Sleek, Clean, Easy to make tank lid

[L8 2 RISE]

I'm not going to take credit for this idea, I found it by a guy on RC and I'm just sharing my set up here.

 

I'll just go through the steps for how to make this below, but the idea of this is something that is cleaner than egg crate and also doesn't diffuse any light, and because it's very effective at keeping fish in the tank.

 

 

First, obviously, you're going to want to buy your supplies. I just went with a simple, packaged screen making kit that had everything you need in it except for the netting and the spline roller. You can also buy the pieces individually. All you need is enough screen frame to go around your tanks perimeter, 4 corner connectors, enough spline to go around the perimeter of your tank, and a spline roller. This can all be found in the hardware section of Lowes/HD. You can then get netting in the garden section (usually used to keep out pest animals in gardens). I went with 1/2 inch because that's what they had, however I'd suggest going with 1/4 inch.

 

 

 

If you go with a kit, you can immediately discard the following pieces because they are only meant for a screen that would be put into windows (heh, they think we'd actually use it for what it's meant for).

 

 

 

Then, simply mark out the frame to 1.5 inches less than the width or length of your tank. For example, my tank is 48 inches long, so I market it to 46.5 inches. My tank's 18 inches wide, so I marked it to 16.5 inches. This is because the corner connectors on either side will take up 1.5 inches. Once you have your four sides marked up, cut with a hack saw.

 

 

 

 

 

Voila! All of the pieces now cut:

 

 

 

Now insert the corner connectors and connect all of the pieces together:

 

 

 

 

 

Finished frame:

 

 

Now lay the mesh or screen over the upside down frame (the frame should have the groove for inserting the spline pointed up):

 

 

The next part is a little tricky and can take a little time. I had my brother and sister help me, and I'd suggest getting some help, however it can still be done relatively easily on your own.

Pull the screen tightly over the frame so that it is not wrinkled or loose at all. While the screen is pulled tight, use your finger to press the spline into the groove with the screen underneath it. Then use the spline roller to press the spline completely in. (I did the splining while my brother and sister held the netting).

 

 

 

You should start the spline in the middle of one of the straight aways because it's a good start/stop point that won't cause the spline to come out, unlike the corners that will.

 

When you get back to where you started with the spline, use a razor blade and cut it, then tuck it in.

 

 

After I did this, I went back to sort out the corners which were difficult because the spline roller wouldn't fit into them. They looked like this:

 

And the spline kept on coming out so I used a pen to push it all the way in. They should look something like this:

 

 

After you're done splining, the screen should look like this:

 

The obvious next step is to take a razor blade and cut off the excess netting material:

 

 

And you're done! It takes about half an hour and is actually pretty simple. It cost me about 15 bucks to do this which is only a little bit more than the egg crate and definitely worth it! Especially since we all *should* know that egg crate doesn't work in terms of keeping all jumpers in the tank and they can actually get through the holes. Jumpers can definitely still get through the holes in mine because, like egg crate, it's 1/2 inch, but I plan to change it to 1/4 inch as soon as I can find some. Here's pics of the finished product:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2010 by L8 2 RISE

[flowerseller]

Nice Sam.

[Shadowbearwv]

Can you buy seperate corner pieces for these kits? I have the overflow and two returns I have to work around. My other idea is to leave pieces of the eggcrate I'm using now in the back section and just measure for the area left open.

 

What would be the best?

 

Tony

[treesprite]

Nice find, Sam. I wonder if I could find some net small enough to keep firefish from getting out.

[Coral Hind]

Can you buy seperate corner pieces for these kits? I have the overflow and two returns I have to work around. My other idea is to leave pieces of the eggcrate I'm using now in the back section and just measure for the area left open.

 

What would be the best?

 

Tony

 

You can buy the corners separate. I would probably just keep the eggcrate in the back as you mention.

[Noobalicious]

Nice find, Sam. I wonder if I could find some net small enough to keep firefish from getting out.

 

That netting is small enough if you double it up. I have seen someone use the same netting and then put a second layer so that the bottom squares were bisected by the top squares. Even though it was 2 layers of netting, it still fit into the groove ok.

Edited May 23, 2010 by Noobalicious

[wfoxfox]

great job Sam. btw, i have a couple of screens my dogs have ruined. How many frags do you want to re-screen those frames? :-)

[L8 2 RISE]

Can you buy seperate corner pieces for these kits? I have the overflow and two returns I have to work around. My other idea is to leave pieces of the eggcrate I'm using now in the back section and just measure for the area left open.

 

What would be the best?

 

Tony

 

I never thought of that. Yes, you can buy seperate corner connectors and have the screen set up in any pattern you want.

 

 

Nice find, Sam. I wonder if I could find some net small enough to keep firefish from getting out.

 

I tried regular old fiberglass window screen first, but found that it kept out too much light. If light's not too much of a problem, you could use that.

 

 

That netting is small enough if you double it up. I have seen someone use the same netting and then put a second layer so that the bottom squares were bisected by the top squares. Even though it was 2 layers of netting, it still fit into the groove ok.

 

The problem with doubling it up is that you aren't going to have a perfectly failsafe set up. This netting isn't set up in a way that it's a perfect grid that can be pulled tight and still be grid like. For example, look at the netting on mine, I tried to keep it perfectly straight and lined up, but found that if I were to do that, portions of the netting would be loose while others would be tight so I ended up having to make it crooked. This means that with two crooked nets on top of each other, some of the holes will still line up perfectly and allow that one tiny little escape hole here and there. Also, I can't imagine how tought it would be to keep two sets of the netting on top of each other taught while the splining is done, not saying it's impossible, just saying that it would only be simpler and truly fail safe if you get 1/4 or smaller netting. JMO.

 

 

great job Sam. btw, i have a couple of screens my dogs have ruined. How many frags do you want to re-screen those frames? :-)

 

lol, bring them over and I'll see what I can do!

[truestelf]

very cool idea i use eggcrate myself but will consider this next time i redo my tank

[Noobalicious]

I have only ever seen the 1/2 inch netting. Is there any stores in our area that carry the 1/4?

[Der ABT]

I have only ever seen the 1/2 inch netting. Is there any stores in our area that carry the 1/4?

 

Some birdnetting is small enough but i found some Pond Cover that was just about perfect but was farily expensive at a local hardward store, i would suggest going to a Garden center, i know Dennison Landscaping in PG has it at their main nursery(friends company) but i am sure other garden centers would have it. I also would be suprised if Blue Ribbon Koi didnt have any to help keep the koi safe in ponds.

 

Gutter Gaurd could also work if it where sold in bigger sheets but it also would work good for covering overflows and is really cheap for 6 food sections again local hardware store

 

I had less luck at HD/lowes then local hardware stores.

 

The stuff at HD is just ok but way to big unless you have large tangs that are trying to jump.

 

THe stuff i got im going to take back and try to find cheaper elsewhere, i think it was 17 bucks for a large sheet that would cover a pond 14x14, if someone wants to split it up id be happy to oblige rather then return. i only need about 4x5 square leaving ALOT

[ctenophore]

You can find most any size mesh here: http://www.industrialnetting.com/

 

ON 5349 is clear 1/4" mesh, found on the predator page: http://www.industrialnetting.com/predator.html

[Gatortailale]

Looks like we need a DIY build day where we get a lot of net, screen frame material, corner pieces, ect. in bulk, then meet up and have some brews and build away.

[bill stine]

Bulk Reef Supply now sells te 1/4" screen mesh

1/4" mesh

[Integral9]

BRS also has a youtube video demoing the build.