Glass covers for 210 tank being cut at Lowes for $15

[dundadundun]

gotcha... i did read through, but for some reason that wasn't clicking when i posted. i see what you're saying by overlapping now.

honestly... i was hoping you'd come up with something clever i'd overlooked because i was cutting long, thin strips of glass that day myself. pre-occupied, ulterior motives and all...

 

[CWO4GUNNER]

gotcha... i did read through, but for some reason that wasn't clicking when i posted. i see what you're saying by overlapping now.

honestly... i was hoping you'd come up with something clever i'd overlooked because i was cutting long, thin strips of glass that day myself. pre-occupied, ulterior motives and all...

Oh I know, I even have a glass cutting tool and was going to use it if I could buy large sheet glass at a reasonable price. But quite frankly this Texican adaptation worked out and fit great and cost only little $20. Glass shop buying and cutting would have cost me close to $80.
:huh: Besides Im not skilled like you at glass cutting although I think I could pull it off if I had to.

 

[dundadundun]

awww, shucks... now i'm blushing.

 

[Navyscuba]

Oh I know, I even have a glass cutting tool and was going to use it if I could buy large sheet glass at a reasonable price. But quite frankly this Texican adaptation worked out and fit great and cost only little $20. Glass shop buying and cutting would have cost me close to $80.
:huh: Besides Im not skilled like you at glass cutting although I think I could pull it off if I had to.

hey Gunner I just came back from Lowes. I tried to get some glass to do a lid for the 55 gal. Since I changed the light I need a glass lid. They only had glass that was thinner than 1/8" like the kind you use for picture frames. Bump. Men I'm frustrated now cuz I wanted to get everything together to take the tank down tomorrow and re-do it since is going to be fully planted. Now I'm stuck again. I got a glass cutter but I can't find 1/8" thick glass and like you said going to the glass shop would be like $80 to get those 4 pieces of glass.

 

[CWO4GUNNER]

hey Gunner I just came back from Lowes. I tried to get some glass to do a lid for the 55 gal. Since I changed the light I need a glass lid. They only had glass that was thinner than 1/8" like the kind you use for picture frames. Bump. Men I'm frustrated now cuz I wanted to get everything together to take the tank down tomorrow and re-do it since is going to be fully planted. Now I'm stuck again. I got a glass cutter but I can't find 1/8" thick glass and like you said going to the glass shop would be like $80 to get those 4 pieces of glass.

Yeah I mentioned in this thread that their stuff was too thin 3/32" but that is what they use in windows these days if you can believe it. One advantage to an aquarium glass lid is if you can find size that overlaps to come close enough to make the width say 12" to bridge the width of a 20" aquarium, all you have to do then is have a length that can reach the center brace like on my 85" long tank I only needed 2 pieces 28" long to do one side becasue I used a piece of PVC to glue a new custom cover guide at each end of the center brace rather then from the center. My point is that when it comes to top covers on large tanks that use a center brace to support the covers, you have a lot leeway on size glass you can use and that is why I was able to make them out of a smaller disassembled aquarium. Im my case a 20 long tank on sale at Petco only cost me $20 and the panels fit perfectly after I made new custom PVC guides and were also thick enough 3/8". Unfortunatly the sale at Petco ended Sep 18th.

If you can find a smaller Craiglist tank with close enough dimensions, you could buy one for $1 a gallon, disassemble it and use the glass panels for covers. Other then that you could look for un-tempered pane glass that comes up on Craiglist that is thicker 1/4" to 3/8" and then brake out that glass cutter.

You might have better prices where you live at glass shops. Here they seem to have a minimum charge and I m sure it would have cost me way more and about as much to just order new covers.