Those who have home made covered tops

[Chad]

For those who have made covered tops (like this one that Sam made), how have you dealt with anything that goes over the top of the tank?

 

In my case I have a 2" PVC line and an overflow box...

 

Am trying to figure out how to overcome that and put a nice, tight-fitting lid on. What do y'all think?

[Max Ivers]

I ran into this problem and it was very simple. I just made a slice in the screen of the top in the shape of an X where my loc line pokes up over the top of my overflow boxes. I think this allows enough "give" without allowing my wrasses a gateway to the floor.

[L8 2 RISE]

For those who have made covered tops (like this one that Sam made), how have you dealt with anything that goes over the top of the tank?

 

In my case I have a 2" PVC line and an overflow box...

 

Am trying to figure out how to overcome that and put a nice, tight-fitting lid on. What do y'all think?

 

Luckily, I still lurk the boards every once in a while I made one that had to go around some pipe and just bought a couple extra corner pieces and put a section open so it looked like this:

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

________,,,,,,,,,,_________

|.............|,,,,,,,,,|...............|

|.............-----------...............|

|.......................................|

|.......................................|

|______________________|

 

(EDIT: sorry, the "diagram" didn't work how I wanted to, I had to put periods in to indicate screen and commas to indicate open space, hopefully that makes sense)

 

It made it a little tricky to pull the screen tight, but it's entirely do-able, especially with two people

Edited September 13, 2011 by L8 2 RISE

[Chad]

Cool, got it, thanks all!!

[FearTheTerps]

Ive thought about this too, I have a large HOB skimmer and 2 pipes from my fuge that comes down in the DT. I know I would have to build around the skimmer, but that shouldnt be hard considering its a square shape. The pipe isnt an easy to work around though. I didnt want to just cut the screen, because then it would make it hard to remove when I need to do spot feedings or any other maintenance. Still havent thought of a good workaround.

[Chad]

Yea, I am not sure how I want to do that...

 

I have to tell you, I am considering drilling my tank in place and running it all through the back so I don't have to worry about it!

[BowieReefer84]

Yea, I am not sure how I want to do that...

 

I have to tell you, I am considering drilling my tank in place and running it all through the back so I don't have to worry about it!

 

 

YEA, DO THAT!

[FearTheTerps]

One solution I thought of was building the square frame around the pipes, and then using some thin plexi glass to cover the holes left between the pipes and frame. Attach it to the frame with some velcro for easy removal and to also hold it in place firmly.

 

This is the idea I like best so far, I dont have any jumpers yet so I havent got around to trying it out yet.