Double wall polycarbonate con... if algae gets in in the vents it is a pain to clean. I silicon or superglue the ends to prevent this from happening even the holes I drill in it. Also, I have liquid rock for water. Hard water spots get on it as well. Glass works better for growing high light plants. I find glass easy to clean and if there are any hard spots, I use vinegar and a razor blade. I use a mixture of both glass and polycarbonate in my fish room. I have 30 aquariums. Glass and twin wall are good to have. I also do diy Glass lids and use twin wall polycarbonate in the back of some aquariums. I use the polycarbonate in the back so I can cut slots for heater cords and airline tubing. Also, drill a hole in ot to hold pothos. Good video.
So glad I came across this! I was reluctantly thinking about either buying or commissioning a new glass lid but I hated how heavy and expensive it was. I'm looking forward to making my new polycarbonate hinged lid!
Brings us joy to know that it helped you, hope you share it with other hobbyists so they can benefit from this too. Thank you for watching we will keep making good content that will help further in future.
I have used Polycarbonate many times. I have recently setup a big Aquarium for someone, and I have made a lid out of Polycarbonate. It is a lot cheaper than glass and it's safer, also it is easier to work with. Cut it with a utility knife to the required length and width. You can also bore holes to get your fingers in so you can easily lift it off. You can also make a couple of extra holes at the back so you can put the stem of a Pothos through the hole. 🤙🏼🙂🤙🏼❤️
@mrton9482 I have used Five Millimeters thick Polycarbonate. It is easy to cut. Use a utility knife. You can even use wire cutters. Yours Sincerely, #UltimateFishKeeping. 🤙🏼🙂🤙🏼❤️
Good video. The insulation properties of the polycarbonate sheets is much improved if you seal the ends. Either silicone sealant or adhesive tape. Helps with increased insulation, dust, spiders and algae.
Excellent video, thanks a lot. Going to make a lid for my 40 long grow out tank. The 40 long is mainly terranium so manufacturers dont make lids for then but they are awesome cichlid grow out tanks being 3ft long. Perfect solution for me!
Happy to be of use here. Hope you love your new panels. This product is great for multiple tanks and even if it gets dirty after few years you can dispose it off or use it elsewhere too and replace with new sheets that’s just very cheap overall. 🫡
One thing I love about PC is that you can glue it with PVC glue or just dissolve some PC in acetone to make a glue. I have made feeding hole caps by gluing the cut out piece with a larger piece of the material, and I still have all this see through. I also made a lid for a rimless tank by gluing pieces that overhang the lid by the thickness of glass in the tank. Not the cleanest look, but it doesn't look like hammered shit either.
One more option to use is by using clear acrylic sheets. It works just exactly like glass cover, but its more durable that it wont break like glass on slight impact/tension, and it is lighter too. Best thing about it is that it offers the same (or almost) amount of light passing through the cover, so for a planted tank it is a great pick. The cons is it is more expensive than polycarbonate, but I'm assuming it wont be as expensive as glass. The other thing is that it might be difficult to do DIY cuttings, unless if there's a place for custom laser cut somewhere (like what I did for my lid). I'm currently using 3mm thickness 16.5x16.5 inches, and it worked fine so far. One thing to note is that to not clean it with blade-type glass scraper like you do with glass lid/tank, instead clean it with normal algae scrubber (or whatever its called).
How would you go about adding a hinged lid that you can flip open to the polycarbonate material? I see self-adhesive piano hinges on amazon, but wasnt sure.
What I do is gently score along the ribbing only cutting through one layer to create the hinge and you can put a piece or knob on top of it with double tape or glue. But I personally just score and create a hinge it looks neat flat and easy to handle. Let me know if it works out for you thank you.
This is a very helpful video. I had just bought some polycarbonate sheets, but had no idea how to cut them. Now I know, thanks to your clear demonstration. Do you have any tips for (a) cutting out sections of polycarbonate for filter pipes or (b) drilling holes in polycarbonate for airflow?
Glad to hear that it was helpful. Drilling holes in the Polycarbonate is totally fine you can absolutely do that. Cutting for filters you just need to measure the space needed and as demonstrated In the video you can cut it accordingly. We will work on a short where it answers your questions in detail.
