# How do I make a plexiglass lid on an aquarium escape proof?



## Fade (Jul 16, 2018)

I really can't seem to find the answer to this.  I plan to buy a 5.5 gallon or 10 gallon(depending on species) and get a cut piece of plexiglass and drill holes in it.  I plan to screw in a drawer handle so I can remove the lid when I need to.  However how do I make sure no escapes happen.  I do not trust the weight of the plexiglass alone.  I have a 4" curly hair and a full grown b.hamorri and plan on a gbb, c.versi, and an l.p.

Please give links or note stores that sell the items.  This is only for terrestrial species.  For arboreals I plan to just silicone plexiglass lid in an exo terra vivarium.

Any help is greatly appreciated.


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## darkness975 (Jul 16, 2018)

Fade said:


> I really can't seem to find the answer to this.  I plan to buy a 5.5 gallon or 10 gallon(depending on species) and get a cut piece of plexiglass and drill holes in it.  I plan to screw in a drawer handle so I can remove the lid when I need to.  However how do I make sure no escapes happen.  I do not trust the weight of the plexiglass alone.  I have a 4" curly hair and a full grown b.hamorri and plan on a gbb, c.versi, and an l.p.
> 
> Please give links or note stores that sell the items.  This is only for terrestrial species.  For arboreals I plan to just silicone plexiglass lid in an exo terra vivarium.
> 
> Any help is greatly appreciated.


Some people are able to attach clamps to the enclosure with hot glue or silicone .


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## Fade (Jul 16, 2018)

You mean the clamps that used for reptile screen lids?  I wouldn't want to silicone it in because I want to be able to remove the lid easily for feeding and maintenance.


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## Arachnophoric (Jul 16, 2018)

You attach hinges and a latch. Pretty sure you can find them cheap online.


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## The Grym Reaper (Jul 16, 2018)

I silicone acrylic rod around the inside of where I want the lid to sit (if the lid is 3mm thick and you use 1mm magnests then silicone the rods 5mm from the top so the lid sits flush) and then use neodymium magnets to hold it in place.


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## Fade (Jul 16, 2018)

Sorry, I don't really understand what you said.  I am very new to diy, I literally bought my first drill yesterday.  I heard of those magnets, would I just need those? Thanks


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## Fade (Jul 16, 2018)

How would I attach it to the aquarium and plexiglass lid, what should I use?  Do you have a picture or anything to show exactly how to do it?  Thanks a lot.


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## Fade (Jul 16, 2018)

darkness975 said:


> Some people are able to attach clamps to the enclosure with hot glue or silicone .


  You mean the clamps that used for reptile screen lids? I wouldn't want to silicone it in because I want to be able to remove the lid easily for feeding and maintenance.



Arachnophoric said:


> You attach hinges and a latch. Pretty sure you can find them cheap online.


 How would I attach it to the aquarium and plexiglass lid, what should I use? Do you have a picture or anything to show exactly how to do it? Thanks a lot.



The Grym Reaper said:


> I silicone acrylic rod around the inside of where I want the lid to sit (if the lid is 3mm thick and you use 1mm magnests then silicone the rods 5mm from the top so the lid sits flush) and then use neodymium magnets to hold it in place.


 Sorry, I don't really understand what you said. I am very new to diy, I literally bought my first drill yesterday. I heard of those magnets, would I just need those? Thanks

Sorry the quotes didn't work before, sorry for posting twice.


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## Arachnophoric (Jul 16, 2018)

Fade said:


> How would I attach it to the aquarium and plexiglass lid, what should I use? Do you have a picture or anything to show exactly how to do it? Thanks a lot.


The Dark Den on YouTube does a lot of DIY enclosure videos that can show you what I mean. I think he uses industrial strength glue. If you're doing a top- opening enclosure, attach the hinges on the back to both the cage and the lid, and then attach the lock and latch on the opposite end. I'd link you to a vid but I'm at work on mobile right now.


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## Fade (Jul 16, 2018)

Arachnophoric said:


> The Dark Den on YouTube does a lot of DIY enclosure videos that can show you what I mean. I think he uses industrial strength glue. If you're doing a top- opening enclosure, attach the hinges on the back to both the cage and the lid, and then attach the lock and latch on the opposite end. I'd link you to a vid but I'm at work on mobile right now.


