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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 5, 2013 3:31:41 GMT
Hey everyone,
Well, I've run out of ideas and I think it's time to draw upon the wisdom of the snaily collective! I recently ditched my standard big black plastic lid that came with the tank originally because it was getting icky (and stupid earthworms were crawling up into it and getting stuck in the mesh I installed in it to keep the snails from getting out). Anyway, I replaced it with a glass aquarium lid. My idea was to cut a hole in the plastic backstrip for ventilation. It was a great idea, but not so good in practice. I just can't get a big enough hole in it to vent properly, and the whole tank is remaining too wet and encouraging mold growth and stuff.
So, now I'm trying to come up with a new idea for making a lid. I'd love to just get a big slab of acrylic sheeting and have it cut, but I don't know anyone who could do it, and I don't have the tools to do so. So, here's my challenge to you all: I need some material that can easily be cut with X-acto knives or strong kitchen shears, and has the properties necessary to be a tank lid for snails (Helix Aspersa). That means: rigid enough to be a lid, cleanable/water resistant (it'll get covered in snail poo of course), can be cut easily, won't be toxic/eaten by snails. Any ideas, guys? I'm at my wit's end here.
Originally, I thought of using foam board (the kind that kids tack science project presentations to). This would've maybe worked great, but I can't find any that are more rubbery than papery, and the snails will eat the paper if I used that kind. So, yeah, I'm a bit stumped here. So, any ideas will be appreciated. Hopefully you guys can really reach deep into your creativity and come up with a good solution for me!
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Post by vallery on Sept 5, 2013 4:45:00 GMT
Hi feelahthetigress  , Did you throw out the lid of your tank your speaking of? Is it possible for you to show a photo of your tank and lid (if you still have the lid)? If your tank is getting to much water in it, put in a few layers of drainage gravel on the very bottom of your tank, and some window screen over the drainage gravel, then the substrate over the window screen and then whatever else you place in your tank. then when the water level has risen in your drainage gravel pull up a corner of the screen covering the drainage gravel and tip your tank on the side and using a turkey baster suck out the excess water. If you still have the plastic lid, ( if it is like a few of my tanks), I lay a piece of window screen over the tank first then put the lid on, snailies or sluggies can't get out. Then you can take the lid off and then simply wash the piece of screen (it is easy). Then put the screen back on then put the lid back on. Hope to see a picture of your tank. vallery |
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Post by muddydragon on Sept 5, 2013 10:29:44 GMT
Tanks look gorgeous with transparent solid acrylic or polycarbonate sheet lids (that's what mine all have). For tanks with the little supports on the inside you can drop the acrylic/perspex down and pop some handles on. if not and this is more difficult you can screw/rivit some metal angle strip on or some wooden strip -but this suffers from mould.
as for cutting it you can buy small saws for like a tenner or less. the polycarbonate/thick acrylic will probably cost more - acrylic cracks more easily than polycarbonate - especially when being drilled so be aware of this!
if you don't want to go down that route you could wander around hobbycraft and just see what sort of things might be suitable there.
When i had an emergency temporary tank lid for a small tank (the rubbishy lid that came with it gave up), to tide me over until i could get some more stuff to build a new lid i had a cardboard lid with a plastic bag stuck over it. Obviously you can wipe it down but can't wash it.
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Post by malacophile on Sept 5, 2013 19:47:41 GMT
If you can't cut plexiglass yourself, you can usually have them do it at the hardware store you bought it from. Beware, however, that they'll still charge you for the whole piece and not just the part you had them cut for you.