Hi, it depends on the length and width of your tank. If it’s less then 4ft then thinner sheet will work too. I have seen folks using a think aluminium support in the middle too. If longer than that then I would suggest a thicker material. Hope this helps ❤️
This materials allows light to pass through just fine. All you need to do is wipe them every week or two or whenever they are dirty with a wet cloth. That’s my personal experience it may differ.
Very nice. If I actually go this route on my 10 gallon Guppy breeding program I would like to glue lift handles on the front side. Have you tried to glue ( CA, or other types) to this ?
Hi, this is a great question, personally I have not attached anything to my lids but Super glue or epoxy adhesive are safe to use on Polycarbonate. Also note: To clean it, just use water as Windex will damage the material. Hope this helps! Thank you for watching and sharing ideas.
It holds up great! It is used in Green House so it is UV protected. I have heard it cracks from sunlight, but it’s been a whole year covers in our fish room looks brand new. All we do is wipe them every week. Great product check out the link in description you will be able to read the properties of the product in there too. Thank you for watching and thanks for asking a great question.
I'm surprised you didn't mention plexiglass "acrylic" or warn against using it. I had a 1/4" sheet handy and made a lid. It came out great, but after about a month it was warped pretty bad. I thought it was due to the light I had laying on it and making it a little warm. I made a 2nd lid and used a light that was elevated above the lid. After about a month it also warped out. After a little research I found out that acrylic is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water over time causing it to warp. I purchased a 1/4" sheet of polycarbonate (more durable, but heavier and harder to cut than the greenhouse panels you used) and made my 3rd lid. It's been almost 6 months and the lid is still perfectly flat.
Weird, I've had acrylic lids for years, they warped but not enough to be worried about. I did change them for glass because they got really opaque over time and started to block light a lot.
You don't need a diamond cutter to cut glass. Any cheap glass cutter will do, just remember to use a bit of lubricant - any kind will do, even WD40. 3 mm glass is dirt cheap (at least in Europe). Plenty of videos on YT on cutting glass. I use PC too, but for scaped aquariums it looks terrible.
@@Orange-kun Great question, Personally I Have not sealed them and have not seen any algae growth in the lids. We salt our tanks so have to clean just the salt stains of hard water stains. Thank you for watching.
@@Cichlodianyou will eventually experience algae as the moisture will form. I have used silicone to seal ends, it is time consuming but you can’t get the algae out of those holes. A plus is they insulate even better😊
Debbie, if you have a hobbyist around you, get in contact with them they probably have the material laying around and can spare a sheet. Hope you find a single sheet it is the best. Thank you for watching our video hope it helped.
The biggest con for polycarbonate in the UK is the price. It much more expensive than cut glass. A sheet 3ft x 3ft x 2mm costs £63, about the price of a bare 24in tank.
Glass is the number one choice for those with a single nano tank. It only gets expensive if you have multiple large tanks. It’s clear so it looks like it isn’t there, it’s the easiest to clean and won’t warp or sag. It’s also the most attractive option…with the clearest view of your tank. Polycarbonate is not see-through, difficult to clean…mold gets inside the little channels. It scratches easily when trying to clean it…and it’s just ugly. Albeit, with multiple large tanks, it’s the only choice cost wise. Good video but a little skewed towards polycarbonate…that’s a puzzle.
A Con of your roofing tile, its lite weight and will not hold up to a "real fish". If your raising guppies....you are golden....you got a tiger oscar.....arawanna .... any cichlid bigger than 4 inches and you got a problem. Suppose you could duct tape the sides down if you hope to have a prayer of it staying on. Glass is heavy for a reason and why they usually use tempered glass so when it does get hit by said cichlid, it doesn't break. So in short, I get why there are DIY tops for tanks.... If you have a fishroom and lots of tanks you got on the cheap....go by your roofing panels. If you have a few show tanks....you like fish you just are not a fish junkie, go buy glass and call it a day. If you drop it and break it...that's on you, pay attention and be careful when doing that task. Glass tops can almost always be cleaned to new like condition.
