Glass top for a rimless 59g

[magnosis]

I need to build / buy a glass canopy for my 59g rimless tank (47.5" x 15.5").

A local shop quoted me 250$    soooo... I'm thinking of building the canopy myself out of wood and whatnot. 

My current lighting (Hagen GLO 2x54W T5HO) is barely enough for this tank at the moment (just under 2 wpg).  Ultimately, one more bulb would be perfect (174W / 59g = ~3 wgp). 

I have a few options :
a) Buy a 1x54W Hagen T5HO fixture, build the canopy to fit over both fixtures
b) take the Hagen fixture apart and put the electronics and bulbs a DIY canopy
c) sell the Hagen fixture, and buy T5HO ballasts and fixtures for a full 3-bulbs DIY

Any suggestion ?   Any chance I can score a glass top at the Garage Sale tomorrow ?

[Saltcreep]

What, exactly are you looking for in a 'glass top'? What was included in that $250 quote? I've bought a lot of glass for lids and if that's just for glass, Wow.

[JetJumper]

From the sounds of it he wants to do a canopy though, so for $250 I presume thats several pieces and I would hope that price includes assembly!

[magnosis]

- A 47.5" x 15.5" rectangle sitting on top of the rimless tank.
- Split in 2, lenghtwise, with a hinge (I will install the hinge myself, provided holes are made for the screws, unless I can glue it on)
- 2 grooves / holes at the back for the filter hoses, wires and air lines.

Something like that:



That store quoted 45$ x2 just for cutting the holes  .

[jimskoi]

Why not have someone on the site drill the holes for you.It would look alot better than a square cut out of the corners.

[redbelly]

Wouldnt a glass top or a canopy detract from the super clean look of a rimless tank?

This is for your super high tech planted tank I assume.
And from your other post I would assume that its to stop the splatter from air bubbles.

Wouldn't the best looking and cheapest option just to to remove the air pump?

I didnt think you needed an airpump in a planted tank. Oxygen levels should be high anyways with the plants pearling.

Unless of course your mollies are jumpers

[magnosis]

Why not have someone on the site drill the holes for you.It would look alot better than a square cut out of the corners.

The holes at 45$ each to drill.  It's marginally cheaper if it's square cuts.

Wouldnt a glass top or a canopy detract from the super clean look of a rimless tank?

On the contrary. This is why I prefer a simple glass than a canopy. It would be glass on glass.

This is for your super high tech planted tank I assume.

Yup.

And from your other post I would assume that its to stop the splatter from air bubbles.
Wouldn't the best looking and cheapest option just to to remove the air pump?

The air pump is gone.  I want to protect the bulbs from evaporation+condensation.  By the looks of my old plexy top, there was a lot of it stains from water droplets condensating on the plexy.  I assume it would be the same on the T5 reflector and this isn't good.

[jimskoi]

You can get the holes drilled for alot less than that.There are couple guys on here that charge $10-$20 per hole.

[Saltcreep]

Still seems like a ton of money for a simple glass top. I'm not sure I see how evaporation or condensation could be causing problems with water spotting. You would think that, especially with the lights on, the temperature difference between the water vapour and the glass wouldn't be great enough to allow condensation. The vapour needs to come into contact with a surface colder than itself to condense. Unless of course, there's a lot of splashing going on from fish or agitated water. That would be a whole different story. Maybe you could figure out a way to protect just the tubes and reflector instead.

[magnosis]

There is some water surface movement but not enough to cause splashing.
Condensation is there, let me put back the old plexy top and snap a couple pictures. It gets dirty.

I'll have to think this through. I'd rather put 250$ inside the tank than on top of it

[JetJumper]

You can get the holes drilled for alot less than that.There are couple guys on here that charge $10-$20 per hole.

Heck, I bought my own bits from ebay for $10 shipped each bit.  If you feel like doing it yourself bits are cheap from ebay, its just time consuming hence the $40+ they charge to do a hole.

[redbelly]

Hmm... so I cant dissuade your from this glass top thing eh....

OK well what if instead of drilling any holes at all the top pieces of glass just had the corners cut out at 45 degree angles?
There shouldn't be any extra charges for this at all and this will still give you a place for cords and filters to go in/out of the tank.

How many mm was the glass that they quoted you for $45?
And was that with edgework or just cut?

[dan2x38]

Good point with 45* angles! Also don't get them to finish the edges. You can hone the edges yourself I do it when I get glass and it is fine. I use wet 300 grit sandpaper.