Fed up with fish jumping out of my two nanos, I decided to make some diy lids.
the left hand tank is an Aquael leddy 40. It came with a proper fitted hood with an LED light tube and the cables and airline go through cut-out at the rear. I liked the hood, but I found the light to be insufficient and the plants really struggled to grow and I got a massive hair algae outbreak. I looked into options such as getting another leddy tube, or finding something else that would fit in the hood, but in the end I decided to go open top to accommodate a new LED light unit. However, the evaporation and loss of a few fish from jumping prompted me to think again. I had kept the original hood and I just cut the middle out of the hood, leaving just the frame, and then I glued some black right angle trim along the front and sides. I cut some acrylic to size and it rests on the right angle trim. No more gaps, I can use whatever light i want, and no evaporation. The acrylic lid is in two parts with a smaller section at the front which I can easily remove for feeding. Really pleased with how it turned out.
The second tank was given to me by a friend and it came with a sheet of glass with a corner cut out of it for a lid. aside from the missing corner, there were also gaps all the way around the edges. It was also a pain having to remove the light unit and cover glass all the time when I wanted to access the tank. So I ended up making my own frame out of black 5cm PVC "flat bar". Just 4 strips cut to size , joined at the corners using black right angle trim. then, inside, I glued some 10mm mini PVC trunking in the middle of the flat bar. The bottom side of the mini trunking rests on the top edge of the tank, and the acrylic lid rests on the top side of the mini trunking. power cables for the filter and heater, and an airline go through cut-outs at the rear, so i don't need any gaps or a cut off corner in the acrylic lid. Pleased with this one as well.
If I was doing it again, I may get much wider flat bar, say 10cm or so, and then I could maybe also put an opaque lid on top to enclose the light unit completely. Would cut down on the glare form the light reflecting off the acrylic lids. I may also use glass instead of the acrylic, as the acrylic does warp over time - this is quite annoying as I did check with the online plastics co that I bought it from if it would bend and they said it wouldn't. I initially had plastic hinges joining the two parts of the lid but took them off when I saw it sagging as I realised I'd need to flip the lids occasionally.
I'd defo do this in future on larger tanks as well, although I suppose they'd need some bracing, as the flat bar is quite flexible. It's okay along a 45cm width for my nanos, but maybe with tanks above 60cm or so, it would start to bulge out at the front and back and would need a brace to join the front strip to the back strip to keep it straight.
Excuse the state of the left hand tank. My M keisak is refusing to grow, so i am in the process of replacing it with some anarcharis.
the left hand tank is an Aquael leddy 40. It came with a proper fitted hood with an LED light tube and the cables and airline go through cut-out at the rear. I liked the hood, but I found the light to be insufficient and the plants really struggled to grow and I got a massive hair algae outbreak. I looked into options such as getting another leddy tube, or finding something else that would fit in the hood, but in the end I decided to go open top to accommodate a new LED light unit. However, the evaporation and loss of a few fish from jumping prompted me to think again. I had kept the original hood and I just cut the middle out of the hood, leaving just the frame, and then I glued some black right angle trim along the front and sides. I cut some acrylic to size and it rests on the right angle trim. No more gaps, I can use whatever light i want, and no evaporation. The acrylic lid is in two parts with a smaller section at the front which I can easily remove for feeding. Really pleased with how it turned out.
The second tank was given to me by a friend and it came with a sheet of glass with a corner cut out of it for a lid. aside from the missing corner, there were also gaps all the way around the edges. It was also a pain having to remove the light unit and cover glass all the time when I wanted to access the tank. So I ended up making my own frame out of black 5cm PVC "flat bar". Just 4 strips cut to size , joined at the corners using black right angle trim. then, inside, I glued some 10mm mini PVC trunking in the middle of the flat bar. The bottom side of the mini trunking rests on the top edge of the tank, and the acrylic lid rests on the top side of the mini trunking. power cables for the filter and heater, and an airline go through cut-outs at the rear, so i don't need any gaps or a cut off corner in the acrylic lid. Pleased with this one as well.
If I was doing it again, I may get much wider flat bar, say 10cm or so, and then I could maybe also put an opaque lid on top to enclose the light unit completely. Would cut down on the glare form the light reflecting off the acrylic lids. I may also use glass instead of the acrylic, as the acrylic does warp over time - this is quite annoying as I did check with the online plastics co that I bought it from if it would bend and they said it wouldn't. I initially had plastic hinges joining the two parts of the lid but took them off when I saw it sagging as I realised I'd need to flip the lids occasionally.
I'd defo do this in future on larger tanks as well, although I suppose they'd need some bracing, as the flat bar is quite flexible. It's okay along a 45cm width for my nanos, but maybe with tanks above 60cm or so, it would start to bulge out at the front and back and would need a brace to join the front strip to the back strip to keep it straight.
Excuse the state of the left hand tank. My M keisak is refusing to grow, so i am in the process of replacing it with some anarcharis.