15 years never had a fish jump out of the water. Biggest reason of fish trying to escape are bad water conditions or starvation. If you have tank busters that’s another story. Oscars, discuss,haps, peacocks, fronts we have all and never had a single fish jump out of the water maybe thats because of my Prayers working for 15 years Do like your point about if you have a show tank with tank Buster you may want to go with Glass Lids.
This video deserves way more likes for the views... I do hope you get them!
Thank you for watching and saying words of encouragement.
Double wall polycarbonate con... if algae gets in in the vents it is a pain to clean. I silicon or superglue the ends to prevent this from happening even the holes I drill in it. Also, I have liquid rock for water. Hard water spots get on it as well. Glass works better for growing high light plants. I find glass easy to clean and if there are any hard spots, I use vinegar and a razor blade. I use a mixture of both glass and polycarbonate in my fish room. I have 30 aquariums. Glass and twin wall are good to have. I also do diy Glass lids and use twin wall polycarbonate in the back of some aquariums. I use the polycarbonate in the back so I can cut slots for heater cords and airline tubing. Also, drill a hole in ot to hold pothos.
Good video.
Great information thank you for sharing.
So glad I came across this! I was reluctantly thinking about either buying or commissioning a new glass lid but I hated how heavy and expensive it was. I'm looking forward to making my new polycarbonate hinged lid!
Brings us joy to know that it helped you, hope you share it with other hobbyists so they can benefit from this too.
Thank you for watching we will keep making good content that will help further in future.
Perfect timing I was looking for a glass alternative thank you so much!
You Got this! Glad it helped ☺️
That was a nice video. Keep them coming!
Coming up with more helpful content. 😌
I have used Polycarbonate many times.
I have recently setup a big Aquarium for someone, and I have made a lid out of Polycarbonate.
It is a lot cheaper than glass and it's safer, also it is easier to work with. Cut it with a utility knife to the required length and width.
You can also bore holes to get your fingers in so you can easily lift it off.
You can also make a couple of extra holes at the back so you can put the stem of a Pothos through the hole. 🤙🏼🙂🤙🏼❤️
what thickness?
@mrton9482 I have used Five Millimeters thick Polycarbonate.
It is easy to cut.
Use a utility knife.
You can even use wire cutters.
Yours Sincerely,
#UltimateFishKeeping. 🤙🏼🙂🤙🏼❤️
Good video. The insulation properties of the polycarbonate sheets is much improved if you seal the ends. Either silicone sealant or adhesive tape. Helps with increased insulation, dust, spiders and algae.
Great point about the insects. Thank you for sharing!
Any insects that fall into my tanks will be food within seconds.
AWESOME video n tip!! Definitely gonna try this!! Thanks again for sharing!! 👍🤡👍
Thank you for watching, say Hi to Harley Quinn and Make sure to show Batman who’s the boss 🤠
Excellent video, thanks a lot. Going to make a lid for my 40 long grow out tank. The 40 long is mainly terranium so manufacturers dont make lids for then but they are awesome cichlid grow out tanks being 3ft long. Perfect solution for me!
Happy to be of use here. Hope you love your new panels. This product is great for multiple tanks and even if it gets dirty after few years you can dispose it off or use it elsewhere too and replace with new sheets that’s just very cheap overall. 🫡
A very good presentation. Keep up the good work. Blessings
Thank you for the kindest response. Blessings upon you too ❤️.
One thing I love about PC is that you can glue it with PVC glue or just dissolve some PC in acetone to make a glue.
I have made feeding hole caps by gluing the cut out piece with a larger piece of the material, and I still have all this see through.
I also made a lid for a rimless tank by gluing pieces that overhang the lid by the thickness of glass in the tank.
Not the cleanest look, but it doesn't look like hammered shit either.
That is sa great tip. I hope people read this.
Thank you for sharing this
One more option to use is by using clear acrylic sheets. It works just exactly like glass cover, but its more durable that it wont break like glass on slight impact/tension, and it is lighter too. Best thing about it is that it offers the same (or almost) amount of light passing through the cover, so for a planted tank it is a great pick.
The cons is it is more expensive than polycarbonate, but I'm assuming it wont be as expensive as glass. The other thing is that it might be difficult to do DIY cuttings, unless if there's a place for custom laser cut somewhere (like what I did for my lid).
