Glass Sliding Aquarium Hood With Lights.

Hello everyone! Way back when Planted Tank forum had a write up on how to make a diy Glass sliding hood. This falls along the same lines except this method will have integrated lights (not for planted tank)

This will be my second build of these. I just added a smaller 29 gallon into my study and thought it would be cool to have one with a 7 LED strip. Anyway let's get to it.

What you'll need:
Glass
Sandpaper
Waterproof Adhesive
Tileboard Channel
Handle (optional)

 

Part one - getting the glass cut

So this is pretty straight forward, I went to Lowe's to.have my glass cut, you can go to home Depot or anywhere else that cuts glass. You're going to want to measure your aquarium (my 29 gallon 29x11 inside lip) and then cut the depth in half so I would then have two 29x5.5 sheets.

In my case I actually intentionally took a inch off of the depth so I can accommodate filtration.

 

Part two - making the glass safe

Anyone that's ever worked with glass knows how important this is. Fresh cut glass is very sharp and needs to be sanded a bit. So grab some 120 grit sandpaper and go over the edges. Take your time and your hands will thank you later.

 

I forgot to mention, test fit your glass before you get in too deep.

 

Part 3 (optional) lights

So this part is not necessary but does look cool. You can use any Waterproof LED lights but I chose to use strand lights from something I had laying around.

What your going to want to.do is measure first off and then apply Adhesive to the back of your LEDs
then start applying the LEDs. I used electrical tape on the back side to ensure my LEDs stayed even and painters tape to hold the LEDs while the adhesive set. I recommend 24 hours of set time before exposure to the tank.


Side note: I used PL premium construction adhesive