plezy glass for a lid?

[TheeMon]

im thinking of going to the local hardware store and geting a peice of plexy glass for a tank lid... will it be harmfull in anyway? i mean from the water hiting it and going back into the tank?

im sure yall have either done this or thought of it so tell me whats up

 

[Tolak]

Won't hurt a thing. Get a cheap light diffuser panel for flourescent lights. 4'x2' for around $4, the cheapest ones don't warp like plexi or the more expensive diffuser panels.

Tolak

 

[Dorkhedeos]

im pretty sure that plexiglass is acrylic

 

[Nospherith]

i covered my tank with a plexiglass top. i cut it with a jigsaw (slowly or it'll start to melt/bind to the saw) to the most appropraite form. it looks great and the water is fine.

 

[abstract]

wont it bow and sag over time if you put a light over it? also, its ironic but i cut glass and plexi for customers as part of my part time job and glass is much much cheaper..

 

[Tolak]

Glass is mush cheaper, but having worked in stained glass in years gone past I can tell you that the edges of cut glass are razor sharp. If you plan on mounting it in a frame, and don't plan on kicking it around too much, go with glass.

Here's a link to making one that looks fairly decent out of diffuser panels http/www.gcca.net/howto/tank_covers.htm

I don't bother with the fancy stuff, I just cut it a little bigger than the top of the tank & toss it on top.

Tolak

 

[TheeMon]

that link... is that stuff solid or does it got holes threw it? it looks like its got holes... i want something solid...

i was thinking plexyglass kuz its clear and plastic... glass could work but i dunno... and about plexyglass would it bend and stuff kuz of water? or a light being ontop of it?


fyi to fix the sharp edges on glass take a torch and heat the edges up... itll round them(learned that in science class years back)

 

[Paul_MTS]

I'm currently using 2mm acrylic on my tank.

It's doing fine at the and has been there for about 5 months now.

it was only ever a cheap make do cover until i could get someone to cut me some glass.

funnily enough I was having a tank built so i asked them to make me some glass sliding covers for my current tank aswell.

oh my current covers are sliding aswell, the one thats cut perfectly to size only sags what you might expect from a flimsy plastic so 10mm at the most. the other side is an ass though as it isn't the right size so it sags a bit and proping the sliders up at each end has to be done to keep it out the water.

 

[Tolak]

If you look at the beginning it shows a whole sheet, with a close up view of the material. No holes, just a small conical pattern. Go to a commercial building, with a suspended ceiling & flourescent lights. Look up, and you are bound to see those panels. They let light through, eliminate the glare.

Tolak

 

[Dorkhedeos]

if you are still in school, just look up. thats a neat link you got there, i never thought of that. probably going to make myself a cover now

 

[Yenko]

I'm not sure wether I'm going to use those diffusers - my hood will be designed to aim light straight down when I build it. I hate it when light randomly shines out of the tank.

 

[metfan581]

plexy glass melts try lexan