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Rant: "Glass Canopies" are not designed for the hobby


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As a designer, I look at a problem and try to find the solution.   The solution for a lot of hobbyists is to go elsewhere and to use other materials to cover their tanks. I have been down that road and I have opted for glass lids.  I also have found two major issues that buying a manufactured lid tends to help fix over any custom job.

1. I would cut the glass myself, notch the corners to give myself a food hole and/or a place for cords. The issue then becomes the filter cutout itself. The edges never look nice and it's very easy to mess up along the way, resulting in a bad fit or injuries.

2.  The thickness of the glass is usually pretty thin for what I have access to. I have found thicker glass at a specific location and they use a tablesaw or something similar to cut it. Also, this typically this means you're not getting a tempered glass lid.

Even if we wanted to make the lids ourselves, with quality glass there still is two major issues....

For a planted tank you want the hinge to not be in the way of the light. There is a high probability of this happening on certain tank sizes, others avoid it entirely. This usually isn't considered when they make the lids at aqueon or elsewhere.  In the case of a long tank or certain tank sizes you have a raw measurement of glass and the hinge is common for all sizes of lids. The hinge/channel itself is not really based on small, medium, large tank sizes.  For my 29G and 10G tank this means I have the front panel of glass that is 1.5-2" deep, the hinge that is 1-1.5" deep, followed by another piece of glass that is 2-2.5" deep.  If I put the handle in the wrong spot, the door won't stay open. The hinge itself is also pretty much always right in the way.  Compare this on a 55G tank vs. a 75G tank. The larger the tank, the easier it is to not have the black hinge in the way, but it is very often that the hinge piece itself is "central" on the lid. Isn't this where we want the light to be?  I just don't understand the design logic and any way to avoid this.

In smaller aquariums, 10G for instance, the hinge channel itself is so big and the glass itself is so light that is almost never stays open.  The spring force on the hinge is not designed for this size of a lid and I've often scared the fish and thought it would break nearly every time I open it when I hear how hard it snaps down.  The handle itself too could be a smaller size for smaller size lid, or heavier to ensure it stays open.

I've had 3-4 custom glass lids shatter, one piece falls when you try to remove it, or it's placed on the floor and stepped on. This is because it's usually not a finished product and you have side trim or other pieces falling off all over the place when you're dealing with sharp, delicate, clear, wet items that have to be held with care.  Or, you're trying to clean something with algae all over it and it's just slimy and slips. If the lid was manufactured by a company, assembled, it would actually fit together well and be one piece when used by the customer.

Let's say you don't really care about the planted tank or the lights, but you're a breeder. Typically you're going to be using a rack and you're going to end up making something yourself. The tanks often end up sideways and lids in this orientation just don't exist (for whatever reason) from major manufacturers. There isn't an option at all to customize the panel.  Yes you can order extremely expensive lids from other places, and often shipping is more than the cost of the item itself.  Depending on tank size, this absolutely isn't an option and there's a very high chance you end up with a broken box of glass at your door when it arrives.

(some even won't sell you a lid without buying a tank for a few hundred or thousand dollars).

Lid with the light right over the hinge. Very typical for a lot of tank sizes.
b.png.243cd3bd50c4406a8f736373f577b725.png

 

Custom breeder rack with custom lids, extremely well done.
a.png.85bc1db17757864bae37b5c8004ea7d9.png

Of note, If you're running only air filtration, you don't actually need those plastic pieces at the back of the lid that often fall off.

So.....

I'd like to ask everyone.  What bothers you about the "glass canopies" that are manufactured for the hobby and what do you want to see in a future, improved design?

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I'm actually pretty lucky with my 46G bowfront tank (AllGlass brand) that I bought 20 years ago. The hinge is toward the front so my light can be centered over the tank and the hinge has been sturdy enough I've never had to replace it. It does have the plastic backstrip I've replaced twice. I did have to adhere the handle once because the adhesive got old and the handle popped off. I do have to open it and pull it forward to access the power filters in the back, but there again, I have dealt with it for 20 years, so I don't consider it a problem.

It's even held up accidentally slipping and slamming shut (sorry fish! I seriously didn't mean to startle you!) and my cat has jumped up on it countless times without any mishaps *knock on wood*

but...

I would love a soft-close lid! I know that's not very practical with the space and water and mineral build-up, but wouldn't it be nice?

Or maybe one that didn't collect mineral deposits or fog up? I know I'm asking too much, but there you go! I've been pretty lucky to have not had to deal with problems. Phew!

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Glass lids and a lot of other Aquarium hardware are optimized for manufacturing, the casual hobbyist and people who intend to use the product 100% by design and provided written installation instructions. As a longterm hobbyist, I've yet to find the perfect "one size fits all" piece of equipment. The closest would be the Japanese made products where function is 100% part of the design, but in return you pay for that craftsmanship and/or the name branded on the packaging. 

