ClearView Aquarium Lids Master Thread - It all started RIGHT HERE!!!

[azbigjohn]

Visited your site. It seems that you make a lid for the Aqueon 40Breeder, but not the Aqueon 75 gallon. When will lids be available for 75 gallon tanks ?

They have a "custom lid" version on the website, that when you click you simply enter the length and width, and they will custom make it to any size. So they may not have a pre-made Aqueon 75 gallon ready, but they can make you one with the measurements.

 

[mfinn]

I got tracking info a couple days ago.

 

[FFKiwi]

Absolutely! Acrylic has it's benefits for sure, but lid service is not it. Warping is one of the biggest concerns of many with acrylic lids. Polycarbonate however is a more expensive and much more difficult material to machine than acrylic. The thin tabs we use to ensure a low profile on your tank are the other primary reason we went with polycarbonate. Done in acrylic, these tabs would break very easily since they are so thin. With the polycarbonate you could slam your lid on the floor, fling it against a wall, drive over it with your car and it would be VERY unlikely you would break the frame or tabs. The worst you would do likely is scratch it.

The 4th pic in the series above shows a pretty darn good view. The netting is attached in the customary screen frame fashion. It is splined into a shallow channel. In the event you damage the mesh it can be easily replaced with a spline roller and spline from your local hardware store.

And yes of course, I'll shoot you a PM with pricing for your tank.

Yay! Can they be done for tanks WITH rims too? I have a standard 75 gallon (common 48" size)

 

[SteadyC]

I got one, love it, great quality. Thanks for the awesome lid.

 

[VCVet]

I got one of these lids for my Red Sea Reefer 350 last summer with cutouts in the frame at the back for two Radion RSM brackets. I'm thinking of getting a multi light rail to hold three Radions but the RSMs then attach to the sides of the tank not the rear. If new cutouts are made in my frame on the left and right sides, how does the lid come on and off? Currently it just slides forward since the RSM brackets don't impede it.

An alternate idea would be to have three RSMs at the back but I would then need to add two new cutouts further to the sides, and have the middle RSM come out of the black overflow.

How easy is it to cut polycarbonate and in either scenario, would having 4 cutouts weaken the frame too much?

 

[VelasCorals]

I got one of these lids for my Red Sea Reefer 350 last summer with cutouts in the frame at the back for two Radion RSM brackets. I'm thinking of getting a multi light rail to hold three Radions but the RSMs then attach to the sides of the tank not the rear. If new cutouts are made in my frame on the left and right sides, how does the lid come on and off? Currently it just slides forward since the RSM brackets don't impede it.

An alternate idea would be to have three RSMs at the back but I would then need to add two new cutouts further to the sides, and have the middle RSM come out of the black overflow.

How easy is it to cut polycarbonate and in either scenario, would having 4 cutouts weaken the frame too much?

Thank you for your inquiry. I'll reach out to Adam to have him answer this one.

 

[VCVet]

You give the particulars of how you want it done. Each one is created individually. Make sure you plan for cables for your powerheads.

Mine goes around the overflow but the overflow lid has a punch out where the RSM bracket will fit nicely. I had 2 cutouts made to the right and left of the overflow for 3 RSM brackets.

 

[Ortho281]

I received my lid 2 days ago and I am very pleased with the quality of the work that went into building these. Mine unfortunately has a fitment issue around the overflow box which appears to be my fault. Apparently the front and rear glass of my rimless tank is bowed out slightly, which threw off the inner measurements I gave them. Also the overflow box itself is not square which makes the fitment even worst. So the lesson here is that on tanks with out bracing (i.e. rimless tanks) that are already filled with water, please check to make sure the glass is not bowed and adjust your measurements according if it is.

I made a few modifications to mine so that it fits better around my over flow and to allow feed door to sit flush with the rest of the lid.

 

[Midrats]

Mine can't get here soon enough! A fish launched himself over the wall again. Lucky for this one I was standing right next to the tank. My cat has abandoned the bird feeder window and now waits by the tank for jumpers

 

[DLHDesign]

Are the standard feed doors supposed to sit flush? Mine are cut out properly, but there is no knockout for the tabs:

EDIT: Never mind; I see that they are not.