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 6, 2013 3:00:03 GMT
Hi feelahthetigress , Did you throw out the lid of your tank your speaking of? Is it possible for you to show a photo of your tank and lid (if you still have the lid)? If your tank is getting to much water in it, put in a few layers of drainage gravel on the very bottom of your tank, and some window screen over the drainage gravel, then the substrate over the window screen and then whatever else you place in your tank. then when the water level has risen in your drainage gravel pull up a corner of the screen covering the drainage gravel and tip your tank on the side and using a turkey baster suck out the excess water. If you still have the plastic lid, ( if it is like a few of my tanks), I lay a piece of window screen over the tank first then put the lid on, snailies or sluggies can't get out. Then you can take the lid off and then simply wash the piece of screen (it is easy). Then put the screen back on then put the lid back on. Hope to see a picture of your tank. vallery Yeah, I had to throw out the old plastic lid because it was getting all grimy and nasty (to the point where it couldn't really be salvaged anymore). I have the glass lid on there now. As for the water issue, it's not that there's standing water in the bottom of the tank (there isn't) but that's it's holding too much humidity in the air, which is more likely to grow mold and rot my plants. farm8.staticflickr.com/7288/9322332465_9018d1ff59.jpgThis is an older photo of my current setup. The only difference now is that I cut out more of those three strips to make one big long strip, but it's still holding a lot of humidity. |
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 6, 2013 3:06:32 GMT
Tanks look gorgeous with transparent solid acrylic or polycarbonate sheet lids (that's what mine all have). For tanks with the little supports on the inside you can drop the acrylic/perspex down and pop some handles on. if not and this is more difficult you can screw/rivit some metal angle strip on or some wooden strip -but this suffers from mould. as for cutting it you can buy small saws for like a tenner or less. the polycarbonate/thick acrylic will probably cost more - acrylic cracks more easily than polycarbonate - especially when being drilled so be aware of this! if you don't want to go down that route you could wander around hobbycraft and just see what sort of things might be suitable there. When i had an emergency temporary tank lid for a small tank (the rubbishy lid that came with it gave up), to tide me over until i could get some more stuff to build a new lid i had a cardboard lid with a plastic bag stuck over it. Obviously you can wipe it down but can't wash it. Well, I'd like to be able to get a saw and all that, but I really can't. I'm in a tiny city apartment and really have no room for power tools (nor anywhere to use them). I was considering going to hobby lobby to see what they had... To Malacophile: As for having the hardware store cut it, that's fine and all, it's just that they wouldn't cut the holes I need in it for ventilation, then I'd be stuck. P.S. I do wonder if I couldn't get one of those screen lids to fit, take out the screen part (since it's metal and tends to rust) and replace it with section of plastic sheeting interspersed with duck taped sections of chiffon (for ventilation, plus the chiffon keeps gnats out). Hmm...no idea if such a plan would work. |
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Post by malacophile on Sept 6, 2013 3:47:39 GMT
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 6, 2013 4:30:33 GMT
Something like that might work, but that one in particular has an edge that's made to sit over the rim of something, and my tank has an inner ledge to have something sit on, so that one in particular wouldn't quite work. |
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Post by muddydragon on Sept 6, 2013 10:04:25 GMT
no no not a power tool just a small little panel saw or similar is fine something like this: www.wickes.co.uk/invt/186767p.s. re. room i've used one of these to cut polycarbonate when i was in my university college room which was all of 4.6 X 2.6 metres (8.5 X 15 foot) including the toilet and shower room, the bed and the desk! So it's very easy to do |
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 6, 2013 16:16:43 GMT
no no not a power tool just a small little panel saw or similar is fine something like this: www.wickes.co.uk/invt/186767p.s. re. room i've used one of these to cut polycarbonate when i was in my university college room which was all of 4.6 X 2.6 metres (8.5 X 15 foot) including the toilet and shower room, the bed and the desk! So it's very easy to do Okay, so I found this on Lowe's website: www.lowes.com/pd_60407-1638-1PC0028A_0__?productId=3143411&Ntt=polycarbonate+sheet&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNtt%3Dpolycarbonate%2Bsheet&facetInfo=I presume this is what you're talking about? Since you've messed with it before, can you tell me if it's sufficiently rigid to be a good lid? I need it to sit on the inner lip of the tank without just falling inward like a floppy thing. As for the small saw, I think I could manage to get one of those (I have a tool box it would fit into, thus not taking up huge amounts of space). Are you sure it's easy to cut, or am I going to have to struggle with it a lot? I mean, if I have to struggle then so be it, but I'd prefer not to... Also, is it easy to cut a straight line? I may need to have them cut out the major piece (for accuracy) and just do the vent holes myself... I also found this item: www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=163055-1638-1777777A&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3140935&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=rel&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1Maybe I could use that to cut the holes out of the middle for ventilation (it'd be hard to cut small holes with a saw)? If I could use the lexan sheeting and it is sufficiently rigid while still able to be cut, then it'd be an idea solution to my problem! |
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Post by malacophile on Sept 6, 2013 16:53:49 GMT
There's a trick you can use to make holes in plexiglass without any major hardware- a soldering iron. These can be purchased for super cheap. I think I paid less than $10 for mine.
