Custom Acrylic Tops *Tank Toppers* Limited Runs

[smiz]

Red Sea Max E 260 anyone?

 

NeoRoute_Black by Adam Smisloff, on Flickr

 

NeoRoute_Black_CloseUp by Adam Smisloff, on Flickr

[Sunstar]

Your products are looking better every time I see them.

[Rpc07]

The people demand fishing line covers!!!

 

Lol

[smiz]

Your products are looking better every time I see them.

Thanks

 

The people demand fishing line covers!!!

 

Lol

I will supply them no problem. It's just gonna cost ya

[drgibby]

heres some more eye candy for those smiz toppers! Ill get around to writing about them in the threads soon enough !

 

4g Cadlights

20160405_080837 by drgibby, on Flickr

 

10g Fusion

20160405_080908 by drgibby, on Flickr

 

They are both routed and look fantastic!

[smiz]

 

10g Fusion

20160405_080908 by drgibby, on Flickr

 

They are both routed and look fantastic!

Look, you clown is coming to the sad conclusion that he can't get out of the tank to party hard any more!

[Christopher Marks]

I'd like to welcome smiz and Tank Toppers as our newest community sponsor! Tank Toppers joins a long list of awesome businesses that were built and founded from within our community.

 

Thank you smiz for your support! I'm excited to see Tank Toppers continue to grow with us and bring these innovative products to the community.

[smiz]

I'd like to welcome smiz and Tank Toppers as our newest community sponsor! Tank Toppers joins a long list of awesome businesses that were built and founded from within our community.

 

Thank you smiz for your support! I'm excited to see Tank Toppers continue to grow with us and bring these innovative products to the community.

Yayyy! Thanks Chris very glad to finally be on board!

 

In honor of passing the market place stickies in views we decided to officially become a sponsor while we still setup our website

[spinycheek]

Congratulations!

[quallabear]

Got any pictures of the jbj rl-45 top?

[MrNanoReef]

Congrats man! Glad to see you on-board of the NR officials

[Themerchant]

Welcome to the Sponsor side lol.

 

Now can you finish my lid? lol not funny anymore

[KSikes]

Hi! I want to get a lid made for my Red Sea E-series 260. How can I go about getting this done? Thanks!

[Newstead]

Check out the custom top he made for our 75 gal rimless .. it is absolutely gorgeous, including the underset black acrylic to block light from the overflow. Exquisite workmanship and doesn't detract from the rimless effect at all!

 

[smiz]

Congratulations!

Thanks!

 

Got any pictures of the jbj rl-45 top?

I don't of the 45, I will of the 30 today or tomorrow. It is one of the best looking tops we've done

 

Congrats man! Glad to see you on-board of the NR officials

Thanks!

 

Welcome to the Sponsor side lol.

 

Now can you finish my lid? lol not funny anymore

Perfection takes time!!!

 

Hi! I want to get a lid made for my Red Sea E-series 260. How can I go about getting this done? Thanks!

PM sent

 

Check out the custom top he made for our 75 gal rimless .. it is absolutely gorgeous, including the underset black acrylic to block light from the overflow. Exquisite workmanship and doesn't detract from the rimless effect at all!

 

Thanks for the words! Glad you like it.

[Eckozulu]

Looks like more people like ur idea.....

 

https://reefbuilders.com/2016/04/11/clearview-aquarium-lids-from-artfully-acrylic/

 

At least they are a little different.

[holy carp]

Artfully Acrylic's frames look beautifully machined, but the screens don't look as square and straight as Smiz's

[smiz]

Looks like more people like ur idea.....

 

https://reefbuilders.com/2016/04/11/clearview-aquarium-lids-from-artfully-acrylic/

 

At least they are a little different.

Yeah not to happy about that lol as they happened to come up with all these great ideas after joining nano-reef MERICA!

[Elizabeth94]

Is it me, or do their tops lookike they are made of the brittle plastic? Its probably just the smokey color of the lid in that link that reminds me of other plastic products with that "smokey" plastic.

Idk what Lexan polycarbonate is?

 

EDIT: Just looks to be a common plastic used for things like this, not the brittle stuff I see sometimes (that smokey hue had me wondering). Not sure how it compares to Smiz's lids. But I can say that after having my lid from Smiz I am extremely happy and will certainly buy again.

