Custom lid

[Reefaddict1979]

Looking to buy a custom screen lid for my aquarium


Where did you buy yours from

 

[ZoWhat]

Home depot or Lowes.....buy eggcrate light defuser

 

[Daniel Morales]

The Home Depot.

 

[Reefaddict1979]

Home depot or Lowes.....buy eggcrate light defuser

Don’t really want a light defuser. Feel it blocks too much light

 

[Reefaddict1979]

The Home Depot.

What materials did you use

 

[Daniel Morales]

What materials did you use

Literally just window screening material.I asked which screen allowed the most light though.

 

[Daniel Morales]

I cut it like crap but it works very nicely

 

[Daniel Morales]

Easy and cheap.Tools needed spline roller and a hacksaw.

 

[Daniel Morales]

I think it Blocks some light but I dont run my light anywhere near 100% more like 50%.Anyways and the SPS I do have are doing just fine and growing well.

It also allows heat to escape.

 

[Grsfish]

Bulk reef supply screen and buy window screen parts at Home Depot

 

[Billdogg]

Bulk reef supply screen and buy window screen parts at Home Depot

^^^This^^^

Regular window screen material blocks a surprising amount of light. Just take a look at the photos posted above and you can easily see that the part of his hand under the screen is much less lit that his exposed skin. As fine as it is, it will also quickly collect salt creep and block even more light. Can that be partially corrected by turning up the power (on LED's anyway)? Sure, but that is, at best, counter-intuitive.

Unless you have only larger fish, eggcrate is a poor choice as well. Not only does it block some of the lighting (it is, after all, a light diffuser panel), being that the open squares are ~1/2" in size, it won't stop many reef-sized fish from jumping. In fact, my experience is just the opposite. It seems like many fish like to use the openings as a means of escape, only to find themselves stuck on top and quickly drying out under the lights.

IMHO, the easiest and least expensive option that actually does what we want it to do - keep the fish in while blocking the minimum amount of light from getting to the corals - is as mentioned above. 1/4" clear netting (available from BRS and many other online retailers) and anodized aluminum window screen frame from HD/Lowes.

Although this does not show the entire top of my tank, you can see how I made two sections for each side. The narrow section in the back has a couple small slits in the mesh to allow for power cords, and the larger front sections are easily removable for tank maintenance.

HTH!

 

[Reefaddict1979]

Not that handy was kind of looking for a company to build it for me. Got one quote from octolids. They want $465 to build 3 kids to fit on my 265

That was a little more than I wanted to spend

 

[mfinn]

Artfully Acrylic built mine.

 

[Katrina71]

@cromag27 does utterly beautiful work!

 

[Reefaddict1979]

Yes I got 2 quotes both over 400

Not paying 400 for plastic and screen [emoji52]

 

[Dr RBG]

New
Artfully Acrylic great work

 

[Daniel Morales]

Just changed from screen material from regular screen 1/8 .To clear mesh netting 1/4 found on amazon by Far edge aquatics. Turned out nice we will see if i need to turn lighting down.

 

[dugthefish]

For you guys using the mesh netting, is that stuff strong enough to support a 15# housecat?

 

[spartanman22]

My lid was from Artfully Acrylic. It is gorgeous extremely sturdy and well built. The product is expensive but great. With that being said, Artfully Acrylic has some of, if not the worst, customer experience I have ever experienced in any purchasing scenario. I explicitly requested certain criteria be made on my dimensions, they confirmed my request via email, but proceeded to build it incorrectly, ignoring my dimensions. They then did not answer any calls, respond to PM’s or emails. So I paid like $280 for a lid that, although technically fits on top of my tank, is incorrect in the specifications I requested, and required me to make equipment modifications to my build.

I would recommend either the DIY route, works well but less aesthetically pleasing, or another custom lid builder.