to the forum and looking forward to all the information

Im new to reefs, about 6 months, i've done brackish for several years with great success as well as freshwater. I recently converted my 75 gallon marineland into a reef tank from freshwater, I took everything out of a 40 gallon breeder that I purchased 5 months ago ( was established idk how long before i bought it) and put it into the new tank . live rock substrate, media in the new hob. put the octo hob 1000 skimmer on it and bam. just finished a little mini cycle and everything is looking great, parameters and all.

so for the diy portion since this is the diy thread. My lights sit directly on the current glass lids. i have two blackboxes ( keep in mind i have no idea about reef lighting hardware) im having to remove the lights and then lift the lid to feed or do anything.

im cotemplating making a tight lid ot of acrylic with several openings using acrylic hinges. i think 1/4 should be thick enough and i can route out around the hob skimmer and filter.

the lights i would like to put on risers or hinged panels. i may need to go with thicker acrylic to achieve this. has anyne made custom lids like this?

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Lids have a tendency to warp so most don't use them, AND gas exchange happens @ the water surface & a lid lessens effectiveness. A screen is what most use to prevent jumpers.
Some lights have legs or hang from the ceiling making feeding easy.

 

[BrackishMaster]

Lids have a tendency to warp so most don't use them, AND gas exchange happens @ the water surface & a lid lessens effectiveness. A screen is what most use to prevent jumpers.
Some lights have legs or hang from the ceiling making feeding easy.

I could put vents in the top , but i may get an eel in the future and would assume it would jump out lol

 

[laverda]

Acrylic is not a good choice for a lid, because it will warp. You want to use polycarbonate is a better choice. Netting is better in most cases then any flat sheet as it allows for air exchange and is less likely to get algae growing on it due to water collecting on it. You can use aluminum window screen frames to make a top. Just use 1/4" clear netting in place of the screen. For a more complex top use polycarbonate to make a frame to hold 1/4" clear netting in with window screen spline rubber.

 

[BrackishMaster]

Acrylic is not a good choice for a lid, because it will warp. You want to use polycarbonate is a better choice. Netting is better in most cases then any flat sheet as it allows for air exchange and is less likely to get algae growing on it due to water collecting on it. You can use aluminum window screen frames to make a top. Just use 1/4" clear netting in place of the screen. For a more complex top use polycarbonate to make a frame to hold 1/4" clear netting in with window screen spline rubber.

Solid advice , i would have to make a frame to support the lights still. Ill most likely weld some aluminum fixture to hold my lights