I run a handful of different lids in the fishroom. All of my tanks, minus a handful of 10 gallons, are facing in the direction they are designed to, for the widest pane being the viewing pane. Due to this I can run standard lids, and I grab a set for tanks when they go on sale, solely for convinience. I've played around with custom lids for a while, being custom glass (which I can't locally source a uniform thickness), Lexan/acrylic (if you try this go with Lexan, but glass IMO is far superior), various corrugated plastics, and custom net lids. For tanks where evaporation is a concern, a solid lid is the way to go, and I will default to glass as much as I can. It's easier to clean, easier to cut, and I can glue/3M tape whatever I want for handles. If I need/want to run hinges, they are available on the market as long as the glass thickness I get is right. Polymer lids have a higher tendancy to scratch, scuff, discolor and are a sizeable investment, be it bare material or the tools you need to cut it accurately and debur. Lids that have hollow channels tend to build up algae or other things and after a while become easier to replace than attempt to clean. 

When it comes to tank lids, I'll always go glass. Once I find a local supplier of the (non tempered) glass thickness I need I'll be sure to get a sheet and cut it at home. If I'm stuck with tempered and it's the right price I'll have a handful of pieces cut to the dimensions I need to retrofit the fishroom (the horizontal 10's mainly) and be sure to have copious spares on hand for replacements as well as to support expansion. 

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On 5/2/2022 at 7:03 PM, AndreaW said:

I'm actually pretty lucky with my 46G bowfront tank (AllGlass brand) that I bought 20 years ago. The hinge is toward the front so my light can be centered over the tank and the hinge has been sturdy enough I've never had to replace it.

The marineland bowfront I had as well was by far the best lid I've had. My versatop 75G has great lids with good spacing. They do everything you need them too. The glass is also very thick.

My 55G wasn't as nice.

The 29G I have doesn't fit the tank but I know the wrong trim piece was in the box.  It would've been nice if the glass was the right size.

My 10G as mentioned above, I just think it's not made for that tank for daily use and it would be much nicer if the lid was designed to fully cover the top of the tank with a segment cutout for a HoB, opening left to right instead of front to back. I'll sketch something up when I get a chance.

On 5/2/2022 at 7:19 PM, Tihshho said:

Glass lids and a lot of other Aquarium hardware are optimized for manufacturing, the casual hobbyist and people who intend to use the product 100% by design and provided written installation instructions. As a longterm hobbyist, I've yet to find the perfect "one size fits all" piece of equipment. The closest would be the Japanese made products where function is 100% part of the design, but in return you pay for that craftsmanship and/or the name branded on the packaging. 

I absolutely understand this! But.... You can literally fix or offer better lids using existing parts and designing it so it actually makes sense for the user.

There are totally designers that have something that looks great in the CAD, but cannot he manufactured, or.... Furthermore, doesn't work well. That's the luxury of using computers and often the cost. I'm sure all of these were done the old way with some paper/vellum and some pencils, but there is a definitive way to rethink lids and it's absolutely easier without changing anything on the manufacturing side. Boxes are even smaller and that reduces cost.

Edited by nabokovfan87
typo
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Forgot to post this earlier. But here's a general sketch... layout for a side opening lid that doesn't have any of those plastic cutout pieces.

This all uses existing parts, does not use anything outside of current manufacturing process and simply requires part numbers to be created. The point of this example is to simply say, there is options if the companies actually want to put out "innovative" products by releasing things we need and already make ourselves.
1.png.82e3413554fe9514965c7de8ed930e1e.png

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Okay the hinge / light interaction has been driving me crazy since I set up my first tank a year ago and I've been wondering if it's just me because I never heard anyone talk about it 😂 I keep my light toward the back of the tank so that the hinge strip doesn't block the light and so that the panel will stay propped open...but that means that the front of the tank is shadowed and I hate it. Is this how everyone places their lights? I can't see another way to do it but I've always assumed I was doing something wrong, haha.

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I only use my homemade hoods these days. (Photo below.) My hoods move the glass/acrylic up to the top of the hood and the light sits atop it up there. That gives the fish jumping space (6"-10" depending on the tank), but the tank is still "covered." Evaporation is still limited as the hood fits snugly atop the tank. I put a big door on the front that I can open as needed to feed the fish or maintain the tank. The whole hood lifts off if more room is needed. I use the PVC trim boards for the hood construction with PVC cement holding everything together. It's easy-peasy stuff and works great. I cut whatever holes are needed in the back wall for filters or heaters, but the PVC is pretty easy stuff to work with. 

