Acrylic & Mesh Tank Cover

[REEF MANIA]

Hello Kathy I was hoping I could pay you to make me one for my 120. I had glass cover but my MH broke it from the heat. Right now I'm using egg crate but I find its filtering too much of the light. If you can make me one that would be great. I will pay you for all the material,leg work and of course your precious time. LMK Thanks Joe

 

[Domboski]

Awesome thread Kathy! My covers are made of the clear mesh. Since it was made for a 72 bowfront, aluminum used for screen door windows was used with the rubber sealing thread. Mine are also under halides with no stretching or sagging. I have no doors though so I have to take the screen completely off.

Of course I didn't make it, it came with the tank! heuerfan made them (Thanks Steve!).

I need a cover for one of my shark tanks. The only problem is it is custom made of acrylic with no lips. It is 8' long by 3' wide. Do you think a similar mesh cover like yours would be fine sitting on top of the tank and some how weighed down? I'd like to avoid drilling holes to hold it in place. Maybe I can make loops on each corner and use nylon stretch cord to connect the loops on each corner to hooks lower than the top of the tank on the wall? Two to the back wall and two to the sides?

Don't make fun of me, I read your thread and I tried using the one or two brain cells that are functioning at the moment :tired: to come up with ideas.

I'll have to tap your brain for my shark pond / lagoon. :thrash: That one we'll take off line though. :shhh:

 

[KathyC]

Joe..if I have enough supplies (no glue at the moment...) to make you a cover, sure I'd like to help keep your fish safe. Since I'm not a vendor and have no desire to step on any toes, I don't/won't/can't 'sell' the covers, then again I'm not giving them away for free either! I'll send you a PM to discuss it.

Dom..I vaguely recall seeing pics of the cover that was on that tank when Steve had it and it was part of the original inspiration for me & these covers. Maybe we can figure out a way to retrofit a door for you
Definitely want to see the shark tank anyway, and yes, those poor two now bruised brain cells you have left aren't far off the track on how to attach a cover to a tank with eurobracing or no lip at all. We'll come up with something for that too.
Yes, the shark lagoon..offline...lol I'm not letting you anywhere near my pond though!

 

[Domboski]

Dom..I vaguely recall seeing pics of the cover that was on that tank when Steve had it and it was part of the original inspiration for me & these covers. Maybe we can figure out a way to retrofit a door for you
Definitely want to see the shark tank anyway, and yes, those poor two now bruised brain cells you have left aren't far off the track on how to attach a cover to a tank with eurobracing or no lip at all. We'll come up with something for that too.
Yes, the shark lagoon..offline...lol I'm not letting you anywhere near my pond though!

LMAO! Your feeder fish breeding pond? I'M JUST KIDDING!!! I LOVE KOI & GOLDFISH!!!!!!

 

[KathyC]

LMAO! Your feeder fish breeding pond? I'M JUST KIDDING!!! I LOVE KOI & GOLDFISH!!!!!!

Wise guy! My Koi are not going to be snacks for your sharks! Build your own pond... lol

 

[REEF MANIA]

Thanks Kathy C for the new cover
kathy thanks for the great cover it fits perfect. The feeding door works great. Here are some pics are your beautiful work. Thanks again Joe

 

[inkblue]

kaThy i need a coVer :happysad:

 

[KathyC]

Looks great Joe (and Annalisa!!), glad I could be of help It's a sweet tank you have there and I love that you & your wife are both so involved!!
LMK if you go nuts and get that second Wavy Sea's I'll come by and stomp an opening in the other cover for ya!

 

[KathyC]

kaThy i need a coVer :happysad:

For what tank?..let's see, I've heard about a 90 wave, a 40 breeder, a bunch of 2 gallon tanks for Killifish...do you have a tank???
And are you going to pay me in peanut butter & jelly sandwiches or lousy pizza? lol

..of coUrse I will Don...whenever you're ready!

 

[inkblue]

my 20H nan0...

 

[BrooklynsReefMan1]

What i did was i got EggCrate From Lowes

cut the crate to size and what i feel it does is it can take heavy light i have 130 watts from 2 Pc 24 inch fixture and it wont even get warm the crate and allso it dosent get week in the middle either if you want ill pm you the lowes consumer report on it

 

[ellebelle]

Egg crate blocks a lot of light. The mesh Kathy uses doesn't. Definitely a HUGE difference between the two.

