Which Lid Company?

[TonkaReefer]

Kraken Reef did a great job on the lid for my Lagoon and he was much faster then the lead times of other builders.

 

[Kraken Reef]

I have been considering a lid from Kraken Reefs. I haven't seen one in person, but have heard some good things about them. They have an option where you can get a feeder cup that drops in to the lid. This should make it easier to defrost/feed frozen food.

Reach out to us if you have any questions. Best way to do so is on Social Media or by email.

 

[Greybeard]

Do you remember about how much you paid?

No. As I said, several years ago. They're not cheap, but I don't mind paying for quality. As a percentage of the entire reef build cost? A few drops in the barrel ;D

 

[RobB'z Reef]

I have an Octo screen top on my 60" x 30" tank. Exactly what I ordered, came in a reasonable amount of time, as I recall... I've had it for what, 3 years now? Has held up well so far, no problems, no complaints. I hose it off in the shower stall every few months, keep the salt and dust rinsed off. That's about all the maintenance it requires.

If I was going to buy it today, I'd order from Octo again, but I'd likely buy two 30x30 tops rather than a single 60x30. Be right handy to be able to pull half the top at a time.

Not cheap, but you're talking about something you're going to be looking at every day, hopefully for many years.

A fairly recent shot that shows the top fairly well...

Nice!! Perfect feedback, yeah I can see where a split top would be super handy. Based on what you mentioned I'd go that way for sure. thanks!

 

[Crabby48]

Top lids because matching is perfect and shaped tight around light brackets. Was told a month and got it couple days late. They kept me posted the whole time. That said who I felt with is no longer there and I was told he was the owner

 

[minus9]

Matt from Octo is great and his customer service is awesome! With the pandemic, I would expect lead times to be a little longer than usual. @cromag27 can chime in here maybe to answer your questions?

 

[stanlalee]

I have been considering a lid from Kraken Reefs. I haven't seen one in person, but have heard some good things about them. They have an option where you can get a feeder cup that drops in to the lid. This should make it easier to defrost/feed frozen food.

What I have due to limited biocube options. They must have had my order already in stock cause I ordered online on a Saturday and it was in the mail on Monday and at my house about 3 days later. No complaints but pricy with shipping and options (feeding cup which I wished I had added).

 

[Tamberav]

Clear view tsunami lid is garbage and had a bad experience with them.

I will be using a different vender from now on as the others seem to do a better job with better cutouts and feed doors.

 

[Saltees]

I'm running the CLEARVIEW EXO on my RSR500P... nice if they get your tank’s stock measurement right in their database the first time round, because it’s a pain in the neck to splice in the mesh yourself with the replacement parts. As mentioned, do check with them the size, or better still take the measurements yourself and do a custom order instead. Having said that, if I will to do it again, I would go with the Rea Sea (black) Mesh Cover, because it doesn’t glow like the acrylic ones and it’s slimmer.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Just want to get opinions on which company to go with in ordering a custom clear lid.

I have seen a few post on this but nothing recent.

The companies I've seen thus far are Octo Lids, Top Lids, and Clear View.

Have a Peninsula tank 60L x 26W from Prostar Aquariums. Any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated.

@ggNoRe why not make a lowes run and buy an 4 x8 piece of green house pc get the circular saw or Stanley knife out and cut it in half, it also diffuses the light better and is a thicker pvc and is porous for gas expansion over the acrylic,glassor plastic lid...they're light cheap and easy to replace... my dad use to use them on his cichlids now I use one on my 75 I bought locally that doesn't have a lid

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Tuftex-Multi-Wall-6mm-Panel-Clear-4-ft-x-8-ft-Corrugated-Polycarbonate-Plastic-Roof-Panel/1000689436

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Why pay anything over 100$ when you can make your own, better quality for under 50$... I've been fed up with consumerism lately it's like nothing is what it used to be, you go out to eat its garbage, you buy furniture it breaks, you buy clothes they last a week...I dont know about you guys but I've been thinking of my grandma alot lately and its led me on this craftsman kick where I'm building my own furniture,and growing my own vegetables indoor and outdoor and have stopped giving into the idea of consumerism why should we pay more for less it just doesn't make sense to me im quilty of doing it alot... so now I ask myself before I buy anything...is it quality, is it really worth that,can I do it ;make it better myself?where was this made what's it made out of?is it gonna last?...which often leaves me tinkering around being left to my own devices, to devise something quality and cheap at the same time