[Elizabeth94]

" It’s about time someone made a serious, professionally built aquarium lid to finish the fabulous tanks we all invest in"

 

From that link above.. Adam, looks like you need to get the word out further than this site if you really want to expand. But if you just wanna stay small for now, thats okay too. I am sure building these things in bulk would take a lot of work, especially when you exceed at quality control.

[MPSchenck]

Got any pictures of the jbj rl-45 top?

 

I don't of the 45, I will of the 30 today or tomorrow. It is one of the best looking tops we've done

 

I'm hoping that mine?

[smiz]

Is it me, or do their tops lookike they are made of the brittle plastic? Its probably just the smokey color of the lid in that link that reminds me of other plastic products with that "smokey" plastic.

 

Idk what Lexan polycarbonate is?

 

EDIT: Just looks to be a common plastic used for things like this, not the brittle stuff I see sometimes (that smokey hue had me wondering). Not sure how it compares to Smiz's lids. But I can say that after having my lid from Smiz I am extremely happy and will certainly buy again.

It actually looks that way because polycarbonate does not have as high of a light transmission as acrylic. It gives a tiny bit of greyish look to it and more to machined edges.

 

I think I'll do a little write up of the difference between polycarb and acrylic since I get asked often.

 

" It’s about time someone made a serious, professionally built aquarium lid to finish the fabulous tanks we all invest in"

 

From that link above.. Adam, looks like you need to get the word out further than this site if you really want to expand. But if you just wanna stay small for now, thats okay too. I am sure building these things in bulk would take a lot of work, especially when you exceed at quality control.

That is the plan, DAMN WEBSITES!!!!!

 

 

 

I'm hoping that mine?

Sure is, its all ready to go. Shipping out Thursday hopefully I might just refund you and hang it on my wall though. Ill let you know what I decide

[Rory282]

Is it me, or do their tops lookike they are made of the brittle plastic? Its probably just the smokey color of the lid in that link that reminds me of other plastic products with that "smokey" plastic.

Idk what Lexan polycarbonate is?

 

EDIT: Just looks to be a common plastic used for things like this, not the brittle stuff I see sometimes (that smokey hue had me wondering). Not sure how it compares to Smiz's lids. But I can say that after having my lid from Smiz I am extremely happy and will certainly buy again.

 

Lexan polycarbonate is almost unbreakable, the only way i know this is because i'm a sales rep. for DAF trucks. We use lexan for our headlights. You can throw rocks at it all day long and it won't break. A little competition for smiz isn't that bad ;-)

[Halo_003]

Serious question then since that's touting the benefits of polycarbonate over acrylic, can you do polycarbonate as well? Or are your lids thick enough to avoid warping issues? My 36" lid is 1/4" acrylic made by PicO last year and it has warped up on the ends.

[smiz]

Lexan polycarbonate is almost unbreakable, the only way i know this is because i'm a sales rep. for DAF trucks. We use lexan for our headlights. You can throw rocks at it all day long and it won't break. A little competition for smiz isn't that bad ;-)

This is true as far as impact goes, but there are many disadvantages to polycarbonate for this implication. Most of those polycarbs have a special coating that gets applied that about double or triples the cost. Ill go over a few other below and who doesnt love a little competition!

 

Serious question then since that's touting the benefits of polycarbonate over acrylic, can you do polycarbonate as well? Or are your lids thick enough to avoid warping issues? My 36" lid is 1/4" acrylic made by PicO last year and it has warped up on the ends.

This is one of the downsides to acrylic. It has a higher water absorption which causes the corners to lift. This can also happen in polycarb as it also absorbs moister just less then acrylic. We bumped up to 3/8" acrylic to help prevent warping but there are many factors that will play into warping.

 

We do not offer polycarbonate for a few reasons:

 

It scratches much easier then acrylic (which already can scratch fairly easy).

It can yellow or become cloudy fairly quickly. In outdoor setting with standard lexan it can happen as quick as a few months.

It can not be lasered, it can only be machined which is not really something we want to have to do.

It can not be flame polished.

It can not be welded together with weld-on or similar products which would limit many of our options we offer.

Cut edges are not translucent they have a tint to them.

 

Now if anyone is an expert out there please feel free to correct me. These were the deciding factors when choosing our material and the machines we use to make tops.