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 6, 2013 17:07:15 GMT
There's a trick you can use to make holes in plexiglass without any major hardware- a soldering iron. These can be purchased for super cheap. I think I paid less than $10 for mine. I have a soldering iron already, so that's cool. BUT, please be aware that plexiglass is made of acrylic and what we are talking about is polycarbonate (Lexan) which is a different material with different properties. Although, burning holes in it might work just as well. I did a little research on the internets and I found out that polycarbonate can be drilled as well. Now, I wouldn't want to drill a hundred holes in it, but maybe a hole would give me some purchase to get some kind of knife in there. Or I could burn a hole with a soldering iron... I could also consider buying a hole cutter for my power drill. Then I could just cut out big holes for my vents (of course, I don't want to spend excessive amounts of money if I can avoid it). Hmmm... |
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Post by muddydragon on Sept 6, 2013 17:12:56 GMT
I've never used it that thin i would suspect at that thickness it might be too wobbly i use 5mm thickness sheet (around 0.2 inches). if it's somewhere you can physically go i'ld suggest going in and giving it a wobble to try.
Small holes you'ld be best off with a drill if you have one? (unless it's thin and you can burn through although make sure to ventilate the place well!)
it's no more difficult to cut in a straight line than anything else using a saw, in my mind this isn't difficult but i've been doing it since i was little sooo i can't say if you haven't used saws like this before (my instinct is that you might find it quite tricky it depends on your general ability with straight lines) i also usually tidy up the sides a bit with some files.
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Post by muddydragon on Sept 6, 2013 17:14:09 GMT
actually - the wobbliness bit depends on your tank, what length/width piece would you need (the narrower - the smaller the problem)
You could also try adding extra bits to the edge to make it more rigid or double it up but that's starting to get complicated
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Post by muddydragon on Sept 6, 2013 17:16:10 GMT
what you can do if you're carefull is drill holes close to one another in the outline of the vent shape you want then knock it through with some chisels or something (a bit like giant perforations)
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 6, 2013 17:36:46 GMT
I've never used it that thin i would suspect at that thickness it might be too wobbly i use 5mm thickness sheet (around 0.2 inches). if it's somewhere you can physically go i'ld suggest going in and giving it a wobble to try. Small holes you'ld be best off with a drill if you have one? (unless it's thin and you can burn through although make sure to ventilate the place well!) it's no more difficult to cut in a straight line than anything else using a saw, in my mind this isn't difficult but i've been doing it since i was little sooo i can't say if you haven't used saws like this before (my instinct is that you might find it quite tricky it depends on your general ability with straight lines) i also usually tidy up the sides a bit with some files. Yeah I was in Lowe's the other night but I didn't consider the polycarbonate as extensively as I should've because I didn't think I would be able to cut it. So, I should go back and see if they have anything thicker (there isn't anything listed on the website but they might have it in person) and also check the ones they have for wobbliness (they might still work at that thickness). As for the saw thing, I have no experience with a saw at all, so my cut would probably be terrible. However, apparently Lowe's will cut basic rectangles for you free of charge if you buy the sheet from them, so then I'd just have to make the inner vent holes myself. I found this video on scoring and breaking method: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCeHx-vvJ7kI know he is using acrylic but I think it'd work on polycarbonate. I could use a drill to make a hole at each corner of the vent and then score lots between them, then maybe knock it out with a little hammer (which I have). I wonder if that'd work... |
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 6, 2013 17:43:13 GMT
actually - the wobbliness bit depends on your tank, what length/width piece would you need (the narrower - the smaller the problem) You could also try adding extra bits to the edge to make it more rigid or double it up but that's starting to get complicated Well, the tank isn't that big, the lid size would need to be 19.5inches by 9.75 inches. |
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 9, 2013 0:36:07 GMT
Hey guys, just an update. I went to Home Depot and bought a Lexan sheet, as well as a plastic cutting knife and a hole cutter for my drill. I plan to use the knife to score the lexan and snap it off to get the right size rectangle, then use the hole cutter to make holes in the middle for vents. I don't know exactly when I'll get the chance to actually work on this (swamped with schoolwork), but once I do I'll let you guys know if it worked out or not, and if it did work, I'll give you more details on what I did in case anyone else wants to make their own lid themselves in the future.
