Screen top for a rimless tank

[reefknight]

Anyone here with a rimless tank have a screen top?

Looking for ideas on how to construct a mesh screen top to fit on a rimless tank. Need something to keep the little critters in that like to jump and go carpet surfing.

Thanks! :up:

 

[realfish]

I believe Bulk Reef Supply has a DIY video on their website.

 

[gmpolan]

check acroholic as he has some examples

 

[hiimsean]

i used this method with clear netting from BRS

 

[acroholic]

Here is my 100 rimless with hinged mesh top. It doesn't do anything for the look of the tank, and kinda defeats the rimless aesthetic, but it works great for keeping the fish off the carpet.
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[hiimsean]

i keep my lid on when im not around but if im in the direct vicinity of the tank i'll take it off

 

[racinrevo0818]

Here is mine. Go to the hardware store and go to the screening area buy the aluminum channel and plastic corners. Ordered the screen from BRS. Its kind of a pain making it square and keeping the correct tightness of the screen so just be patient. BRS charges way to much for the channel and corners and I think the pieces if channeling are like 5 feet long locally.
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[freezerrat]

On this subject. Lots of these have been done with the clear mesh and they all seem to have a lot of glare. Mine did and I hated it. Has anyone tried it with black mesh. I saw some recently at a thrift store and thought it would reflect less and not be as noticeable and seen through better.

 

[90galguy]

Here's mine. I like the accessible fronts, but it does cause issues with shadowing.
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[reefknight]

Acroholic;750883 wrote: Here is my 100 rimless with hinged mesh top. It doesn't do anything for the look of the tank, and kinda defeats the rimless aesthetic, but it works great for keeping the fish off the carpet.

Dave
How did you construct this one?

 

[acroholic]

reefknight;750911 wrote: Dave
How did you construct this one?

Here's a couple shots that show the hinged top better. It is like 90galguy's top, except he made two that are about equal in size. I made the front one much smaller on purpose to eliminate shadowing. On the front mesh frame left and right sides, I used the smallest frame pieces that allowed the plastic corner pieces to still go in. And you could cut the corner tabs (slides into the aluminum channel) to make it even smaller if you wanted.

When you are finished, just drill a couple holes as you see in the pics and the hinge is a small cable tie. You don't need a large front opening to put frozen food in the tank, and if you are feeding pellets, they go right through the mesh anyways without you having to open the top at all.
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[mrflameangel]

Just don't put in anything in there that jumps or that likes to surf.

 

[reefknight]

MrFlameangel;750945 wrote: Just don't put in anything in there that jumps or that likes to surf.

Man you know better than that! :roll:

Edit:

Acroholic;750933 wrote: Here's a couple shots that show the hinged top better. It is like 90galguy's top, except he made two that are about equal in size. I made the front one much smaller on purpose to eliminate shadowing. On the front mesh frame left and right sides, I used the smallest frame pieces that allowed the plastic corner pieces to still go in. And you could cut the corner tabs (slides into the aluminum channel) to make it even smaller if you wanted.

When you are finished, just drill a couple holes as you see in the pics and the hinge is a small cable tie. You don't need a large front opening to put frozen food in the tank, and if you are feeding pellets, they go right through the mesh anyways without you having to open the top at all.

Looks good Dave! Is it secured to the tank or just resting on the edge of the aquarium?

 

[acroholic]

reefknight;750950 wrote: Man you know better than that! :roll:

Edit:

Looks good Dave! Is it secured to the tank or just resting on the edge of the aquarium?

The corner frame pieces are open on the bottom. So I siliconed a small piece of acrylic the size of the opening under where the front left/right corner pieces would sit on the top edge of the glass, and this holds the entire back frame in place. See pics. The pics are of when I had a single top on the tank before switching to the hinged type, but it illustrates the setup. Hope this helps?
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[reefknight]

I wondered if you had done it that way. I seem to recall a thread you originally posted showing those. My glass is really thin, like 1/4" and beveled. Wondering if I can get it to stay put on a couple of small pieces like that.

Has anyone attempted to maybe secure it with a couple of small tabs of velcro in the corners? Not something I relish using, just curious.

 

[acroholic]

reefknight;750959 wrote: I wondered if you had done it that way. I seem to recall a thread you originally posted showing those. My glass is really thin, like 1/4" and beveled. Wondering if I can get it to stay put on a couple of small pieces like that.

Has anyone attempted to maybe secure it with a couple of small tabs of velcro in the corners? Not something I relish using, just curious.

What you could do is silicone some small 90 degree acrylic beds to the inside of the tank glass, , then make the top fit just inside the tank, which recesses the mesh top inside the tank at the very top, even with the top glass.

 

[feh]

Acroholic;750955 wrote: The corner frame pieces are open on the bottom. So I siliconed a small piece of acrylic the size of the opening under where the front left/right corner pieces would sit on the top edge of the glass, and this holds the entire back frame in place. See pics. The pics are of when I had a single top on the tank before switching to the hinged type, but it illustrates the setup. Hope this helps?
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Where did you pick up the corner pieces? The ones I picked up from HD are solid on both sides.

 

[acroholic]

feh;751007 wrote: Where did you pick up the corner pieces? The ones I picked up from HD are solid on both sides.

Lowes has the indented corner pieces, I believe.