Upgrade Time (125 gal Freshwater to Saltwater)

[Dary421]

I have " access doors" on both my egg crate covers ,... makes it nice to be able to open a little door to feed ,grab things out of the tank etc without having to remove the whole cover

 

[Bdonaldson]

I can feed without removing mine but if I have to reach inside the tank I just take the screen off.

 

[Bdonaldson]

It would be nice if I could come up with. Way to add a access door.

 

[54seaweed]

I use them during maintenance water change , feeding adding or removing stuff , like dary mentioned they do come in handy once you have one you will see how easy it is to do maintenance ,
think I figured out a good way of doing it make the frame front to back 4inch smaller than make a separate section for the access hatch 3 13/16 inch to allow for some type of hing , I always liked how the vinyl hing from versa top works , maybe use some of that ,

 

[Bdonaldson]

That sounds like a good idea Seaweed. I think it would be cool to do one on both sides. So you would have the piece in the middle and a hinged section on both sides.

I think I will change mine to incorporate that idea. Thanks Seaweed.

 

[Bdonaldson]

I have my glass tops from my old tank. I can use the vinyl hinge from those. I would have to glue the hinge onto the aluminum frame. I guess aquarium glue would work.

 

[Bdonaldson]

Although if you are going front to back you probable would only need one hinged section. I was thinking side to side in the above statement.

 

[Autumnsky]

Wow, nice size tank you got there! Congrats on a (HUGE) fine looking container!

 

[Bdonaldson]

Thanks Autumn. I'm really excited about getting it up and running.

 

[Bdonaldson]

Ok cut my frame down and added a second piece which will be the access door.

 

[54seaweed]

just glue the hing to both sections of the frame

both these older tops had the access doors like we mentioned above and
this should give you a idea on how to use the vinyl hing , this was one of my first tops I made egg crate with glass lid attached with vinyl hing
I don't see why this very same method wouldn't work on the metal frame

this one was just egg crate with a door cut out hinged by zip ties eventually I changed it to the vinyl hing crazy glue works on everything ,

but that metal frame would work even better with the vinyl hing , I love tinkering with things till they work , I hope this helps you see the doors and gives you ideas for the framework ,

Save​

 

[54seaweed]

wow you did a nice job on that .
looking at the frame I don't see why both sections couldn't have hing glued to top of frame

 

[Bdonaldson]

Yeah Seaweed that's what I was thinking. Instead of the hinge I was thinking about using black tape to tape the two together.

 

[paul87]

is that a aluminum frame is there a way of making a access door , I like the neat look . wonder how it would hold up to salt

Mine is painted aluminum and is holding up great.

 

[54seaweed]

I would be weary the tape wouldn't stay adhered as there will be moisture involved , I just ordered a screen framing kit online just got to go to store to pick it up , now I need to figure a way of putting a center brace on my 40b so I can do this in 2 sections . otherwise I'll get a sage in the middle over that 3ft span .

I decided this last night when my baby green coris wrasse jumped through the egg crate, he's lucky I saw him jump I was able to save him he's about a 1/2 inch in size so he was hiding in the rocks quite a while as I never knew he was there ,

he was born in my tank my green coris wrasse must have mated with my red coris wrasse funny part I never knew she was pregnant haven't seen any other little ones they may still be hiding or they were lunch , I read it's not very common to breed wrasses in home aquariums so this was a surprise.

 

[Sniperhank]

Sounds like a discussion to have with Tony Gill to see if he knows anything about that...
But I do agree on the adhesive being an issue from moisture.

 

[Bdonaldson]

I did find this acrylic hinge on amazon. I would have to paint it.

 

[Bdonaldson]

No I'm sorry this one is aluminum.

 

[Bdonaldson]

I would be weary the tape wouldn't stay adhered as there will be moisture involved , I just ordered a screen framing kit online just got to go to store to pick it up , now I need to figure a way of putting a center brace on my 40b so I can do this in 2 sections . otherwise I'll get a sage in the middle over that 3ft span .

I decided this last night when my baby green coris wrasse jumped through the egg crate, he's lucky I saw him jump I was able to save him he's about a 1/2 inch in size so he was hiding in the rocks quite a while as I never knew he was there ,

he was born in my tank my green coris wrasse must have mated with my red coris wrasse funny part I never knew she was pregnant haven't seen any other little ones they may still be hiding or they were lunch , I read it's not very common to breed wrasses in home aquariums so this was a surprise.

That is nice to have your fish breeding like that. That's a good sign that your environment is good. Take a picture of the little guy if you see him again.

My tank I made my first screen for is also a 40B. It is a little flimsy when I take it off but not to bad. I'm sure you will come up with something to use as a brace.

 

[54seaweed]

this is the hing I would use just crazy glue it on .
versa top replacement parts