Red1313

Ok, I've never actually had to buy a hood for a fish tank before so these may sound like stupid questions. It seems that my new ten gal may not be standard. When you put a hood on it's supposed to fit in the little lip in the top of the tank right? Well I bough a hood and tried it on mine and it fit's fine across the front of the tank but it's to long depth wise. It's not a huge difference but it's enough that it's not a very secure fit (about a cm or so too big). Is it worth living with or do I keep searching for one that fits?
Thanks and sorry for bothering you.

jdhef

Can you trim it down so that it fits in the recess?

David C

As long as you dont have jumping fish, I don't see why it would be a problem for the hood to not fit perfectly. It is supposed to sit on the inside of the little lip. Is there excess plastic that you're supposed to break off or something to get it to fit? It's just an idea?!?

tkfury

I have the same problem with one of my 10g. My father ended up breaking the hood that came with it so he just bought another kit so when I took the tanks over I figured I'd just buy another hood. Its a pain but I just leave the back up a little so the lid part fits in there (I have cats who can flip the lid up but thankfully they've learned not to get up on the hood to do some fishing in the holes for the filter and heater.

I don't think its anything to worry about - you could try and trim it down some, I think I'm going to look into that myself.

MrsM3197

Red, neither of my bigger tanks have/had hoods that fit just exactly right until I took a hacksaw and...ummmm....modified them a bit You might not need a hacksaw, but a sturdy utility knife and a good straight edge could work wonders on just a little overlap. Make sure you dust it up good and don't let any little plastic bits get loose into your water for fishies to try to snack on. That'd probably tear up their insides if they tried to eat it. Also count your fingers before and after using the utility knife, they tend to be unforgiving. Go slowly.

Red1313

Hmm... thanks everyone. I just talked to the LFS in two and they suggested getting a piece of glass and strip lighting. Would that work any better?

jdhef

I don't think it would be better, but I don't think it would be worse either.

MrsM3197

I don't know really...A glass top with strip lighting might be really attractive. Might be a little more expensive.

David C

If you are looking at getting a new hood, this one http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=3790 has a plastic strip at the back that you trim to allow room for heaters and stuff, but if your tank is non-conforming you could just as easily trim off a little and it would fit perfect.

Red1313

Hmm I like that hood however I don't know if the international shipping charges would make it fesable to order from them... but if I could find it in Canada...

David C

oh, hadn't noticed the canadian flag, sorry, lol... im sure it can be bought locally though. its a pretty common product.