Making a Reef Tank Lid

Another reefing post this week, thought this time it also involves crafting. When I first ordered the lagoon tank, the fact that it didn't come with a lid wasn't an issue for me. I left that a problem for future me to worry about!

Luckily, the old IM 40 lid fit side to side, and only had a couple inch gap front to back. For a few months, I used the old lid with the new tank and simply draped a towel over the back where the lid didn't quite cover. This worked out pretty well, wasn't terribly ugly, so it was ok for a few months... until I sold the old tank and had to give up the lid.

I don't really like the IM lids, the mesh screen is full of imperfections and I feel like it blocks a lot of light. So the quickest solution to keep my fishes from jumping out was a cardboard lid. Definitely not the best long term, because no light could get into the tank, but I am paranoid of jumpers and I'm pretty cheap. I did take the cardboard off when I was home at night and could keep an eye on things, but that meant the tank was only getting about 4 hours of light a day.

I went out to buy supplies to make my own lid - a screen frame kit from Menards (with hacksaw and spline tool), and some mesh fabric from Jo Anns. I forgot about the need for new IM clips, so I improvised for a few more weeks and held the mesh in place with binder clips.

Two weekends ago I finally got everything together to get the lid made and in place. The hacksaw did an OK job - but the corners are a little jagged and not as clean as I'd like. I pulled the fabric too tight, so the screen doesn't quite sit flat. And I pushed too hard on the spline tool in a few places, slipping and cutting a few holes in the fabric.

It works for now, but I will probably re-do the screen at some point. First I gotta make sure the fabric and frame survive being above saltwater for a while. At least it was a cheap and relatively easy fix.