I have made tops with kits from Lowes and Home depot. 12 feet of them. The kits Home Depot has have better corners. I got the screening from BRS.
How hard is it to make a screen lid
- Thread starter TinyWood
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I would go to Home Depot and buy egg crate ceiling panels. They come in 2'x4' sheets. They are easy to cut using a simple wire cutter. Cut to size and place on top.
This is an example. I'm not suggesting you purchase it here. Just wanted you to see what I was writing about.
Drop Ceiling Light Diffuser Egg Crate Style 24''x48''
Drop ceiling light diffuser in egg crate style made of plastic material with white color. False ceiling panel for grid lighting is 24'x48' for standard ceiling grid lighting. Apartment lighting, office lighting, basement lighting applications Delivery available for Buffalo, NY, all of WNY, and...
www.lencobuffalo.com
mfinn
likes zoanthids
I've tried just about all the kits, polycarbonate high end ones and diy and the one I like best is the DD Jumpguard kit.
Do you have a file for that feeding cutout? One of those would make my life so much easier.
@Dierks did all the 3d printing for me. My first attempt at a feed door, involved a few extra corners. It was terribly flimsy.
We have a 3D print archive here on reef2reef. There’s a bunch of helpful aquarium related Files for print there.
3d Printed Aquarium Parts Archive Thread
With all the different things being made and shared in the 3d printing world it can be really hard to find what is even available to us reefers. To help remedy that I thought I'd start an archive thread of all the 3d printed freely available parts I am able to find. This is only for parts that...
www.reef2reef.com
Ratherbeflyen
Well-Known Member
If you have access to a table saw or a router table, you can make you own out of 1.5" strips of 6mm acrylic, mosquito netting, and screen spline.
It's really easy if your top is all 90 degree corners, but with acrylic you can make custom cuts around anything you have protruding from the top. My return is over the back. So I used a hole saw to cut around it.
It's really easy if your top is all 90 degree corners, but with acrylic you can make custom cuts around anything you have protruding from the top. My return is over the back. So I used a hole saw to cut around it.
LadyMac
Freshwater sage fish whisperer
Agreed. I’m planning to buy from Octo aquatics simply because they are beautifully crafted.
o-townFLA
Active Member
$11 total for my DIY cover
www.reef2reef.com
DIY Tank Cover for $11
Made a DIY cover for the 40B for less than $11 Started off by purchasing a window screen kit at HD for $9 I then searched around for mesh at local retailers and found this at HobbyLobby on sale, 50% off at that. Total for 1sq yard was $1.30 Finished product -Matt
www.reef2reef.com
NorthSeaReefer
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Do you have any corals In your tank with a glass cover?I agree. I have used glass tops in the past without issue, as long as I cleaned the glass regularly, as you indicated.
My current tank is free standing (not against a wall) and everything, including the sump, is in the stand. I went with a sump that is covered to keep the moisture levels down in the stand, especially since I have the electrical equipment in the same stand.
I can report that the skimmer alone can provide sufficient gas exchange. In the winter when the house is colder, I use the glass tops to cut down on evaporation into the very dry home environment. However, in the summer with the house warmer, I switch to the screens to help keep the tank cool through increased evaporation and air flow over the tank.
Conclusion is that you can use either solution to cover your display adequately. As to cost, I would say that the screening kits are significantly less than the cost of a glass top, especially as you get into larger tanks.
Greybeard
2500 Club Member
I really, really wanted to leave my tank open top. Fish jump. I had to cover it.
I've got a fairly uniquesetup, and part of the attraction is the low height, rimless, high light, and 'bar' all the way 'round. An aluminum window screen just wasn't going to work.
#cromag27 , or Octo Aquatics, built me a beautiful screen top. Cheap? No, but man, it looks great.
I've got a fairly uniquesetup, and part of the attraction is the low height, rimless, high light, and 'bar' all the way 'round. An aluminum window screen just wasn't going to work.
#cromag27 , or Octo Aquatics, built me a beautiful screen top. Cheap? No, but man, it looks great.
This guy is Extra Salty
Active Member
took me a trip to the scrap bin and 10minutes of my time.
It takes time to measure for perfect fit, trial and error, when you cut, it cuts some off, over or under, I used a handheld drywall saw with metal cutting blade and some clamps, the dremil was bad, then I also have a rotary sander for a straight smooth cut. 7/16 better. Red sea has a kit, BRS, and marinedepot has the clear netting too. Also had to work around large areas to reinforce, the screen want to pull in upon itself. Reinforce large areas. I sprayed with flex seal after
Then you have to remember the huge loss of water to evaporation, you can cool a tank better if you have a fan blowing over top if your tank is running hot. I did that when I had metal Halide lights and no room for chiller, but remember to add fresh water.
MPS
Active Member
I recently redid mine. It's a screen door rebuild kit as others mentioned above. I spent $60 but that included a new hacksaw, blades and spline tool.
Tip: When doing this, do not stretch the material tight before installing the rubber spline. Mine made the frame warp because it has nothing to keep the frame in place.
Tip: When doing this, do not stretch the material tight before installing the rubber spline. Mine made the frame warp because it has nothing to keep the frame in place.
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