I'm currently using 3mm thickness 16.5x16.5 inches, and it worked fine so far.
One thing to note is that to not clean it with blade-type glass scraper like you do with glass lid/tank, instead clean it with normal algae scrubber (or whatever its called).
Great information! Thank you for sharing.
How would you go about adding a hinged lid that you can flip open to the polycarbonate material? I see self-adhesive piano hinges on amazon, but wasnt sure.
What I do is gently score along the ribbing only cutting through one layer to create the hinge and you can put a piece or knob on top of it with double tape or glue.
But I personally just score and create a hinge it looks neat flat and easy to handle.
Let me know if it works out for you thank you.
This is a very helpful video. I had just bought some polycarbonate sheets, but had no idea how to cut them. Now I know, thanks to your clear demonstration. Do you have any tips for (a) cutting out sections of polycarbonate for filter pipes or (b) drilling holes in polycarbonate for airflow?
Glad to hear that it was helpful.
Drilling holes in the Polycarbonate is totally fine you can absolutely do that.
Cutting for filters you just need to measure the space needed and as demonstrated In the video you can cut it accordingly. We will work on a short where it answers your questions in detail.
Hot knife and it cuts like butter
great video. your content just hit my algorithm. new sub
Thank you for watching hope our content was informative and helpful.
Thanks for the sub 🫡
Very helpful. Thanks
Hope to keep doing more informative videos.
On a rimless long tank, would I be better going with a 6mm sheet for sturdiness, so it won't sag?
Hi, it depends on the length and width of your tank. If it’s less then 4ft then thinner sheet will work too. I have seen folks using a think aluminium support in the middle too.
If longer than that then I would suggest a thicker material.
Hope this helps ❤️
Polycarbonate con: it won't support a cat's weight
Cats are getting advanced these days. 😅
@@JeromeebI’ve got a thicker sheet of polycarbonate than what is shown, and it’s very strong and rigid👍🏼
@@lolavanenburg1647 ive got a really thick cat.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Ongoing battle
Thanks for sharing this tip. Great to save money when MTS is present
Absolutely. You know it starts with one tank and before you know you have 100 haha
I’m curious about light transmission. I have plants in the tank and do not want to inhibit their growth
This materials allows light to pass through just fine. All you need to do is wipe them every week or two or whenever they are dirty with a wet cloth. That’s my personal experience it may differ.
Very nice. If I actually go this route on my 10 gallon Guppy breeding program I would like to glue lift handles on the front side. Have you tried to glue ( CA, or other types) to this ?
Hi, this is a great question, personally I have not attached anything to my lids but Super glue or epoxy adhesive are safe to use on Polycarbonate. Also note: To clean it, just use water as Windex will damage the material.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for watching and sharing ideas.
Where do you buy your greenhouse panels? Can you provide a link?
Link for the panels is in the description, I will paste it here for your ease again.
rb.gy/xbz1zs
It’s on Amazon
Looking great thanks for sharing 😊
Thank you!
Very nice. Thanks!
Thanks for showing me the ribbed polycarbonate. I did know it exists
Glad to be helpful. Thank you. Will keep posting knowledgeable and helpful content.
How does it hold up to the heat from lights
It holds up great! It is used in Green House so it is UV protected. I have heard it cracks from sunlight, but it’s been a whole year covers in our fish room looks brand new. All we do is wipe them every week.
Great product check out the link in description you will be able to read the properties of the product in there too.
Thank you for watching and thanks for asking a great question.
I'm surprised you didn't mention plexiglass "acrylic" or warn against using it. I had a 1/4" sheet handy and made a lid. It came out great, but after about a month it was warped pretty bad. I thought it was due to the light I had laying on it and making it a little warm. I made a 2nd lid and used a light that was elevated above the lid. After about a month it also warped out. After a little research I found out that acrylic is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water over time causing it to warp. I purchased a 1/4" sheet of polycarbonate (more durable, but heavier and harder to cut than the greenhouse panels you used) and made my 3rd lid. It's been almost 6 months and the lid is still perfectly flat.
