Looking for Ideas on new tank covers.

[ercnan]

You could add to the canopy I suppose. Make it tall enough to cover the lighting option you choose, and add a lid on the top of it. If you have made/buy glass tops, the lights can sit right on the tops.
In my pic. I can remove the entire canopy without disturbing anything else. It's simply a cover to enhance the look.
The top is hinged obviously for feeding, adding fish, etc., But there are glass tops on the tank as well to prevent the rotting/warping you speak of.
Thanks on the Sev. Nice fish raised from a quarter size and hand fed. Others have come and gone, but that one has stayed.
Looking at your pic again, you might not have to add to the canopy height, only bulid a top for it if you go with galss tops on the tank. Depending on your lighting choice, it may fit under the canopy similar to mine.
My only concern (and I'm anal on some things) would be matching the look on the stand if you add to the canopy.

 

[Jkoziatek]

how about painted plastic... like plastic that looks like wood... they sell it at some hardware stores... i'm sure if u did a ebay search u'd find it too

 

[toehead11183]

depending on your budget, oneway mirror facing down, tinted glass or plexiglass

 

[Zeppelin3k]

You could add to the canopy I suppose. Make it tall enough to cover the lighting option you choose, and add a lid on the top of it. If you have made/buy glass tops, the lights can sit right on the tops.
In my pic. I can remove the entire canopy without disturbing anything else. It's simply a cover to enhance the look.
The top is hinged obviously for feeding, adding fish, etc., But there are glass tops on the tank as well to prevent the rotting/warping you speak of.
Thanks on the Sev. Nice fish raised from a quarter size and hand fed. Others have come and gone, but that one has stayed.
Looking at your pic again, you might not have to add to the canopy height, only bulid a top for it if you go with galss tops on the tank. Depending on your lighting choice, it may fit under the canopy similar to mine.
My only concern (and I'm anal on some things) would be matching the look on the stand if you add to the canopy.

I for sure want my tops to be hinged, I hate trying to balance them when feeding and cleaning, and taking them off gets water all over the carpet. I would like the tops to match the canopy and stand but no big deal if it doesnt, I could just paint them black or something. Thinking of going with panted plexi right now. Dont know exactly what I would like yet, I want something that the lights can hang from so they are not just stitting over the water on the glass bars about 2" from the water. Any idea on how to hang the lights and yet have the lids hinged so I can open them without problem?

how about painted plastic... like plastic that looks like wood... they sell it at some hardware stores... i'm sure if u did a ebay search u'd find it too

Ill give this a search, maybe ill do this. Still wondering how the lights are going to go into the tank yet.

depending on your budget, oneway mirror facing down, tinted glass or plexiglass

Plexiglass is what I am looking at right now, painted black.

 

[skerzfan]

Definitely will be following this thread. Will be interesting to see the various style folks use.

 

[ercnan]

I for sure want my tops to be hinged, I hate trying to balance them when feeding and cleaning, and taking them off gets water all over the carpet. I would like the tops to match the canopy and stand but no big deal if it doesnt, I could just paint them black or something. Thinking of going with panted plexi right now. Dont know exactly what I would like yet, I want something that the lights can hang from so they are not just stitting over the water on the glass bars about 2" from the water. Any idea on how to hang the lights and yet have the lids hinged so I can open them without problem

Without pics., I'll try to make this make sense.
My canopy top is one piece. It has a full length hinge across the entire back, so the whole top opens up.
The glass tops that sit on the tank rim are also hinged. They are ~34" in width (standard glass tops for a 125 Perfecto).
To feed, I have top open the canopy top, and also either one side or the other of the glass tops.
My light strip sits on the back half of the glass tops under the canopy lid.
Just for info., if you are leaning toward plexi tops, they will bow/sag over time, even 1/4" thick.
If this is worded wrong and making it hard to envision, I could try to get some pics. to show the words.

 

[Zeppelin3k]

I see, I'm thinking of going with a 72" long piece of wood cut down the middle hotdog style so that I will be able to hook up my lights to the back half then have the front half open and close for feeding and cleaning.

 

[snake513]

go to the glass store its less expensive than you think

 

[guns]

buy acrylic for the top..then u can put light in top.. so your tank will more shiny.. and safety..

 

[Zeppelin3k]

it would look weird with a glass/acrylic top and with the light on top i figured all it will do is make algae all over. Going with wood