Rebuilding an old abandoned 29g

[FishHobby99]

I am in the early stages of putting together a 125 G tank. Priced the hinged glass hood at $85. Told the husband about your plans & he said maybe he can make me one as well. Major stopgap in project now is neither PetSmart or TLF has any available & they‘re not sure when. Petco doesn’t do 125s.

 

[wgoldfarb]

I am in the early stages of putting together a 125 G tank. Priced the hinged glass hood at $85. Told the husband about your plans & he said maybe he can make me one as well. Major stopgap in project now is neither PetSmart or TLF has any available & they‘re not sure when. Petco doesn’t do 125s.

Well, I'm happy to provide lots of notes. My lid will be a pilot project for yours! I will probably go to Lowe's over the next day or two.

Bummer on the 125 . Supply chains haven't fully recovered from the pandemic. Fingers crossed you will get yours soon

 

[FishHobby99]

Here’s hoping!

I did not plan on buying this 125G any time soon. I rescued 3 minnow sized cichlids from the sump in the secondhand 90 G .
They were 2-3 cm & ~2-3 inches now. Always meant to move them from the Baby Tank to a Big Kid Tank & the time is nigh. Two more reasons to relocate 5 other fish from the 90 G. Will explain later.

 

[FishHobby99]

I saw this on YouTube. Looks really easy! What do you think?

 

[wgoldfarb]

I saw this on YouTube. Looks really easy! What do you think?

Yes, that is almost exactly what I'm planning to do, except mine will open the other way (back to front, not side to side). I also plan to add a bit of plastic weather stripping on the back so I can cut holes for the hoses. Otherwise it's exactly the same idea.

 

[FishHobby99]

So the one piece of glass is not attached the tank? And the other part is not secured to the stationary half? Sounds risky! I’d drop it on my foot. Would acrylic work? But costs a lot more.

 

[wgoldfarb]

Right. Neither piece is attached. The bottom/back piece, which is the stationary one, fits inside the channel, which keeps the two channels in place and prevents them from falling in. The front/sliding piece sits on top, held in place by the "flap" extending out from the channels.

A couple of things I'm thinking about:

- the glass at Lowes is 3/32" thick. I don't know the thickness of the channel opening, so I don't know how snuggly the glass will fit inside. Ideally it's a nice snug fit. If the fit isn't snug I'm thinking of perhaps using a touch of silicone to hold the 3 pieces together, but none of the ones I've seen online have done that. If the gap is much too large I might rethink the design.

-I'm concerned that the edges of the cut glass might not be smooth. This makes it unsafe to handle, and might make it "catch" on the sides of the plastic channels. If the cut isn't smooth I'm trying to see if I can find a "j" or "L" shaped plastic piece to silicone along the edges of the glass, to solve both problems. Or just use sand paper sponge to smooth the edges.

Edit: yes, acrylic would work well!

 

[FishHobby99]

Right. Neither piece is attached. The bottom/back piece, which is the stationary one, fits inside the channel, which keeps the two channels in place and prevents them from falling in. The front/sliding piece sits on top, held in place by the "flap" extending out from the channels.

A couple of things I'm thinking about:

- the glass at Lowes is 3/32" thick. I don't know the thickness of the channel opening, so I don't know how snuggly the glass will fit inside. Ideally it's a nice snug fit. If the fit isn't snug I'm thinking of perhaps using a touch of silicone to hold the 3 pieces together, but none of the ones I've seen online have done that. If the gap is much too large I might rethink the design.

-I'm concerned that the edges of the cut glass might not be smooth. This makes it unsafe to handle, and might make it "catch" on the sides of the plastic channels. If the cut isn't smooth I'm trying to see if I can find a "j" or "L" shaped plastic piece to silicone along the edges of the glass, to solve both problems. Or just use sand paper sponge to smooth the edges.

Edit: yes, acrylic would work well!

Yes, glass edges do sound risky. Wonder if some kind of edging tape would work, like electrical or Duct tape, or would that not properly adhere & look sloppy? Could paint or even silicone be used on the edges? Probably a sand sponge would be the way to go.

 

[FishHobby99]

Believe the guy in the

video used the same thickness glass & was able to insert it into this whatever it is.

 

[wgoldfarb]

Yes, glass edges do sound risky. Wonder if some kind of edging tape would work, like electrical or Duct tape, or would that not properly adhere & look sloppy? Could paint or even silicone be used on the edges? Probably a sand sponge would be the way to go.

I'm still playing with ideas... Might try to find a different (better?) way to do this. Doing some browsing on Lowe's website to see what goodies I find

 

[FishHobby99]

Sounds good! There is a Lowe’s 1.5 miles from the house. I’m a frequent flyer.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

Good luck! I'm waiting for seeing some fish, plants, shrimps and possibly melanoides-snails (give them a try! hahaha). Your current story with the glasses and this dangereous issues produces me an headache, je regrette. I'm neither a biochemist or something like that, just by trying to help some people with questions I can myself learn a lot, there are some very reliable sites in German where I can find out everything but don't ask me about chemistry formulas! Wikipedia helps, too. Hope you can resolve that problem with your aquarium cover soon, and don't think of having some sharp glass edges near of you please!, à très bientôt tout le monde!

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Quick, easy and harmless to human bone coverings way to keep fish in the aquarium, doesn't block out light, has a feeding flap....and dead easy/light to use....

Condensation covers made of strong but flexy clear plastic....either one to fit the entire top or two that can be lifted or can slide across onto the other

Extremely cheap to buy, can be cut with normal kitchen scissors to accommodate filters, heaters and cables

Condensation Covers - Aquarium Accessories & Products | AquariumH2o

Condensation covers or trays provide a physical barrier between the aquarium water and the electrical fittings in the tank hood in aquariums & fish tanks.

www.aquariumh2o.com

 

[FishHobby99]

Good luck! I'm waiting for seeing some fish, plants, shrimps and possibly melanoides-snails (give them a try! hahaha). Your current story with the glasses and this dangereous issues produces me an headache, je regrette. I'm neither a biochemist or something like that, just by trying to help some people with questions I can myself learn a lot, there are some very reliable sites in German where I can find out everything but don't ask me about chemistry formulas! Wikipedia helps, too. Hope you can resolve that problem with your aquarium cover soon, and don't think of having some sharp glass edges near of you please!, à très bientôt tout le monde!

Don’t forget YouTube! I often find them the most helpful of all!

 

[FishHobby99]

Quick, easy and harmless to human bone coverings way to keep fish in the aquarium, doesn't block out light, has a feeding flap....and dead easy/light to use....

Condensation covers made of strong but flexy clear plastic....either one to fit the entire top or two that can be lifted or can slide across onto the other

Extremely cheap to buy, can be cut with normal kitchen scissors to accommodate filters, heaters and cables

Condensation Covers - Aquarium Accessories & Products | AquariumH2o

Condensation covers or trays provide a physical barrier between the aquarium water and the electrical fittings in the tank hood in aquariums & fish tanks.

www.aquariumh2o.com

Anything that can be cut with normal kitchen scissors is my kinda thing!