 

[Saltees]

Why pay anything over 100$ when you can make your own, better quality for under 50$... I've been fed up with consumerism lately it's like nothing is what it used to be, you go out to eat its garbage, you buy furniture it breaks, you buy clothes they last a week...I dont know about you guys but I've been thinking of my grandma alot lately and its led me on this craftsman kick where I'm building my own furniture,and growing my own vegetables indoor and outdoor and have stopped giving into the idea of consumerism why should we pay more for less it just doesn't make sense to me im quilty of doing it alot... so now I ask myself before I buy anything...is it quality, is it really worth that,can I do it ;make it better myself?where was this made what's it made out of?is it gonna last?...which often leaves me tinkering around being left to my own devices, to devise something quality and cheap at the same time

Made my own ATS, repurposed containers into AWS, etc... Didn’t cost any lesser, but the joy of seeing it working...priceless!

 

[Fish Care Practitioner]

I went with ClearView lids for a 232 gallon custom tank. The lid came in 3 sections with 3 feeding doors and cutouts for wires and the light stand. The construction is excellent and it fits my tankopening like a glove. It took 3 months to get, like they said it would, but the wait was worthwhile.

 

[ggNoRe]

I appreciate all the help and input tremendously.

I'm not very handy and am looking for a really professional acrylic look which I don't mind paying for as this is more/less a show tank in the middle of my living room. Added a picture of the tank.

I emailed Clearview telling them I would like to speak on the phone about a lid order and they emailed me back this:

I am terribly sorry, my available phone time (due to pandemic working from home while homeschooling) is extremely limited.

If you can please send in a picture of your set up, the written internal tank dimensions, any internal overflow information available (it's depth from the rim of the tank and the L x D of the overflow itself) and your preferred lid style, I will be happy to schedule a call with you to discuss your needs.

Calling Toplids now: Update there FB number goes straight to busy signal. Sent them a message asking for a phone call and got auto responder. Will update if they respond.

Main reason I want to talk to someone on the phone is to get their professional opinion of 2 panels instead of one. Seems like a giant PITA to lift a 60 inch panel every time I want to do something to the tank (which let's be honest happens to be like every 5 minutes right now because I'm obsessed with my new toy).

 

[Pwnm30rdi3]

I contacted Octo (and a few others) for quotes, but used the generic "contact form". Clicking through on my mobile phone and didn't see his message about, "use a different form for quotes".
Got a borderline nasty - passive aggressive email about using the wrong form and never got a quote from Matt.

I don't care how "good" your product is, that is no excuse for bad customer service.

 

[reeferKen]

Good to know, Thanks for the feedback

Pwnm30rdi3​

 

[Tamberav]

This is what Clearview did to me. "hey don't worry we will cover it" - then refused to cover the warranty and refuse to respond on these forums. Feeling tricked into ordering again after their product turned out to be defective the first time.

Artfully Acrylic will not honor warranty on lid

@ArtFully Acrylic My original two Tsunami lids failed and were replaced (a 22g and 25g). I chose to order from this company two more times as I was happy with the service. My classic red sea lid is holding up but I made the mistake of ordering another Tsunami lid as I was told they were made...

www.reef2reef.com

This poster also had to fight for a refund on a lid that wasn't even started: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/psa-clearview-lids-artfully-aryclic.741277/

 

[Pmacha1a]

I have a Kraken Reef lid with the feeding cup and love it. Great craftsmanship

 

[Hydrored]

I'm shopping for a custom lid and noticed for Kraken it says they only do 24x24 for custom lids on the form? This kind of makes it where I'm having to go through Octo for my 8' tank.

@Kraken Reef ?

 

[tautog83]

I have a tsunami lid for a red sea reefer 750(6ft). First off yes get it split , mine isnt and having one long section is completely obnoxious if you dont want to take it on and off all the time . Mine has a part of it that cracked in the front because sometimes I dont take it completely off to put a frag in or to right a snail . It then falls off the tank and I struggle to get it back on. I would say that's my fault just because I'm bending it and what not . It's mainly because being one piece it's a chore to take on and off and I got 5 wrasses that are ready to jump behind the tank where i cant rescue them . So yes absolutley make it 2 pieces .!! I wasnt very fond of the overflow area where there was definatley gaps that a wrasse could slide through . Sadly I use a piece of filter floss now to fill that area in, pretty lame after spending that kind of money . I'll be ordering a new one soon but prob not from octo or Clear view