IMG_20201123_075611283.jpg

IMG_20201123_075621259_HDR.jpg

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I had a my local glass shop cut me custom lids for my 90 gallon. Its 1/4 inch glass, split down the middle so each half can come out of the canopy doors for maintenance. A 3 inch hole drilled in the center allows for feeding. I have glass squares with a stick on handle that cover the holes for evaporation. I run a Stringray light on each side, front and back of the glass, something you can't do with hinged lids.  

20210108_155739.jpg.8796f9bc92facb64da88d32e35790c2d.jpg

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For non tempered glass, cutting is easy. You just need a scoring tool, a flat edge, ideally some clamps, some cutting oil (this makes a big difference) and a table. With that you're set. Overall investment into the tools <$60 I would say.

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When I started keeping fish I used the hinged lids from the big box stores but found them lacking due to the big black hinge piece that blocks like 30% of your LEDs if you use a light that mounts low to the tank. I have moved to using double-wall greenhouse panelling, it isn't too expensive and it is easy to work with. They also diffuse light very well. I use a table saw with a plastic cutting blade because I am lazy but it is fairly soft plastic so any kind blade will pretty much cut it.

 

One of mine:

IMG_20220430_204655067_HDR.jpg.017265d5331050852e06e670591aa598.jpg

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I will chalk this up to "mistakes were made" but this is why it's so frustrating as a customer when you call the company and tell them they messed up.  They argue, but it's pretty clear what happened.

As mentioned above for my Aqueon lid for a 20L/29G Aquarium lid they send me the wrong trim.  I have the "correct trim" on hand and it's pretty clear what happened here.

29G fit - Gaps around the rear trim piece.
20220529_135444.JPG.b65f07b5ca3ab99ab16256fc9dd9281d.JPG

 With the longer trim piece from my 75G - No gaps
20220529_135520.JPG.17077cf08d403b7e065ea7242d7cde3f.JPG

The issue being.... They used the wrong thickness glass, or the wrong dimensions for the glass itself.  There's definitely some quality control issues and it's pretty disappointed to see something like this knocked down to "tolerance issues" with glass products.
compare.jpg.e3f0c6031effbe12d0591e50f2fb754e.jpg

I have a piece of marineland trim I purchased to alleviate the issue, which does work with the thinner glass.

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  • 6 months later...

Just got off the phone with aqueon.

They made the glass shorter due to "some hang on back's not fitting" and I asked about the trim fitment issue.  They also received my email and never responded to it.  I called, was given the case number, and the email to contact (after asking for the 3rd time if anything could be done)

Unofficially of course, talking with the technical support staff on the other line.  "that's a decision above my pay grade" was the response when asked why not just make the glass thicker and put in the correct trim piece.  The current glass does bow a lot, I understand the 75G is a LOT thicker.  The nice thing is that it actually works. 

Sending photos over now of everything, but this is just beyond silly.

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On 5/4/2022 at 1:02 AM, dangerflower said:

Okay the hinge / light interaction has been driving me crazy since I set up my first tank a year ago and I've been wondering if it's just me because I never heard anyone talk about it 😂 I keep my light toward the back of the tank so that the hinge strip doesn't block the light and so that the panel will stay propped open...but that means that the front of the tank is shadowed and I hate it. Is this how everyone places their lights? I can't see another way to do it but I've always assumed I was doing something wrong, haha.

I actually ended up using two lights, one in front of the strip and one behind it. I just have to push the front one back to open the lid. And of course I also reduced the light output on both. Not an inexpensive solution but there are no shadows. 

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I was so concerned that the lid was going to break something or itself, that  I resorted to removeing the hinge entirely on a ten gallon becaues of the slam down factor!  It's not ideal, but I have to lift the front half off and set it on a towel when feeding etc.  

This only works because it's a small lid and the tank is on the kitchen counter and there's someplace to set it.  I can't imagine this working for a large tank. It would probably be dangerous and not to mention very irritating to lift it multiple times a day.

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On 12/21/2022 at 7:26 AM, Matt Butzin said:

I was so concerned that the lid was going to break something or itself, that  I resorted to removeing the hinge entirely on a ten gallon becaues of the slam down factor!  It's not ideal, but I have to lift the front half off and set it on a towel when feeding etc

Crazy hard slams right? I can't imagine that is safe or something that results in a good environment for the fish.

So frustrating.

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Just a little warning.  If you do remove the hinge and have a light that doesn't sit on the other piece, you may be tempted to just lift it and set it on the back panel.  Don't do this!  When I did,  the water on the glass sticks/adheres to the panels and when lifting it back up both pieces came up and then the bottom one slid off! Almost had disaster!😳

I'm looking forward to getting a Co-Op LED when they become available. The next step to this 10gal experiment. 😁

Live and learn

20221222_074713.jpg

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