partial lid for 3 gallon Picotope - or "Keep my idiot co-workers out of my tank" :)

[jbrady33]

I don't mind if they come look at it, but the open top of a JBJ Picotope seems like it would invite a lot of "Oops! I was leaning over it while you weren't there and dropped _______ in there" (could be anything, paperclips, glasses, eggroll) Also keeps things from being knocked off the shelf above it.

went to Home Depot at lunch, $4 piece of window acrylic, cheap hand coping saw, some sandpaper. Some drawing with a sharpie, some company time spent with the saw (cuts fairly easy, but cut off with a very shallow angle - straight up and down like wood doesn't do it) and voila! Not perfect, but good enough. Figured I would take it off while I'm at my desk, put it back on when I leave:






UPDATE!

To address the possibly of warping brought up by a poster, added a rib to the top to stiffen things up! A little sloppy with the superglue, so have some white ghosting on the rib. The straight rib was easier to 'score and snap' than cut - score with a knife & straightedge, put the small end between a door & frame (right up the score line) and bend it over to snap it off.

[jbrady33]

oh yeah, a 'fine' saw blade seems to work best, and the odd shape was so I can get it on and off without removing the light.

[deeda]

Nice fix and should keep things out that don't belong in there!

[mistergreen]

The acrylic will warp over time under the heat of the lights. It might not bother you that much.

[jbrady33]

If it does I'll try to find thicker acrylic, the light is LED and barely gets warm, that might help.

[Neatfish]

People don't respect nothing these days. Nice tank btw.

[jemminnifener]

Nice work. Never thought about hand cutting a shape out of acrylic.

[mrchach]

What is the thickness of the acrylic you bought?
IMHO the rib is most likely unnecessary. I have put a 6 " x 10" x.08" piece under 1/4" of tension across the 10" span at 115F temps for several days straight with no affect once acrylic is brought back to room temp.

But if it doesn't bother you aesthetically than dis regard.

Also with acrylic it can be difficult to remove hard water residue.

I like the creativity and the look though. Thumbsup

[jbrady33]

Its the thin crap in the window repair section of home depot, would make it out of thicker but not aware of an easy source locally.

Thick glass would be fine too, even know how to cut curves and wet grind edges (used to do stained glass) but I don't know how to round and polish the edges

[MlDukes]

The tank and lid look great!

FYI stop by any glass shop and they should have acrylic scraps of many diff thicknesses.

[PinkRasbora]

A glass shop might have a piece of scrap glass just take in your lid and they can cut one to the exact same shape if you so choose =]

[jbrady33]

Had to raise the light to combat BBA, which means I had to cut a new top! I like it, feels much more open that the light on legs.

[GreenBliss]

It looks great.

[moonshinetheslacker]

Awesome light, and awesome top! Everything looks great. Good job all around. I currently have ZERO tanks set up but I'm starting to think that I should set up my 6.6 gallon some place. Just have to do it when the wife isn't home (she won't make me take it apart, but she will be a PITA if I start setting it up) She thinks we have enough going on right now... which we do... but... I'M GOING THROUGH WITHDRAWLS MAN!!!!!

[MABJ]

Love it man. The lid is cut well and the overhang matches the bottom well without requiring you to do precise measurements. Very impressive.