PizzaOven
Guest
This weekend, I decided that I wanted a lid for my Reefer 250. I love the rimless look, but don't love fish jumping out and the fairly high evaporation rate. Here is my DIY-ish solution for something that's practical and still somewhat aesthetically pleasing (at least to me, haha).
Materials:
35 1/2" x 18 1/2" x 1/4" Cast Acrylic from Tap Plastics - $165
Electrical Tape - $2 (already had a roll)
Exacto Knife - $5 (had this at home)
Total Cost:
$172 - Not cheap, I know. Still cheaper than an off the shelf solution. If I had the tools to cut the acrylic yourself, I would have saved $40.
I decided to wrap the acrylic edges with black electrical tape, cutting the excess off with an exacto knife. I wanted to match the black silicone seams on the Reefer 250. I didn't really want to mask off the whole sheet and paint the edges, because I'm lazy.
The whole process was pretty simple, Tap plastics did most of the work. I had them cut out the corner for an auto feeder. There is also some gap between the lighting brackets and the top, so it's not 100% sealed but pretty close. It sounded like they can make more complex cuts/holes, for things like cables, lighting brackets, etc., for an additional labor fee. I ordered and picked up the same day, which was great.
Overall I'm pretty happy with it. Light penetration seems good even with condensation built up. I'll measure the difference with a PAR meter at some point. My only concern is warpage, which seems minimal right now, but we will see how it holds up long term.
Just wanted to share. If anyone has any ideas on improvements, please let me know!
-Andrew
Materials:
35 1/2" x 18 1/2" x 1/4" Cast Acrylic from Tap Plastics - $165
Electrical Tape - $2 (already had a roll)
Exacto Knife - $5 (had this at home)
Total Cost:
$172 - Not cheap, I know. Still cheaper than an off the shelf solution. If I had the tools to cut the acrylic yourself, I would have saved $40.
I decided to wrap the acrylic edges with black electrical tape, cutting the excess off with an exacto knife. I wanted to match the black silicone seams on the Reefer 250. I didn't really want to mask off the whole sheet and paint the edges, because I'm lazy.
The whole process was pretty simple, Tap plastics did most of the work. I had them cut out the corner for an auto feeder. There is also some gap between the lighting brackets and the top, so it's not 100% sealed but pretty close. It sounded like they can make more complex cuts/holes, for things like cables, lighting brackets, etc., for an additional labor fee. I ordered and picked up the same day, which was great.
Overall I'm pretty happy with it. Light penetration seems good even with condensation built up. I'll measure the difference with a PAR meter at some point. My only concern is warpage, which seems minimal right now, but we will see how it holds up long term.
Just wanted to share. If anyone has any ideas on improvements, please let me know!
-Andrew
