Tank Cover Materials

[Hypostomus]

Hm, this is interesting...

The 120g tank I'm preparing to house a bichir (fish that can and will escape and wander around for a bit) among other things has no cover. The lights actually sit up on wooden supports. I tried searching for a cover online, but was unsuccessful. It needs to be sort of customized anyway, as there will be at least one H.O.B. on the side, and probably an Emperor on the other as well as room for tubes to the canister, powercords, etc.

I was thinking that maybe I could get some eggcrate, cut out the parts where the filters are going to be, and then cover up the holes that aren't directly under the lights somehow?

I don't know why the tank doesn't have a cover- I am merely taking over its operations and even the people who run it now were not the ones who bought it. It's an "in the wall" tank that is only seen from one side, so there is no need for it to have something fancy. I just need some kind of material that a) has room or can be cut to have room for equipment, b) will allow the lights to shine through, and c) will keep the fish from carpet surfing.

Suggestions? (I've been asking a lot of questions lately, but I've honestly never had a tank without a cover before.)

[Christmasfish]

My lil guy is already very strong.. eggcrate has to have holes they are not tempted to squeeze through and be heavy enough material not to crack.
I keep the water shallow so it is more work to raise out. Currently he has glass with a small curve in one corner for wires and an internal filter.It usually has an 11 pound art piece on top to keep him at bay. When he is large...yeesh..I still have't ironed it out!
If he gets as big as his larger parent..I am so boned! I can't remeber off hand if it is 37 or 38....
He has been caught wandering a couple times. Darn african walking eel! ! (Anyone remember that pet store pretty word? )

[Hypostomus]

I know of one [acronym:cbbcc4d663="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:cbbcc4d663] that called both bichirs and violet gobies "dragon eels" without batting an eye.

What species do you have Christmas?

I was thinking of keeping the water level as low as possible, though I don't know where I would go to get a piece of glass that could be cut to fit the tank and the equipment. I'll look into it, though..

[Maillis]

Instead of glass, why not a sheet of acrylic? You can get openings cut into that pretty easy and if he tries to escape by bashing into it or something he can't break it like glass. Oh and you can lift and remove it if you need too much easier than a piece of glass.

[JamesShall]

I have a sheet of plexiglass over my aquarium for now. With a Dremel tool I was able to cut out exact openings for the [acronym:015c5d028c="Hang On Back"]HOB[/acronym:015c5d028c] to work through. If you go this route then you will also need to get some sort of metal bar running across the entire tank to support the plastic lid. Without any support you will have problems. After a few days, the center portion of the lid will sag down and the corners will bend upwards. This makes lots of open spaces and looks ugly. Plastic covers are probably good on 20 gallon tanks or smaller without any support.

[Hypostomus]

I don't really have any tools for working with plastic or acrylic..