Tank top

[Trouble1375]

Trying to sort out taking the hood off our tank. We cut the center out of the entire length of top of hood and then built (rigged) brackets to mount our lights because they needed to be at least 15" off the water and this was the only way to accomplish it with the hood. We have rigged the back opening of the hood with egg-crates that we cut down to fit so fish can't jump out the back, we have the doors on the front obviously. The tank is the showcase of our living room and I'm tired of the rigged look of what we did for mounting the lights and I am ready to go ahead and hang them from the ceiling now that we have the hardware for it. This is a 125 gallon - 6' long tank and I'm OCD about neatness. We tried glass lids - they get dirty so fast and cause light blockage. We have a ton of surface agitation, a boxfish that thinks he's a water fountain and a Sailfin tang who thinks she's a shark at feeding time and has the whole top of her body out of the water We tried eggcrate - works ok but diffuses the light (that's what they are made for). We have several jumpers and don't want to lose any fish which is why we are still dealing with the hood. The mesh lids seem to have issues with sagging and flexing of the frames over time. Anyone have any brilliant solutions they can show me?

 

[FBAA]

I think screens would be best for your application. It allows a majority of the light to go through. The sagging and frame bending is an issue. I would find a machine shop that could cut small polycarbonate frames that would hold smaller screen frames maybe 4 for your tank. Then insert smaller framed screen in each one. The shorter frame lengths would minimize the sagging you see.