Semi-garden related...

Semi-garden related... well, only in terms of the main material, twin-wall polycarbonate.

I have a fish tank that has a lid that I cut from 10mm twin-wall polycarbonate and whilst it has lasted us a number of years, it is now very, very tired and starting to break apart, so is in need of replacing.

The current one has a couple of holes drilled through to allow us to drop food in for the fish and this has worked reasonably well except from the fact that Mrs C is somewhat short in stature and the fish tank isn't... so her hitting these holes is not guaranteed, and can lead to some of the food sticking around the holes (and creeping into the channels of the sheet itself) which then needs anything up to pressure washing to clean.

She would like the replacement lid to be hinged at the front which I am not opposed to, but the question is, how? More accurately, how would I ensure that the plastic has whatever support it needs to be opened up to three times per week? It also has to withstand being lifted out completely for cleaning. The polycarbonate sheets are surprisingly strong (the current one just gets shoved in and hauled out in one piece, with no support at all), but I am not sure how it would withstand having hinges on it?

 

I am wondering if I use hinges like these:





With pads of neoprene rubber cut to fit under the hinges, and for the other side to go under washers (so sandwiching the plastic)



And use M3 bolts (with matching washers and nuts) in place of the screws that come with the hinges..

 

Not specifically, but it does help a wee bit. I need light to pass through it, so it has to be clear. It does sit quite close to the water too (legacy of where the ledge is that it sits on) so can have the odd fish batter off it from time to time.

 

Possibly, but I'd worry about lifting it out to clean the tank (beside the cost); the tank itself stands at 5ft or so high, so that would mean lifting a glass lid out at head height.. plus the lid sits down on a ledge that is a few inches down inside the tank.

 

They won't be fixed to the tank at all - it will literally be a sheet of poly, cut to fit the aperture of the tank, that can lift in and out as needed... with a section at the front hinged (so a split along it's length) that allows it to flip open.

 

It is a rubbish drawing, but this is the sort of shape I am dealing with:


The hinges would be along the dotted line essentially.

 

The lights are above the tank - so they sit on the sides but much higher up

 

Here is the current arrangement:

 

I've gone with 304 stainless steel bolts and have ordered the rubber etc mentioned above. In fairness, the current 10mm twin wall has survived really well, especially given that I hacked it into shape with not a lot of finesse at the time.

I will also get some silicone and fill the ends this time, to stop anything creeping down inside the square tubes.