This is my attempt at a walk through for building a rather nice, and attractive custom lid for glass tanks.



When I built this lid I built it for a 75 gallon reptile tank that used a sliding screen door sometimes called a (critter cage). Due to this there was a gap left in the top rim of the tank that I had to first close up with something.
But if you were using a regular glass fish tank style tank you could skip that.

I used 3/4" thick MSB Board, it's cheap, easy to work with and won't show a wood grain through the paint.
You can use whatever wood type and size you want, but all the measurements and materials here are for 3/4" MSB board.

Materials

• Wood Board 3/4" thick, sized to dimensions of tank rim
• Hardware Cloth, enough to cover holes cut in lid, i use 1/4" screen, but for small enough animals you'd have to change that.
• Paint or stain, i match to the color of the tank rim
• Water Based Sealer, I used Polycrilyc
• 18 Machine Screws and fitting nuts, 1" long with heads sized for the holes in the clasps
• 48 Wood screws and fitting small hole large diameter washers, a hair smaller then 3/4" long, head to fit on washers
• 6, 3" Double-Hinge Fixed Safety Staple Hasps
• 2 part epoxy, usable on glass and metal
• GE Silicone II
• For the gap on the rim on the front I siliconed a painted piece of molding trim cut to fit in the spot.

Tools

• Pencil
• Circular Saw
• Jigsaw
• Power Drill
• Proper Drill Bits and heads
• Wire Cutters
• Adjustable angle head wrench (monkey wrench)

Construction will start on the next post.

__________________
"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

If your using a critter cage and replacing the sliding lid the first step is to close up the gap, I used the piece of wooden trim, you pretty much have to just look around until you find something that works.

Once done that, or if your using a regular glass tank, you have to cut whatever board your using to the size of the plastic rim on your tank, I used a circular saw, though if you have one, a good table saw would make this much easier.

The next step is to Cut the holes in the wood for where lights would sit, and where airflow will come from. This is where the jigsaw comes in, though a reciprocating saw would also work here, just harder then the jigsaw. I cut 3, 10" diameter holes, equally spaced on the board, using a 10" clamp lamp as my template.



After done there I then sealed the board with two coats, before painting. if you were using a stain instead you would skip the preliminary sealing.
I Then Painted the lid to lid match the tank rim (Black), I used 3 coats, I'd advise at least 2.

After that had completely dried (read the paint can for that info) I then Sealed the board again, at least 3 coats, (read sealer instructions for times between coats)

You should now have A Painted/stained, Board the size of your tanks rim with the number of holes on top you desire. ( I used 3, but it depends on the size of the tank)



Next will be the Screening and the locks.

__________________
"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

I cut out Circles of the hardware cloth extending a bit (I'd say at the least 1" out from the 10 " holes cut in the wood lid.)

I then turned the lid upside down, and screwed the hardware cloth down to the board using 16 wood screws and washers for each opening, equally spaced around the hole. This is what holds the hardware cloth to the lid, and keeps any animals from escaping, while letting light in, and air out.

After I had screwed the screen down to the board I then siliconed around the edges of the hardware cloth, both providing a tiny bit more security, while also keeping the animals inside from being able to injure themselves on any possibly sharp edges of screen.



After the silicone had completely cured, I flipped the lid over, and placed it on the tank.

To Keep the lid down I used 6, 3" Double-Hinge Fixed Safety Staple Hasps.


I drilled holes into the wood, spaced apart, to attach the bigger piece of the hasp to the wood. I then screwed the machine screws and nuts into the lid, with the screw head facing down (lid won't lay flat if you don't) I then placed the hinge on, and attached the nuts, tightening them down with the wrench.

I choose to attach two hasps to each side, and two to the back, leaving the front unobstructed, if the tank was any bigger I'd probably have had to attach at least one hasp on the front, but I found the six around the rest to be sufficient.

The second, and smaller part of the hasp I then attached to the glass using a strong two part epoxy. Make sure the hasp can close, I closed the hasps while the epoxy was curing to ensure this.



After the epoxy has fully cured you're pretty much finished, I'd suggest leaving the lid somewhere warm to sit for a day or two, this can draw extra fumes off, and then your all set.

To get into the tank you lift the hasps, pick the lid up off the tank, and set it down.

__________________
"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

Thats very cool, I want to try it some time. This should be a sticky!

__________________
"Reality is wrong, Dreams are for real"
-Tupac Shakur

0.2.1 Eublepharis macularius
0.1.0 Pantherophis guttatus

Nice job. One of the best lids I've seen.

__________________
Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

Thanks.
Though it was a bit more work then a screen lid, and more expensive, it both looks good, and works a lot better to regulate humidity.

I saved the cutouts from the wood, and may eventually, sand the edges, paint them and attach handles, enabling me to add or subtract from the amount of airflow until I achieve the desired result.

__________________
"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

looks very nice Ryan

__________________

Thanks Shell.

__________________
"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

Just updating on how this lid has worked out. So far it has still been great, the only flaw in the design, is the metal clasp part that attaches to the glass, I have since building it, knocked one clasp off, the epoxy bond broke. Not a big problem really and a quick fix, but something that if I'm not careful, could happen again.

I have since, not only epoxied the clasp back on the glass, but have also epoxied over the metal clasp base, so not only is it attached to the glass by epoxy, but there is also a layer of epoxy, over all of that helping to hold the hinge on. This works much better, but you still can't really get away with hitting it hard, or in my case, dropping the wooden lid on one. lol.

__________________
"Nobody can do Everything, but Everybody can do Something."

Instead of epoxy try using silcone to attach the latches to the glass.

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!