Alternative to glass top/egg crate?

shawna1972

shawna1972

Member
I was sitting here thinking about what kind of top I could put on my tank. I hate glass>salt creep/Heat ,And egg crate my blenny jumped through it last year!
What if I cut plexi glass to fit top of tank and drilled smaller holes would this work or crack?
Does anyone have any ideas that would work?
Thanks
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
How about screen material? One guy on this site used that and said it worked good. He had problems with eggcrate too.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
What size is your tank? I made an acrylic top (1/4") for my 29 biocube. At first did not put any hole in it but since this picture have put around 40 or so in it for gas and heat exchange. Here are a couple of pictures.

 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Personally both of mine are open top as I believe this helps in gas exchange and reduced heat build up from my metal halides but also causes evaporation and I have no jumpers that I keep in my tanks.
You COULD do a plexi glass/acrylic top and drill holes but it will build with humidity and drip (which may be ok for you) and build salt creep/fog so the amount of light going through might not be what you want. Another possibility would be a screen material/mess but just don't go with a metal one
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Just to let you know I also made a pond netting top for my tank. My yellow head jawfish jumped right through it. 3/8" pond netting. Here is a picture.

 
shawna1972

shawna1972

Member
Its a 125 >72" long by 18" Great Idea! Thanks for the idea .Yeah I was thinking on the lines of what Flower said screen material >that retracts that would be awesome!
 
shawna1972

shawna1972

Member
Sounds good but I'd really like to try to figure out how to make it retractable "can't be to hard" < lol I just hated the eggcrate I had to adjust it just right to get it out from under my light to do water changes ect.. I'd rather push a screen up and out of my way while feeding ect..
 
shawna1972

shawna1972

Member
ahhh sorry spanko. I know what ya mean I loved my blenny and when I found him on the floor lifeless ,I'm thinking how the hell did he get through that eggcrate lol Its not funny but Im just saying he had to do a straight jump at just the right angle.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by shawna1972
http:///forum/post/2996430
I was sitting here thinking about what kind of top I could put on my tank. I hate glass>salt creep/Heat ,And egg crate my blenny jumped through it last year!
What if I cut plexi glass to fit top of tank and drilled smaller holes would this work or crack?
Does anyone have any ideas that would work?
Thanks
Okay I am only going to jump in here once more and then I will shut my pie hole.
Be aware that pond netting with 3/8" holes will not keep your fish from jumping out. There is a post on another site where a bluespotted jawfish that was in the tank with this type of top jumped through it after 1 year. My yellow headed jumped out after 3 days. Anything smaller IMO is going to start to block your lighting.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/2996481
Okay I am only going to jump in here once more and then I will shut my pie hole.
Be aware that pond netting with 3/8" holes will not keep your fish from jumping out. There is a post on another site where a bluespotted jawfish that was in the tank with this type of top jumped through it after 1 year. My yellow headed jumped out after 3 days. Anything smaller IMO is going to start to block your lighting.
Whatever you do...do not shut your pie hole! we need your imput!
Lighting...I hadn't thought of that. Is it possible to kind of cross the netting with the eggcrate making smaller openings, or do you think that will do the same thing as the smaller netting?
 
shawna1972

shawna1972

Member
Spanko I want your imput! :) my tank has the nova extreme pro lights with the docking legs so I cant open a lid to feed /water changes ect.. so I actually have to take the lid "whatever that might be off" to do what I need to do but it's a pain! I'm still thinking I may have to use plexi/acrylic but if I can use some kind of screen that might work better
also my tank is going to be set up fowlr for now and possiably just some xenia.
 
reefraff

reefraff

Active Member
Acrylic cuts very little light so if you keep it clean it should work well. I like the idea of drilling holes in it. That would really help with gas exchange but too many holes might seriously compromise the structural integrity. For a 72" tank I would probably make the top in 3 pieces. That would allow for more holes without having the piece crack and make it a lot easier to access the tank too.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
I'll try to take a picture of my top with the holes drilled in it this evening. The other thing about what reef said about three sections, I don't know how many cross braces you have on the tank but you might try to make the sections so that if needed they can be supported by the braces. This is case the acrylic sags some.
 
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