new(ish) build

[phelsumaman]

Guys I'm looking for some ideas, I have been working on this viv for some months now & have tried a couple of different versions of lid. The viv is 4 x 2 x 2 & is a converted fish tank. My most current idea for a lid is a piece of MDF cut to fit the inside of the top, a piece of the mdf will be cut from the inside of the top to house a pane of optiwhite (starfire glass) for the lights and I will fit a section for some sliding glass doors for access into the viv towards the front. Does anyone else have experience of fabricating a lid for a glass fish tank?

Here is what I'm working with; -



Ben

[Gnarly]

First, nice tank! I really like the branches running through it.

Secondly, and more to your point. We have made some very simple glass tops for ten and five gallon grow outs here. I would think that our method would be useful to you if you used a thick enough pane of glass. This only works of the plastic edge of the tank is still intact (and it looks from the picture that yours is). We simply had a piece cut to fit the entire top, and then cut a smaller section to be lifted off to allow for feeding, misting, etc. This type of top could easily include a hinge and a knob, but we just use a small piece of gorilla tape to make a flap to pick it up from. It's a very simple top in both design and construction.

And excuse my ignorance but what is mdf?

[fieldsmith]

You are going to have to take special care sealing the MDF really well or it will go all bubbly. Any reason you are thinking about MDF specifically?

[phelsumaman]

Thanks Gnarly , I had considered this idea & then dismissed it however after really giving the top some thought again (this is my third attempt now), the fact that there is only one moving part and a grand total of two pieces does appeal to me. I do have one issue with this, I want to use the same thickness of glass as the tank - 10mm & my local glazier does not stock any glass (let alone optiwhite/starfire which is more than 8mm - crazy I know.

MDF is medium density fibreboard - a fairly common building material in thr UK, as Fieldsmith says its fairly porus, in my previous two attempts at the lid I used this material with a single coas of gloss paint followed by 2 or 3 coats of marine varnish this stuff is designed to be completely non toxic once dry & will protect the hull of a wooden boat from sea water for some years so hopefully no bubbles?

There are two reasons why I'm using this material, 1.) I have plenty of it around & 2.) The area I need to cover is 8 sq ft so I felt that the ususal lid designs would struggle at this sort of size, I really wanted the lid to be a sturdy design.

If there are any other suggestions I would be grateful

Ben

[Gnarly]

Ah, well thanks for clearing that up for me.
I really look forward to seeing what you come up with. Best of luck.