Homemade Aquarium Cover

An aquarium cover is an essential accessory for any aquarium. It can protect against dirt and other contaminants and also help to control the temperature of the aquarium. An aquarium cover also provides a place to mount lighting and to vent heat from the tank. If you've ever kept a tank without a cover, you know that a good hood or cover is sometimes the only thing keeping some of your fish inside. It can also be aesthetically pleasing, making your tank look more elegant and perhaps even larger than it actually is. There are many styles and different materials that an aquarium cover can be made of, and making your own cover is fairly simple.

  1. Hood Styles

    • A partially opening hood has one or more smaller compartments that are hinged and will open, which provides easy access for feeding your fish or cleaning the tank. This is one of the most common types of hoods. The rear half of the cover is usually stationary and houses the lighting. There are also fully opening hoods, where the entire hood is on a hinge. This style allows easy access for touch-up aquascaping and cleaning. There are also fully stationary hoods that need to be removed to feed the fish; this style is the least recommended. A half-hood style is usually elevated and doesn't prevent fish from jumping out, but it does keep the light from heating the water.

    Lighting

    • There are several lighting options when it comes to hood-mounted lights. The option that comes on most store-bought hoods are spiral florescent lights. Many people choose to upgrade to T5 or T8 florescent tubes. LEDs are a popular and easy-to-use option. It is best to mount a modular LED block to the inside of an elevated cover.

    Material

    • There are three materials from which most hoods are made. Plastic or acrylic is a popular material that is easy to work with. It can be cut using a scroll saw, jigsaw or hacksaw. Acrylic glue should be used when building the cover. Glass is also a popular choice; tinted glass can be a good choice to help keep sunlight out of your tank. It is harder to cut than acrylic, but it can easily be held together by 100% silicone. Wood is the material of choice for large tanks; it can be styled to match home decor and can support heavy bracketing for the lighting. A waterproof coating should be applied to any hood that you construct from wood to protect it from water vapor and the frequent splashes that can occur with aquariums.

    Vents

    • Vents are often overlooked but are essential to a good aquarium cover. Adjustable vents can help control both temperature and evaporation. Fixed vents allow a compromise that require no upkeep. Vents on the sides of a hood usually give the best performance.

    Making the Aquarium Cover

    • The easiest cover to build is a half-hood style. Keep in mind that it doesn't necessarily have to be exactly half; you can make it wider if you like. To build, start by measuring the tank lengthwise. If your tank has a rim, measure from the middle of one inside lip to the other. Then, measure the depth of the tank also from one lip to the other and then divide by two. If you have a rimless tank, measure from the outside edge of each side. Use a jigsaw to cut the acrylic to the measurements you took. This will be the top panel of your cover. Cut two side pieces, using the depth measurement and the desired height. Glue the three pieces together at the edges. This should stand easily inside the rim of the tank. If you have a rimless tank, add a 1/2-inch lip to the inside of the side panels. Light fixtures can be screwed to the inside of the top panel and holes can be drilled in the side panels to route cables. A light switch on the cord itself is the best design for this type of hood.