 

[ITreeferVA]

Mine is in programming!! Stoked!!

 

[jolt]

TDSounds...are you still waiting or have you received your lid?

Have you ever received yours? I am still waiting since 11/22

 

[ArtFully Acrylic]

Have you ever received yours? I am still waiting since 11/22

Hi Jolt, we've sent you an email regarding your order's status. Your ClearView Lid will be the perfect addition to your Reef Savvy tank!

TDSounds' lid was shipped 8 days ago. twf0369 ordered late January so is still in process.

With the help of our shop staff working overtime through last weekend and this weekend coming we are now down to only a handful of orders older than 6 weeks. We are humbled and have great gratitude for the widespread adoption of our ClearView Lids and are working tirelessly to assure our turnaround and customer service/follow-up match up to the same standards as our products. Thanks to everyone for your support. We look forward to continuing our service to the hobby and fish everywhere!!

 

[jolt]

Hi Jolt, we've sent you an email regarding your order's status. Your ClearView Lid will be the perfect addition to your Reef Savvy tank!

TDSounds' lid was shipped 8 days ago. twf0369 ordered late January so is still in process.

With the help of our shop staff working overtime through last weekend and this weekend coming we are now down to only a handful of orders older than 6 weeks. We are humbled and have great gratitude for the widespread adoption of our ClearView Lids and are working tirelessly to assure our turnaround and customer service/follow-up match up to the same standards as our products. Thanks to everyone for your support. We look forward to continuing our service to the hobby and fish everywhere!!

Got it. Thanks for the followup. I'm excited to see my lid!

 

[ArtFully Acrylic]

Oh and I only had one side on! LOL!

What happened Rev? Looked too good after you put just one of your 3 lids on that you couldn't handle it any further? LOL. We wanna see full shots!

I've never heard of glass bowing. Only acrylic.

On the contrary Fishlee glass does INDEED also bow. In a rimless setup it won't bow as much as equivalent thickness acrylic would by comparison, but it does bow. As a popular example, most of the customers we have with Red Sea 525XL or 450 report measurements at the middle of the tank to be 1/4" greater than at sides. This equates to an average 1/8" bow per side at panel center on the front and back panels. The side panels, being less than 2' long, on the other hand will exhibit very little if any. Accounting for this deflection is part of why most of our ClearView Lids have support tabs that are at least 3/8" wide (except on tanks with thinner glass/acrylic).

Yay! Can they be done for tanks WITH rims too? I have a standard 75 gallon (common 48" size)

Absolutely they can. In this case we eliminate the support tabs as the lid is able to utilize your tank's internal lip for support. If your tank isn't listed on our named section you can go to the Custom Lids section and enter your needed lid dimensions to see which custom lid you need to order. If your tank has a center brace you would likely need two lids so would enter the size of each opening for the lid needed.

I got one of these lids for my Red Sea Reefer 350 last summer with cutouts in the frame at the back for two Radion RSM brackets. I'm thinking of getting a multi light rail to hold three Radions but the RSMs then attach to the sides of the tank not the rear. If new cutouts are made in my frame on the left and right sides, how does the lid come on and off? Currently it just slides forward since the RSM brackets don't impede it.

An alternate idea would be to have three RSMs at the back but I would then need to add two new cutouts further to the sides, and have the middle RSM come out of the black overflow.

How easy is it to cut polycarbonate and in either scenario, would having 4 cutouts weaken the frame too much?

VCVet, most RSR350 lids have a frame width of 2" which leaves about 1.5" on the outside of the spline channel. Any cutouts we recommend stay at least 1/2" away from the spline channel which leaves you with 1" to work with. RMS mount width varies dependent on the spacer you use when installing them. We get reports anywhere from 3/4" to 2" for cutout width for RMS mounts. With wider mounts we integrate wider frame space when programming fresh lids to compensate. Trying to modify post production indeed has limitations. If you operate within these limitations you should have no issue with frame weakening. Polycarbonate is exceptionally strong. Look at the support tabs on the lid you've had since last summer....they are 1/8" thick and extremely durable. Acrylic would break in a thin tab setup such as this.

