Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I made this tank topper for a 10 gal, it is made from PVC except for the metal hardware.

With the tank upright, I used silicon to hold the top on, and it works great. Then, I had the idea to flip the cage so it sits as shown with the door in front. This gives a bit more floor space, and could even be stackable for two tanks.

Problem is, the silicon will not hold very well after opening and closing over and over in this new orientation. I placed some nylon straps as shown in the meantime, and that holds nicely.

Anybody know what type of glue might be appropriate in this case?

I would not glue it, I would screw it on. Attach some corner brackets in each corner and screw it on. That way, you can unscrew it when needed and its always needed. The brackets can be made of wood or other material that will silicone to the glass, just under the plastic top piece. Cheers

Honesty, I would keep it as a top and plug those vent holes up.

yea me too, but its his cage. Maybe he's going to make a service from the back wall with top lighting. He can always cover the vents as needed. Nice top anyway. I made lots of those for raise up cages, only out of lexan. That's how I know, he's going to want to have them removable. Cheers

I hear you. Why I drilled so many to start I don't know. Because of the thicker material, the holes actually provide less airflow than the same dia air holes in a plastic tub for example. Anyway, I have some white epoxy putty on hand that works nicely to fill holes in PVC.

Greg, Why do you recommend that the vent holes be plugged up? Don

Great idea, thanks for the tip.

That top is very nice and well made my friend. Good job on that. Should think about marketing that.

Thank you, Gregg.

If only I had a CNC machine and could crank this stuff out. Doing it with limited power tools is time consuming. I have contacted a shop to see what they can do for me.

I do need to make it less heavy. Version 2 is on the drawing board right now. Oh, this time the only ventilation will come from the gap between door and door frame. Less material and less processing = less expensive.