 I was just thinking of buying a 5.5 gallon aquarium.  Then I would get a plexiglass sheet that is cut to size and has drilled holes and place on top.  Not have a latching door or anything.  I would be able to remove the entire lid easily.  I just needed ideas to be able to lock it or prevent escapes but easily still can remove it when needed.


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## Arachnophoric (Jul 16, 2018)

Fade said:


> I was just thinking of buying a 5.5 gallon aquarium.  Then I would get a plexiglass sheet that is cut to size and has drilled holes and place on top.  Not have a latching door or anything.  I would be able to remove the entire lid easily.  I just needed ideas to be able to lock it or prevent escapes but easily still can remove it when needed.


Well you'd be able to flip the door all the way open, and the latch should keep it secure, but there are other alternatives if that doesn't appeal to you.


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## The Grym Reaper (Jul 16, 2018)

Fade said:


> Sorry, I don't really understand what you said. I am very new to diy, I literally bought my first drill yesterday. I heard of those magnets, would I just need those? Thanks


My bad, I couldn't be bothered to hunt out pics


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## Fade (Jul 17, 2018)

The Grym Reaper said:


> My bad, I couldn't be bothered to hunt out pics
> View attachment 281130
> 
> View attachment 281127
> ...


 Thanks for the photos but still don't understand the pics either.   

Where should I get my plexiglass cut, would home depot or lowes be okay?  What is needed to make sure the sides and edges of the plexiglass are smooth and not sharp?


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## Fade (Jul 20, 2018)

Arachnophoric said:


> Well you'd be able to flip the door all the way open, and the latch should keep it secure, but there are other alternatives if that doesn't appeal to you.


 What are the other alternatives?



The Grym Reaper said:


> My bad, I couldn't be bothered to hunt out pics
> View attachment 281130
> 
> View attachment 281127
> ...


 Sorry, I still don't understand how exactly you made those escape proof.  I really am struggling to find something.  I really want to use aquariums and not have to use Kritter Keepers as I hate the bright neon lids and that you can't choose the color.  I also hate opening the lids on those.  Thanks.


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## Ultum4Spiderz (Jul 20, 2018)

YouTube has videos , rob c has some old videos for something like what I use. Glass shops will cut the plexi i use lexan.
I use a hot glue gun but might be better ways , it’s easy after first lid you make. My new ones have built in locks.


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## Sinned (Jul 20, 2018)

Fade said:


> Sorry, I still don't understand how exactly you made those escape proof.


Also, as person who can't leave the T room without items on all the lids to see if I checked them... (I got issues -- I know! ) ... here is my ocd adopted for security.

Put a rock on it...

(pictured below: Wrong rock - but it *_would_* work)





(I'm lazy and google can't be wrong, so... there ya go)

edit: Dark Den also has some DIY vids about making an enclosure. Might also give you some idea's.


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## Fade (Jul 20, 2018)

Ultum4Spiderz said:


> YouTube has videos , rob c has some old videos for something like what I use. Glass shops will cut the plexi i use lexan.
> I use a hot glue gun but might be better ways , it’s easy after first lid you make. My new ones have built in locks.


 I have just about watched every video from RobC I can find on this subject.  In one video you showed using those screen clips you find at petco but he says you need to chip off a piece.  The title of the video is called plexiglass lid installation. He doesn't explain it in detail too much though.


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## The Grym Reaper (Jul 20, 2018)

Fade said:


> Sorry, I still don't understand how exactly you made those escape proof.


The lid is held in place by the magnets, my L. difficilis tries to get out but can't push the lid up enough to escape.

To do this you need:

4x 10mm acrylic rod (cut to size), the lid sits on this
1x sheet of acrylic (cut to fit the top, it needs to fit just inside the glass walls of the aquarium)
Aquarium silicone
Mastic gun
A drill
HSS drill bits
Some neodymium magnets (I use 10 pairs of 10mm x 5mm x 1mm magnets, I think the ones I used have a 2lb pull)
Some cheap pull handles.
Some clamps
Superglue/Epoxy resin

The acrylic will cost you the most, everything else can be gotten fairly cheap.

Firstly you attach the acrylic rods to the inside of the aquarium using the silicone and hold it in place with clamps until the silicone cures (the stuff I use takes 2 hours).



Once the silicone has cured you can remove the clamps and begin attaching the magnets (one from each pair, you'll use the others later) to the upper side of the rods with superglue/epoxy. 2 in each corner and one in the middle of the long sides  or 3 on each short side and 2 on each long side will do (whichever configuration you prefer).