 

[KathyC]

What i did was i got EggCrate From Lowes

cut the crate to size and what i feel it does is it can take heavy light i have 130 watts from 2 Pc 24 inch fixture and it wont even get warm the crate and allso it dosent get week in the middle either if you want ill pm you the lowes consumer report on it

Thanks Lissa

Brooklyn...the issue with eggcrate is twofold. One point being that many fish can jump right through it..firefish, gobies, my Royal Gramma went flying past my head one day. The squares are too large for safety's sake.

The other point being what Lissa mentions..and has nothing to do with the heat...you lose a bunch of light putting eggcrate over your tank.
Think about it...any light that is coming straight down will get into your tank, but you are cutting off much of the lighting that goes into your tank at an angle. Put your camera on a tripod & take a pic with the eggcrate on, and then one with the eggcrate off, you'll see the difference

 

[Domboski]

Thanks for the mesh Kathy!

 

[boardryder]

So I thought this would be a great idea to do and did some quick research that everyone might enjoy. I was worried about the plastic under metal halides, but you might worry about your inhabitants before worrying about the plastic if that were the case. At worst it will expand and become a little loose. I believe the pond netting is polypropylene.

http://www.polymerprocessing.com/polymers/PP.htmlhttp://www.polymerprocessing.com/polymers/PE.html
http://www.dynalabcorp.com/technical_info_nylon.asp

Anyway, how is this top doing for everyone? Is it worth doing myself? Is the stuff everyone is using water pond and garden netting? Thanks.

 

[KathyC]

So I thought this would be a great idea to do and did some quick research that everyone might enjoy. I was worried about the plastic under metal halides, but you might worry about your inhabitants before worrying about the plastic if that were the case. At worst it will expand and become a little loose. I believe the pond netting is polypropylene.

http://www.polymerprocessing.com/polymers/PP.htmlhttp://www.polymerprocessing.com/polymers/PE.html
http://www.dynalabcorp.com/technical_info_nylon.asp

Anyway, how is this top doing for everyone? Is it worth doing myself? Is the stuff everyone is using water pond and garden netting? Thanks.

Yes, the netting is polypropylene and it is UV protected and doesn't get brittle under MH's or the sun for that matter Locally it is available at Ace Hardware stores in the Pond Supplies section. The most important point is buying the 3/8" mesh size. With the larger size (1/2") the fish can jump though the openings.
The acrylic that I have been using doesn't expand under the MH lighting at all. The only issue is with slight warping due to trying to span long distances ..in this case a long distance can be 24"... I could not get anyone to cut the acrylic smaller than 3/4" in width due to the danger of cutting it so thin. I'm certain the covers woild not bend at all had I designed them to rest on the upper rim of the tank rather than the inside lip of each opening, but the idea what to keep them flush with the top to be more visually pleasing. A thicker acrylic sandwiching of the netting might make a stronger (no warping) cover also. I am considering trying this with the remaining acrylic I have available.
The cover on my 20" X 18" cube has shown no warpage at all, but again, the distance is smaller.
In all ,the covers have been a great asset and saved the lives of many a fish to date

I do have a newly designed cover but have not posted any pics yet as this one is easier to make, will not warp, will easily fit almost any tank and does not need to be custom made for each application... and I'm going after a patent on this one

 

[bigsink]

I can back Kathys covers 100%. She hooked me up with one about a year ago. It is for an AGA 75 gallon tank. The mesh and design have held up beautifully. No warping or anything. It is fully functional and pleasing to the eye. Hopefully will see the new design soon.

 

[RyanG]

Kathy did you use plain plexi or did you find some UV resistant somewhere?

 

[KathyC]

Regular plexiglass. It doesn't require any UV protection under MH lighting as DE bulbs should always have a UV glass under them anyway and it is already 'built in' on SE bulbs

The fact that the mesh is UV protected was just a coincidence.

I can back Kathys covers 100%. She hooked me up with one about a year ago. It is for an AGA 75 gallon tank. The mesh and design have held up beautifully. No warping or anything. It is fully functional and pleasing to the eye. Hopefully will see the new design soon.

Thank you John..and yes, hopefully your second cover will be ready before the end of the weekend

 

[boozeman]

I find that the higher moisture content of plexiglass makes it more susceptible to warping under very intense lighting whereas acrylic does not.