Homemade tops for a 90Gal

[dsteelman]

I decided to make my own tops for my Saltwater 90Gal tank. So I went to my local Hardware super center and picked up 2 pieces of acrylic 24x18. My measurements were 22 3/4 x 16 3/4 max opening on each side of the center brace.

The reason was to slow down water evaporation and splash from the fishes. This also stops accidental dropping of stuff into the tank.

 

[dsteelman]

Their are a lot of different ways to cut this stuff. For me I wanted as straight a cut as I could get, don't we all. I didn't have access to any fancy saws or anything, and my circular saw has a dull blade. So I turned to my Dremel tool.

So how do you make a straight cut with a Dremel tool? Well it ends up being quiet simple. The Dremel Tool comes with a 90 degree accessory to make flat cuts.


Next is setting up a cut line. Make your measurement, then measure from the blade to the side of the tool. My measurement was 1 and 1/8 of a inch. So after I make the line I want to cut, I make a second line 1 1/8 inch parallel to the first line.


On the second line I use a flat piece of material to create a flat line. In this case a old aquarium lid. I clamp all this down and prepare to cut. When using this method you must start and finish you cut in one steady motion. If you stop the blade will wiggle in the place you stop and create a hole.

 

[dsteelman]

After you cut this you can end up with a pretty straight cut.



Also leave the protective plastic on while you make all your cuts. It keeps it from getting scratched.

 

[dsteelman]

This is what I ended up with.



I used a quarter to make finger holes, so that I could lift the lids up.
I cut the first 5 inches off so that I didn't have to remove the whole lid to feed or do maintenance. I cut around the overflow and return lines so that the lids fit from front to back.

This project took me about 2 hours from start to finish.

 

[Garrett.turbo]

veuy noice! lol. good job I might have to do that

 

[hsd]

Acrylic tops tend to bend over time from the heat from the lights. I've even had a acrylic top bend/warp on a tank that had no light, the only source of heat was from the water. Found that flipping the lid over every few days keeps the acrylic from warping too much.

 

[dsteelman]

Yeah I know about the bowing of acrylic. This is due to water absorbing into the acrylic. I just needed to get something on to of the tank for now to stop evaporation. Eventually I will replace it with glass tops.

 

[JeffreyPaul]

I did this the other day. And my top started to bow out. So I'm switching to glass