Using Aluminum on my canopy - any reason why not?

[RedFish]

Hubby is going to make a simple canopy for my 29 gallon.    Wood frame, and I was thinking of using L shaped aluminum straping (that is used when installing screen doors) as the T junction that rests on top of the aquarium.

I want to put a glass top on instead of the regular plastic canopy, but none of the store bought ones fit my tank, so this will allow the glass top to sit on the aluminum, and not be raised higher over the tank as it would if it were made of wood.

This is a pretty poor drawing but I hope you get the idea.


So it there any reason why I should not use aluminum?   A reason that would be bad for the fish!

thanks!

[damarech]

If the aluminum is painted there is no problem, If not the only thing that will happen is that the metal will oxidize and develope a white power, that should not be harmful in the small amounts that would actualy get into the water.
Happy building

[Quatro]

If all you're looking for a a spot to rest the glass on, you could use a 1x1 strip of wood.  My concern with this setup is how do plan on feeding the fish?  It looks as though the glass would always be in the way.

[RedFish]

Thank you both -

Damarech I will look for painted aluminum, I think black would hide itself the best.

Quatro, the glass top will be the regular folding glass top for aquariums, so I will be able to just lift the front to feed.

The folding glass tops are just 1/8 inch too large to fit on the interior lip of my aquarium, and 1/4 inch too small to rest on the top of the aquarium.   So this top we are building it just to give enough of an edge for the glass to rest on, with the wood edge to make it look nice and neat.

[Quatro]

OK thanks.  I assumed there would be a wood top to it as well which would add to the feeding complexity.   

[babblefish1960]

Don't forget the ancillary components that will be wanting to emerge their little bits out of the back, glass can be such a difficult medium when trying to hang pipes, heaters and other such stuff.

The electrolytic conversion created when aluminum is near other minerals is something you would want to avoid, and the wood too has issues with moulds and depending on the species of wood, some release toxins, so "sealing" both materials with something non-toxic is paramount and the key word here, otherwise, let DH have a blast with it, sounds like a reasonable solution while saving money too. Good luck.

[BigDaddy]

Why not just take a glass top to M&T Glass or another glass shop and have them shave the glass down to the appropriate measurements...

[catfishsteve]

you will be creating a weak battery by having two dissimilar metals contacting each other in a wet environment
the aluminum will slowly dissolve.

You can see this happen overnight if you take a stainless steel pot put some spaghetti sauce in it to the top and cover it with aluminum foil
in the morning the aluminum foil will be full of big holes.

Spaghetti sauce is much more acidic than your aquarium humidity. but the principle is still there

[charlie]

Why not just take a glass top to M&T Glass or another glass shop and have them shave the glass down to the appropriate measurements...

I think the glass is already too small, ( could be wrong) in which case the solution is to have 2 larger pcs of glass cut & use the old plastic hinge thereby eliminating any brackets or wood, if you must use brackets , look for the stainless steel type.
I also suspect it is a Hagen tank , the appropriate glass lid can be had from Superpet .
Regards

[catfishsteve]

I just posted a hagen glass lid in the classifieds 60 x 18

[normc]

I use plain aluminum flanges on my main tank but they rest on the plastic at the top of the tank been there for years no problems.

[RedFish]

Thank you all!   Gave me lots to think about and research.   I asked my FIL about the aluminum and possibility of electric charge or aluminum dissolving and he said it wouldn't likely happen.  (He is a chemist).    Since the aluminum will not be in the water and the humidity wouldn't be enough to create any current.   The aluminum is anodized which is even better.  It will be resting on the plastic top of the tank too.

Since I am using standard glass top, it has the plastic at the back that can be cut to go around the filter etc.
Charlie, I tried both the hagen and perfecto lid and neither fit.   Old tank I guess!
BD - can't really shave the glass down without doing the same to the hinge, and also the lip inside the tank is really tiny, I wouldn't feel safe with anything on it.


So am going to go ahead and build this (Ok dh will build it) and get the best use of those coralife lights!   Thank you all for the replies I feel like I have checked this out thoroughly now.