Cutting polycarbonate can be tricky. It's a very 'grabby' material when cut with the right tools and will melt with the wrong tools. For at home modification, the most ideal tools would be a hand router with a flush trim bearing bit and a jig/template for your cutouts. Double sided carpet tape the jig/template to the lid, clamp lid down good and machine with flush trim bit. Some may/have given it a go with a dremel, but they spin entirely too fast so do melt material at point of cut. This can be managed in a pinch by manually sanding the rough cuts afterwards, but won't look as clean/professional as if done with a proper router.

The other alternative is to mail the lid back to us so we can secure it on the CNC table and precision machine your new cutouts. We offer this service for a nominal fee. We keep every single file for every single lid we program so we would still have access to your original cut file as well.

I made a few modifications to mine so that it fits better around my over flow and to allow feed door to sit flush with the rest of the lid.

Looking good Ortho! I see further in string you now have others asking about your fancy flush mod .

Mine can't get here soon enough! A fish launched himself over the wall again. Lucky for this one I was standing right next to the tank. My cat has abandoned the bird feeder window and now waits by the tank for jumpers

You are coming up on the cut schedule soon squarerigger! Keep the cat away just a bit longer! Lol!

Are the standard feed doors supposed to sit flush? Mine are cut out properly, but there is no knockout for the tabs:

EDIT: Never mind; I see that they are not.

Nope, I'd imagine Ortho's ingenuity above may have lead you to think that possibly . A CNC only machines one side of the material and all machining is done from the 'bottom' side of the lid for our production needs. To add knockouts for feed doors would require 2 sided cutting which adds a surprisingly extreme amount of complexity and time to the cut process for a comparably small benefit. Feed door tabs are only 1/16" thick (compared to main support tabs which are 1/8" thick) so don't impose or look ugly/out of sorts in any regard. Ortho is just showing off we think =P lol.

 

[Wildcats1023]

Can you PM me a price on a lid for marineland 220 with special cutout on 2 of the lids and feed door on the other lid?

 

[mfinn]

The issue I had was taken care of.
I'm totally happy with my top.

 

[twf0369]

Well, I received my screen top for my 233 and I'm not happy with several things.
I sent pictures in this morning and am waiting for a response.

What's wrong mfinn?

 

[DLHDesign]

As a popular example, most of the customers we have with Red Sea 525XL or 450 report measurements at the middle of the tank to be 1/4" greater than at sides. This equates to an average 1/8" bow per side at panel center on the front and back panels. The side panels, being less than 2' long, on the other hand will exhibit very little if any. Accounting for this deflection is part of why most of our ClearView Lids have support tabs that are at least 3/8" wide (except on tanks with thinner glass/acrylic).

My 525XL has 1/16" bowing out in the center. The lid I just received, however, does not fit - it has ~1/3" of a bow in - enough that the tabs don't sit on the back glass at all. I've emailed orders@ a few days ago, but have not yet heard a reply (should I send a PM instead?). My guess (hope) is that the netting pulled the lid inward too much and that simply replacing the netting (slightly less tight) fixes the issue... Still TBD.

Nope, I'd imagine Ortho's ingenuity above may have lead you to think that possibly .

Exactly. I just wasn't paying attention before my post. I can see how machining on two sides would be far more problematic than it might seem based on the end result - it takes me longer than one might normally expect to ensure the dove-tails in my woodworking align as well.

 

[ksfulk]

My 525XL has 1/16" bowing out in the center. The lid I just received, however, does not fit - it has ~1/3" of a bow in - enough that the tabs don't sit on the back glass at all. I've emailed orders@ a few days ago, but have not yet heard a reply (should I send a PM instead?). My guess (hope) is that the netting pulled the lid inward too much and that simply replacing the netting (slightly less tight) fixes the issue... Still TBD.

The exact same thing happened with mine - though the tension on the center frame made it easy to see that the frame was strung too tightly, and restringing it fixed the issue. Still had to wait a week for the turn around, but I think it was worth it. For what its worth, I called AA when I recieved mine and had the issue, and I had a return label within 20 minutes.