Where can I find glass replacement tops!?

[Chayo]

Looking for glass lids, the tank does not have a center brace, can’t seem to find fitting lids for 71 in L X 17 in W
Finding only lids for tanks with center brace. I have searched for a set of 3 pieces but no luck. As the ones I have currently are a set of 3. Consisting of 2 panels for each side and one big center glass top that supports the 4 panels. Hoping someone can help! Thanks

 

[DaddyFish]

A quality local glass window shop should be able to cut and grind edges on 1/4" glass for your lids. Should be much cheaper than attempting to buy pre-made glass tops right now with the shortage of glass materials (assuming you are in USA).

You may also consider this material available at Home Depot for your covers. Personally I love it more than my glass tops and am gradually replacing all my glass tops with it.

 

[Chayo]

A quality local glass window shop should be able to cut and grind edges on 1/4" glass for your lids. Should be much cheaper than attempting to buy pre-made glass tops right now with the shortage of glass materials (assuming you are in USA).

You may also consider this material available at Home Depot for your covers. Personally I love it more than my glass tops and am gradually replacing all my glass tops with it.

Great idea! Did you notice any loss in light/PAR? Do you find it easy to keep clean/clear? Thanks

 

[DaddyFish]

Great idea! Did you notice any loss in light/PAR? Do you find it easy to keep clean/clear? Thanks

I have not done a formal PAR meter check with/without the covers in place. A plain hand-held light meter placed against the underside and above the water line, shows virtually no difference between the plastic panel material and common 1/4" glass. Probably the biggest loss of light comes from the condensation droplets on the underside. But you get that with glass too. To compensate for the droplet diffusion I run my lights slightly lower than I open-top setups. i.e. 16" on a black box versus 21" when it's open top.

The material is super easy to keep clean, much easier than glass. The air gap channels act as insulators and there is WAY less salt creep on this material as compared to glass.

I've been extremely happy with all the covers I've made. I've now converted four of my tanks to these panels; 2-90 gals, 1-54 corner and a 20-high QT. It was a no-brainer to use the plastic panel material when I chipped an edge on the curved portion of the 54-corner cover. That cover would have cost me a fortune to replace with glass. The plastic panel cover is a tenth the cleaning maintenance time as the original glass covers for that tank.

*** Construction tip - You can buy 24" clear acrylic towel bars off Amazon for $4. Cut 2-3" pieces and silicone or acrylic glue them to the plastic panels for handles.

 

[Chayo]

I have not done a formal PAR meter check with/without the covers in place. A plain hand-held light meter placed against the underside and above the water line, shows virtually no difference between the plastic panel material and common 1/4" glass. Probably the biggest loss of light comes from the condensation droplets on the underside. But you get that with glass too. To compensate for the droplet diffusion I run my lights slightly lower than I open-top setups. i.e. 16" on a black box versus 21" when it's open top.

The material is super easy to keep clean, much easier than glass. The air gap channels act as insulators and there is WAY less salt creep on this material as compared to glass.

I've been extremely happy with all the covers I've made. I've now converted four of my tanks to these panels; 2-90 gals, 1-54 corner and a 20-high QT. It was a no-brainer to use the plastic panel material when I chipped an edge on the curved portion of the 54-corner cover. That cover would have cost me a fortune to replace with glass. The plastic panel cover is a tenth the cleaning maintenance time as the original glass covers for that tank.

*** Construction tip - You can buy 24" clear acrylic towel bars off Amazon for $4. Cut 2-3" pieces and silicone or acrylic glue them to the plastic panels for handles.

Super informative thanks so much, I will try my best at doing a DYI as I too share the same cons for glass, getting tired of lifting the glass or better yet chipping panels. Definitely looking forward to what sounds easier to keep clean. Appreciate the insight knowledge. Any recommended tool to cut the material? thanks for the construction tip!

 

[DaddyFish]

Super informative thanks so much, I will try my best at doing a DYI as I too share the same cons for glass, getting tired of lifting the glass or better yet chipping panels. Definitely looking forward to what sounds easier to keep clean. Appreciate the insight knowledge. Any recommended tool to cut the material? thanks for the construction tip!

A find tooth (plywood) blade on a circular saw cuts excellent straight lines. Fine tooth (metal) blade on jigsaw, 14-18 tooth bandsaw, or miter blade hand saw works well too. The material resists splintering quite well. I've used standard hole saws to cut holes/rounded cutouts, Spiral straight shank Dremel tools for smaller odd-sized cutouts, most anything that works for thin plywood works well.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I get mine from glass shop (tempered). Not expensive

 

[Chayo]

I get mine from glass shop (tempered). Not expensive

When you got replacement lids did you do any modifications to them? Just curious
as I really hate that my center glass is a pain when trying to do any maintenance but I don’t think it can be avoided/changed. I think if there was a center brace I could get away with doing something different.

 

[vetteguy53081]

When you got replacement lids did you do any modifications to them? Just curious
as I really hate that my center glass is a pain when trying to do any maintenance but I don’t think it can be avoided/changed. I think if there was a center brace I could get away with doing something different.

No mods. I use grabbers so braces not an issue

 

[DaddyFish]

16x22 panels over a 90-gal FOWLR.