SCREEN TOP ADVISE

[JNalley]

Some updates to the info here with changes that have been made over the last year. We now use 3/8" polycarbonate, which is thicker than what Top Lids uses (I believe they use 8mm or something slightly thinner than 3/8") and most likely Clearview uses 3/8" as well. We also build lids up to 38" wide in a single piece (yes some that size and under are offered as a two piece, but that is due to customer preference).

Good to know... Back when I got the lid for my daughter's Fluval Flex 32.5 you guys couldn't make it a single piece...

 

[topjimmy]

I just read a thread the other day and a guys wife tried to clean the light shade on his light fixture with soap and some dripped in and it killed his entire tank of fish and half his sps. Solid lids prevent accidents like this

Tank size decision

Hey guys. I’m currently running a 6x2.5x2.5 feet sps dominated tank. Few days ago my wife decided it was a good idea to help clean my light covers with soap and the soap fell in to the tank and killed all my fishes + half my sps corals. Rather than restock, I’ve decided to take the opportunity...

www.reef2reef.com

So does common sense.

 

[VintageReefer]

So does common sense.

Sadly our own common sense does not absorb into others through osmosis.

I don’t need to worry about my absent minded mother in law walking by my tank and spritzing herself with perfume, or cleaning accidents, or a clumsy friend spilling a drink into a tank.

And the old saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…

 

[topjimmy]

Sadly our own common sense does not absorb into others through osmosis.

I don’t need to worry about my absent minded mother in law walking by my tank and spritzing herself with perfume, or cleaning accidents, or a clumsy friend spilling a drink into a tank.

And the old saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure…

I have a cover too, not anti cover. I bought one from a different Etsy shop for my 75. Has a ton of holes in sort of an X pattern. Cutouts were free, $100 shipped.

 

[braaap]

So, you can go a few different routes, one of which you've already tried, making your own from Hardware store parts. But, using regular window screen is going to reduce your PAR from your lights immensely (even the clear 1/4" stuff that RedSea and others use reduce par by as much as 10-15%, with black/grey window screen, you're probably looking at a 40-50% reduction or more).

You can do one of the DIY kits, which sell extra parts for light mount cutouts, but there's no reason to believe that you will have any better luck cutting these than you did your own from the hardware store.

Lastly you can have someone make you some custom acrylic/polycarbonate + Screen tops.

TopLids - Expensive, takes forever, and their customer service has been lacking as of late according to a few forum conversations currently going on

Clearview Lids - still a relatively long lead time, and they use a really thick piece of polycarb or acrylic, but they come in slightly cheaper, and have more options than TopLids, and they can make their screentops longer than 24" without having to split into two tops, this is who my top is currently made by.

KrakenReef - The cheapest of the bunch, aesthetically not as cool as the other two, but definitely function well, use a thinner, and therefore lighter weight polycarbonate than the other two, but anything over 24" has to be cut into multiple pieces (So a 36" tank will be 2 18" pieces rather than 1 single piece).

If I was making the choice today, knowing what I know now, I would choose Kraken personally... I had one on my Flex, and it was nice, but I felt I wanted to try a different company on this tank, so I went with ClearView and I kind of regret it...

What is wrong with your ClearView? I love mine. My first one had a minor issue. I sent a picture and a week later had a new one. Turns out it was a file issue they didn't catch. Email them. I bet they make it right.

I'd never buy from Kraken. They have quite poor customer service and have ripped off everyone else with their "ideas." They also have the cheapest ones and it shows in the quality IMO.

OctoAquatics was the original. And still has the best product but is very spendy. Clearview treated me more than right.

 

[JNalley]

What is wrong with your ClearView? I love mine. My first one had a minor issue. I sent a picture and a week later had a new one. Turns out it was a file issue they didn't catch. Email them. I bet they make it right.

I'd never buy from Kraken. They have quite poor customer service and have ripped off everyone else with their "ideas." They also have the cheapest ones and it shows in the quality IMO.

OctoAquatics was the original. And still has the best product but is very spendy. Clearview treated me more than right.

One of the cutouts has a fitment issue: it's in the completely wrong location (about twice as far away as it should be from the outer edge). My problem is that I don't want to wait for another lid in the mail over such a small issue when I am dissatisfied with the end product overall. I can compress it and make it fit, and that works fine for now until I figure out if I want to go with Kraken or Top Lids to replace it. But the "feed door" is probably the most disappointing part of the whole thing, honestly. I prefer the solutions by both Kraken and Top Lids over the ClearView. I thought it was going to sit flush with the top and have something you can grab onto to lift it out (like the other two), but it doesn't, it just sits on the top above the rest of the lid with its two little tabs about half the thickness of the entire lid which messes up the clean-lines look I was hoping for.

I have dealt with Kraken in the past for my daughter's Fluval Flex 32.5, and besides not having a vented option like the other two, the turnaround time and feel of the product were much more refined and polished than my newer ClearView lid (I got it around Christmas time). The customer service was always fast and prompt, and I never felt like I was waiting an abnormally long time for them to contact me with what was going on with the lid. ClearView was an entirely different story, I had to reach out to them because there were just long pauses between communications. I suppose it boils down to patience, and their longer lead time was something that I just wasn't used to, but I think that's a problem in and of itself really.

I've never heard of OctoAquatics, maybe I will check them out too and see if they offer a balance of all 3...



Edit: I have actually seen OctoAquatics, I didn't realize it until I went to their site just now and looked... I chose not to go with them because of the whole "I have not licensed my idea to anyone" nonsense, claiming it's their IP but not providing a patent number that anyone else seems to be violating...