Wish me luck!
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Post by muddydragon on Sept 9, 2013 8:56:15 GMT
best of luck! keep us posted  |
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Post by vallery on Sept 10, 2013 13:56:10 GMT
Yes! Best of luck feelahthetigress , Can't wait to see what you come up with. vallery |
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Post by feelahthetigress on Sept 16, 2013 2:27:02 GMT
Yes! Best of luck feelahthetigress , Can't wait to see what you come up with. vallery Okay guys, I've done it! Here it is: farm8.staticflickr.com/7347/9767198724_5ddcaa2ef1_z.jpgIt's made of a lexan (polycarbonate) sheet that's 0.093 inches thick (and about 9.75W by 19.5L inches). You can see I put a handle on it for easy lifting, and there's four vent holes covered in chiffon and taped down with some black duct tape. For anyone who wants to know, I'll detail exactly how I made it. First off, I bought the Lexan at Home Depot. I bought a plastic scoring knife to make scores in the plastic with, but it was absolutely dull and terrible. Just a badly made product. So, I went back and bought a backerboard scoring knife (which is made to score cement backerboard and was properly sharp). It worked great! So, I measured out the size I needed, and used a ruler to score a straight edge. Then I just scored it several times until it broke off cleanly along the line. Using this method, I scored and snapped it to the right size. Then, I got a hole saw and an arbor with attached guide bit to fit it, and I put it on my power drill and used it to cut holes for the vents. The trick to using the hole saw is to go slowly and not rush it (if your drill has settings, try to turn the torque up). I've chosen to only cut 4 holes, but I'm not sure if that'll hold too much moisture or not. If it does, I can always cut more holes later. After the holes were cut, there was a bit of partially melted plastic stuck to the edges (it comes from the friction of the hole saw). I trimmed it off with some kitchen shears, then I sanded the holes and edges to make sure they are nice and smooth. Then, I cut some chiffon to cover the holes, then taped it down with duct tape. Lastly, I attached a handle to the middle (the handle is just a cabinet pull) with JB Weld Epoxy Putty. It's a really cool putty glue that's very strong (it's actually the exact same product as Mighty Putty, except cheaper and not being shouted about by Billy Mays). The handle stuck perfectly and seems strong. After that, done! I haven't tried it on the tank yet, but I know it's the right size and it should work great (if the number of holes is correct). Here's some pics of the tools I used: farm8.staticflickr.com/7384/9767197635_aeac7c1f9b_c.jpgThis pic includes the guide drill bit with attached arbor (make sure you get the right size for your hole saw!), the hole saw itself, and the scoring knife. Here's a closer pic of the hole saw: farm4.staticflickr.com/3802/9766987001_30d5d2da27_c.jpgYou can see it has unusual teeth made for grinding rather than pure cutting. I'm not exactly sure what it's called, but apparently it can be used to cut through cement if your drill is strong enough. It's a good choice for cutting Lexan because it gently grinds the plastic away and cuts through it quite efficiently. So...there you go guys! I've done it! Hopefully it'll work great. Anyway, if any of you are dissatisfied with your own tank lids (and you're using the kind of tank that has a lid resting on a rim), now you know how to make a simple replacement. |
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