Love this comment very informative.
Thank you for sharing. I missed it but you caught it and explained.
Weird, I've had acrylic lids for years, they warped but not enough to be worried about. I did change them for glass because they got really opaque over time and started to block light a lot.
Were you able to cut it with an exacto blade, or did you need a saw?
@@laurentoevs2320 You can't cut 1/4" polycarbonate with an exacto blade. I used a table saw, then a jigsaw to cut out for the filter and air line.
Where did you get the thicker polycarbonate? My homedepot only has the thin greenhouse ones
Thanks for sharing 👍
Hope it helped 😊
You don't need a diamond cutter to cut glass. Any cheap glass cutter will do, just remember to use a bit of lubricant - any kind will do, even WD40. 3 mm glass is dirt cheap (at least in Europe). Plenty of videos on YT on cutting glass. I use PC too, but for scaped aquariums it looks terrible.
What is the name of that material
@@ishantgaming4266 it’s called “Polycarbonate” commonly known as Green House Panels.
Best to make your aquarium lids.
Thank you for watching. 😊
You can use screen and 1× piece of wood
Should we seal the holes on the polycarbonate lid? Have you experienced algae build up on yours over time?
@@Orange-kun Great question, Personally I Have not sealed them and have not seen any algae growth in the lids. We salt our tanks so have to clean just the salt stains of hard water stains.
Thank you for watching.
@@Cichlodianyou will eventually experience algae as the moisture will form. I have used silicone to seal ends, it is time consuming but you can’t get the algae out of those holes. A plus is they insulate even better😊
Subscribed
@@josepolanco1228 You have a great channel a lot of knowledge on Discuss. Subscribed
@@Cichlodian thank you so much for your comment and sub. Greatly appreciated 🙏
this is awesome
Thank you!
I would love to make these for my two 10 gallon tanks but l can only find them in bulk and the cost is high.
Debbie, if you have a hobbyist around you, get in contact with them they probably have the material laying around and can spare a sheet.
Hope you find a single sheet it is the best.
Thank you for watching our video hope it helped.
The biggest con for polycarbonate in the UK is the price. It much more expensive than cut glass. A sheet 3ft x 3ft x 2mm costs £63, about the price of a bare 24in tank.
Oh my! That is expensive wow! It’s very economical here in USA. That is very interesting that glass is cheaper over there.
Glass is the number one choice for those with a single nano tank. It only gets expensive if you have multiple large tanks. It’s clear so it looks like it isn’t there, it’s the easiest to clean and won’t warp or sag. It’s also the most attractive option…with the clearest view of your tank. Polycarbonate is not see-through, difficult to clean…mold gets inside the little channels. It scratches easily when trying to clean it…and it’s just ugly. Albeit, with multiple large tanks, it’s the only choice cost wise. Good video but a little skewed towards polycarbonate…that’s a puzzle.
Nice
Thank you!
A Con of your roofing tile, its lite weight and will not hold up to a "real fish".
If your raising guppies....you are golden....you got a tiger oscar.....arawanna .... any cichlid bigger than 4 inches and you got a problem. Suppose you could duct tape the sides down if you hope to have a prayer of it staying on.
Glass is heavy for a reason and why they usually use tempered glass so when it does get hit by said cichlid, it doesn't break.
So in short, I get why there are DIY tops for tanks....
If you have a fishroom and lots of tanks you got on the cheap....go by your roofing panels.
If you have a few show tanks....you like fish you just are not a fish junkie, go buy glass and call it a day. If you drop it and break it...that's on you, pay attention and be careful when doing that task.
Glass tops can almost always be cleaned to new like condition.
15 years never had a fish jump out of the water.
Biggest reason of fish trying to escape are bad water conditions or starvation.
If you have tank busters that’s another story.
Oscars, discuss,haps, peacocks, fronts we have all and never had a single fish jump out of the water maybe thats because of my Prayers working for 15 years
Do like your point about if you have a show tank with tank Buster you may want to go with Glass Lids.
@@Cichlodian you should expand your fish keeping experience then. Lots of jumpers out there, some more than others.
Sorry, but glass is highly heat conductive. So your first pro is a big con compared to alternatives.