Dee of CNY Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Twin Wall 8mm Polycarbonate Sheet, Clear, Strong Impact and Shatterproof, All-Weather Outdoor Greenhouse Covering Thank you! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenFins Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Many people use this as a diy aquarium lid. There are tones of videos on it on youtube. Its worked well for me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Fish Den Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 I use it on most of my aquariums. Very easy to cut with make whatever size, shape you need. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 (edited) I use those and and really like them. I kind of believe the material is great at heat retention, but have no real data to back that up other than observation and speculation. They only drawback to them is if you accidentally dip them into the tank the voids can fill with water and, if you're not paying attention, this spills on your floor. Other than that they work well and are easy to cut to size with a box cutter. Edited January 22, 2021 by tolstoy21 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 (edited) I have them also. They do well and I have added packing tape to the open ends because I found otherwise I would get fish food and pest snails in between the twin walls. They did seem to dim the lighting more relative to glass, but not enough to be a problem. EDIT: I realized after I wrote this that they dimmed the tank relative to NO LID. I was surprised that it made as big of a difference as it did, visually, but my plants are fine. Read on for actual statistics proving that this doesn't dim light more than glass. Edited January 26, 2021 by Brandy 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee of CNY Posted January 21, 2021 Author Share Posted January 21, 2021 Thanks everyone! We were thinking of caulking the ends to keep moisture out and prevent black mold or mildew. You've been very helpful! Best wishes with your fishes!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Smith Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 I use these for most of my 12 tanks! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Will it prevent much of the light from going through? That would be my concern. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Smith Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 10 minutes ago, Marc said: Will it prevent much of the light from going through? That would be my concern. I found it doesn't seem to block much light at all, but I don't have a PAR meter. 🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 2 hours ago, Marc said: Will it prevent much of the light from going through? That would be my concern. I haven’t noticed any issues at all with light through these. But I don’t grown any difficult plants. My java moss and java fern do great under them with moderate intensity lights suspended about 6 to 8 inches above the lids. I believe these panels are used in greenhouse applications, correct? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ellsworth Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I use something similar to this. I found poly sheeting like this in the light diffuser section of my hardware store. It works very well for aquarium lids. I think LRB aquatics cut his in half lengthwise and taped it with water resistant gorilla tape so he can open and close it easier. Taping the edges that are open sounds like a good idea too. Water does get in there. This stuff really cuts down on tank evaporation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shkote Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I have these on about 15 tanks and love how lightweight and easy they are to just move out of the way when I need to. When I first cut the pieces, I had an issue on my mbuna tank. The aquaclear filter clogged a bit while I was at work, somehow directed the flow straight to the back of the lid, which was open where it had been cut, and the water shot straight through it and out the front. Came home to a decent amount of water on the floor. I have since ran silicone along all of the edges that were cut. Learned my lesson there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee of CNY Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Great points! I have a south window about 6' away so will try the medium to low light plants. Aq.Co-op has good articles about plants... Thank you all for sharing such helpful thoughts! It's so fun to keep learning about this hobby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 6 hours ago, David Ellsworth said: I think LRB aquatics cut his in half lengthwise and taped it with water resistant gorilla tape so he can open and close it easier. Yeah, I'd love to spend the time making semi-nice hinges for these because that's another complaint of mine about using these: picking the entire lid up. One of these days ill spend some time figuring out how to make a decent hinge for these. Im sure its not super difficult. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy's Fish Den Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 26 minutes ago, tolstoy21 said: Yeah, I'd love to spend the time making semi-nice hinges for these because that's another complaint of mine about using these: picking the entire lid up. One of these days ill spend some time figuring out how to make a decent hinge for these. Im sure its not super difficult. Ive done the heavy duty tape thing for hinges on mine. So far it has lasted a year, I only replaced the tape on one, and it was super easy to peel off and replace. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickS77 Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 30 minutes ago, tolstoy21 said: One of these days ill spend some time figuring out how to make a decent hinge for these. Im sure its not super difficult. You could used double sided clear tape to attach small plastic hinges to the lid halves. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 22 hours ago, Dee of CNY said: Twin Wall 8mm Polycarbonate Sheet, Clear, Strong Impact and Shatterproof, All-Weather Outdoor Greenhouse Covering Looks like it sure would work. As you're seeing, lot's of fish keepers use it. We use Lexan lids on about 7 tanks . . . two 55 gals, a 20 long, three 5.5 gals, and a tiny fry 2.5 gal. It definitely warps under heat and pressure. For our purposes, it's not overly distressing. We built it to flip symmetrically, and just reverse the bend upside down. Annoying . . . a little bit . . . but it works. Easy to clean, and it lets plenty of light through. This material you're suggesting might be less prone to bending. Here's a few photos . . . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancing Matt Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 I use it on a 20 Long and 10gal and have had no problem with bending. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tolstoy21 Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 51 minutes ago, MickS77 said: You could used double sided clear tape to attach small plastic hinges to the lid halves. Yeah that's what I've kind of been imagining every time Im struggling to slide a whole lid back on and am like "Ugh. Need hinges." 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Smith Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 1 hour ago, tolstoy21 said: Yeah that's what I've kind of been imagining every time Im struggling to slide a whole lid back on and am like "Ugh. Need hinges." Clear packing tape makes a perfect hinge for these lids. It sticks REALLY well, and it's nearly invisible. No need for fancy hinges! 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Cory Posted January 22, 2021 Administrators Share Posted January 22, 2021 I’ve done some testing, these tops let more light through than a standard glass top because it has no iron to block light like the glass does. Here is the video I did on these tops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn T Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 5 hours ago, Lynze said: When I first cut the pieces, I had an issue on my mbuna tank. The aquaclear filter clogged a bit while I was at work, somehow directed the flow straight to the back of the lid, which was open where it had been cut, and the water shot straight through it and out the front. Came home to a decent amount of water on the floor. I have since ran silicone along all of the edges that were cut. Learned my lesson there. Doh! I hadn't even thought of that! I'm so glad I read this thread. I'm getting ready to replace my glass lids with covers made of this stuff. The glass lids don't fit to suit my current needs, so I decided to make new covers out of this material after seeing Cory's video (he posted it above) and a couple of others on YT. I loved the idea of being able to make lids to suit me, instead of dealing with a one-size-fits-few approach. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Smith Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 And regarding cutting, I don't have a table saw, but I've used hand saws, a bandsaw, and a circular saw for mine. All cut through very nicely! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug_E Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 11 minutes ago, Cory said: I’ve done some testing, these tops let more light through than a standard glass top because it has no iron to block light like the glass does. Here is the video I did on these tops. Glass is 83% light transmission while these are 86-88%. Polycarbonate difuses the light which is actually better for plants. https://greenhouseemporium.com/blogs/greenhouse-gardening/glass-vs-polycarbonate-greenhouse/ No someone get Cory some safety glasses. At first I thought that video was, "how not to use a table saw". 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Re: light dimming, I think I am a dork and was thinking of the amount of dimming I got relative to NO LID--which obviously would be brighter. Anyway, it bugs my old eyes, but not the plants, and the fish prefer it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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