Drill your ventilation holes into the lid and attach the handles, match up the remaining magnets with the ones you glued to the rods earlier (if they attach directly on top of the magnets you already attached to the rod then it's a matching pair).
To attach the lid to the top magnets put a dab of glue/epoxy on top of each magnet and then hold the lid in place on top of the magnets until the adhesive has set. The final result should look something like this.



Each pair of magnets holding the lid on generate 2lbs of pull (meaning you have to exert more than 2lbs of pressure to separate the magnets from each other), this keeps the lid secure, my AF L. difficilis can't push it off or lever it off with her fangs (link below).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiKEHWWACBL/?taken-by=arachnotank

That's the best I can explain it, I don't have enough 'work in progress' pics to illustrate it better.

I'm not great at DIY tbh (I'm better at breaking things than building them), what little I know how to do I learned from labouring on building sites or figured out how to do myself, this was pretty easy to put together though.

Reactions: Like 3 | Winner 1


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## Sinned (Jul 20, 2018)

The Grym Reaper said:


> my AF L. difficilis can't push it off or lever it off with her fangs (link below).
> 
> https://www.instagram.com/p/BiKEHWWACBL/?taken-by=arachnotank


Look at her go! and thanks for that...  Now I also need rocks.  

Love the enclosures though.

Reactions: Like 2


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## The Grym Reaper (Jul 20, 2018)

Sinned said:


> Look at her go! and thanks for that...  Now I also need rocks.


I moved her to this enclosure because she snapped a fang trying to chew through the vents of the kritter keeper I had her in before.

I might move her to an RUB like I did with my LP.



Sinned said:


> Love the enclosures though.


Thanks, I have a 3ft aquarium that I hope to convert at some point, that'll probably end up housing my T. stirmi assuming she makes it to adulthood, if not then maybe my P. antinous female.


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## Fade (Jul 21, 2018)

The Grym Reaper said:


> The lid is held in place by the magnets, my L. difficilis tries to get out but can't push the lid up enough to escape.
> 
> To do this you need:
> 
> ...


 Thanks a lot for taking the time to do that.  I was wondering why you needed acrylic rod.  The aquariums here already have a black frame so I wouldn't need that acrylic rod to hold the lid.  So I just need those magnets.  I am struggling to find those really small ones.  Could you tell me what they are called and where you bought them from.  One last thing that bothers me about the magnets.  If I am not mistaken these don't last forever and the 2lb force would stop after a certain period of time.  So that is what is bothering me about them.  Thanks again


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## The Grym Reaper (Jul 21, 2018)

Fade said:


> Thanks a lot for taking the time to do that.  I was wondering why you needed acrylic rod.  The aquariums here already have a black frame so I wouldn't need that acrylic rod to hold the lid.  So I just need those magnets.  I am struggling to find those really small ones.  Could you tell me what they are called and where you bought them from.


They're neodymium magnets, I'm in the UK so I can't really help with where to get them beyond saying that I got mine via eBay.



Fade said:


> If I am not mistaken these don't last forever and the 2lb force would stop after a certain period of time. So that is what is bothering me about them. Thanks again


It's estimated that neodymium magnets only lose 5% of their pull every century if well-maintained/used in optimal conditions.


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## Fade (Jul 21, 2018)

The Grym Reaper said:


> They're neodymium magnets, I'm in the UK so I can't really help with where to get them beyond saying that I got mine via eBay.
> 
> 
> 
> It's estimated that neodymium magnets only lose 5% of their pull every century if well-maintained/used in optimal conditions.


 Thank you so much.  Last thing, you use hot glue to attach the magnets to the aquarium frame and on the bottom of the plexiglass lid right?


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## Ultum4Spiderz (Jul 21, 2018)

The Grym Reaper said:


> The lid is held in place by the magnets, my L. difficilis tries to get out but can't push the lid up enough to escape.
> 
> To do this you need:
> 
> ...


Wow impressive, advanced lid. Awesome !!!

Reactions: Like 1


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## The Grym Reaper (Jul 22, 2018)

Fade said:


> Thank you so much.  Last thing, you use hot glue to attach the magnets to the aquarium frame and on the bottom of the plexiglass lid right?


Na, I used superglue to attach the magnets.


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