Tim

Looking for some opinions here. I have the opportunity to purchase a 70 gallon tank with matching stand. It is used, but I have seen it in action. My concern is that the tank is pretty old. Old enough to not have any type of braces made into the top of it. To make matters worse, there is NOT a lid. Having gone to big name and mom and pop LFS, I am potentially forced to have a glass top custom cut. The tank is 49" long, 19" wide. Can a reasonably thick piece of glass span that area? What would constitute "reasonable" thickness? Nothing is purchased yet, but I defiantly want to factor this into my plans. The tank would be a community tank including my 3 existing Rainbows. A lid is needed as they seem to get very excited and like to splash around the top; especially at meal time.

harpua2002

I have an old school 75 gallon that had the same issue- no center brace, and the glass tops that were made to fit them have been discontinued from what I understand. I ended up just running the tank open top. For lighting, I use a Coralife 2x65W PC strip with mounting legs. The legs sit on the top frame of the tank, and allow the fixture to sit a few inches above the frame. I haven't had any problems. Just don't purchase hatchets or other fish that are prone to jumping, and you should be fine.

Angela_96

You might be able to get the lfs to special order the top. Our 58g is oddly shaped and has no center brace so we had to order one from the lfs. It was expensive, but it fit.
(its an oceanic tank we have).