kien's 150g Room Divider Mixed Reef & Stuff

[kien]

They are definitely striking, especially under actinics. I have to desaturate quite a bit usually but this time I decided to shoot with actinics on and through a lens filter which created the more saturated effect.

This zoo is one of my very few surviving frags from Frag-a-lot.

[lastlight]

I'll keep my kidney then!

So whaddya say...$10?

[kien]

So I've been putting this off for far too long. The 131g FOWLR is in desperate need of a cover since it is a completely open top. Not even a canopy like the 150g mixed reef, so I know I've been rolling the dice.. Well, finally, here we are with the tank screen cover DIY project.

First up, here's a laundry list of materials you'll need.

1. Some sort of mesh of your choosing. I used a polyproplene mesh that I got off of 'acroholic' from Reef Sanctury. Just PM him if you want some. $0.85 per square foot and $5 shipping. UPDATE (June 12, 2013): Bulk Reef Supply sells the screen and kits as well: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/sumps-...reen-tops.html
2. Screen door building materials (all from Home Depot in the window isle) including Aluminum rails,
3. Corner attachments
4. Screen spline
5. Screen application tool.
6. Tape measure
7. Hack saw (or similar).



Here is the mesh..



As you can see, it is a pretty small weave.


=======================================

So first up, we need to cut our rails. Just measure the lengths you need and cut away! I used a hacksaw to cut the aluminum. I did however have a tricky bit that I had to account for, and that was my return plumbing that comes up and over the edge of the tank like so..



To deal with this I had to cut the corner tabs so that the inserts were shorter. Plus, these tabs had small guide rails that slid into the hallow aluminum which I had to cut as well so that I could reverse the direction of the tabs. Once again, I just used my trusty little hack saw and cut away!











And so there we have the opening for the return pipe. That was actually the hardest part of the entire project! After that I just went around the rest of the frame with the aluminum rails and ended up with this.

[kien]

Next I pulled out the mesh and spread it across the frame and pulled out the screen spline material.





I proceeded to insert the spline into the grooves that it was supposed to go into like so..



while using the screen application tool to push the spline into the groves as I went around the frame.





make sure the screen is taut as you go around.



After the screen was secured to the frame I cut off the excess screen material around the edges and finally ended up with this, my virtually see through aquarium screen cover.



Easy as pie! Well, except for maybe Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie because that actually sounds kind of difficult..

[kien]

Here are some product photos.









I am quite happy with the result as there is virtually no light loss and I don't think anybody is going to jump through that sucker.

[zum14]

Awesome job as always! Have you noticed any light deflection off the mesh at all? I just need to figure out how to make one for a bowfront.

[kien]

Originally Posted by zum14

Awesome job as always! Have you noticed any light deflection off the mesh at all? I just need to figure out how to make one for a bowfront.

Nope. Have not noticed anything different at all with the mesh screen on.