Mesh Top Modification

First post, I'm prepping to get my first BP as soon as this terrible shipping season ends, and I've seen a lot of comments about problems maintaining humidity in tanks with mesh tops. So last night while I was working on creating the housing for a thermostat to control two devices I used some excess sheeting to fill in the space that'll hopefully keep the warm air in better.

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Funnily enough the cut out design looked like a mouse/rat face.

Having the heat lamp sit on that, it may get hot enough to melt it. Is it plastic or glass?

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Having the heat lamp sit on that, it may get hot enough to melt it. Is it plastic or glass?

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Plastic, I'm going to be watching that with it cranked up above normal use and see if it wants to deform. (100w ceramic) If I notice anything, cutting the hole big enough for the lamp to sit directly on the mesh is easy, or I'll use the clamp to hang it just above it.

I would cut it so the dome fits inside it.
The temp will get the lexan to distort a lot plus if someone bumps the dome off center then you might have a mess.

Is that a laser CNC or is it cutting with a router head? He might be using some sort of abs, which if he is may be somewhat he resistant. Not sure?

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

I would cut it so the dome fits inside it.
The temp will get the lexan to distort a lot plus if someone bumps the dome off center then you might have a mess.

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Didn't take too long before it was soft to the touch. So you're right in that I'll at least need to cut it out to fit inside. Which will require some extra material to give it some more strength next to the lamp cutout where it's weakest. I was hoping to keep it off the mesh since it doesn't really feel that strong long term to have the lamp camped out on it.

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Originally Posted by hyoslvr

Is that a laser CNC or is it cutting with a router head? He might be using some sort of abs, which if he is may be somewhat he resistant. Not sure?

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It's a laser. I could get access to a rather large CNC mill if I really wanted to make something out of thick stuff. Ol' Peedy, cause the S sticker got stripped off during the install somehow, isn't very good for anything larger than 27" in length without doing a few finicky tricks.

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Originally Posted by Foxton

it doesn't really feel that strong long term to have the lamp camped out on it.

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It will be okay, have one that has a UVB and CHE that have been on it for 4 or 5 years

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Originally Posted by pitontheprowl

it will be okay, have one that has a uvb and che that have been on it for 4 or 5 years

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x 2

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Just a heads up on the use of a plastic top.....if it is acrylic then the top will sag down over time(the thinner it is the faster it will happen), causing the corners to curl up a bit. This will let some heat out but more importantly I will let out quite a bit of humidity. This sag will be noticeable in as little as a couple of days if the acrylic is thin.

Instead of making the hole larger, you can just get a smaller dome ........ I use the Flukers 5" size with a CHE.
I have got them on sale online for only like $10.

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Originally Posted by Mykuhl

Just a heads up on the use of a plastic top.....if it is acrylic then the top will sag down over time(the thinner it is the faster it will happen), causing the corners to curl up a bit. This will let some heat out but more importantly I will let out quite a bit of humidity. This sag will be noticeable in as little as a couple of days if the acrylic is thin.

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1/8" and it is spread out over the mesh itself not along the edges. I am considering doubling it up in parts and using some flaps to overlap the cage top itself.

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Originally Posted by mohawk

Instead of making the hole larger, you can just get a smaller dome ........ I use the Flukers 5" size with a CHE.
I have got them on sale online for only like $10.

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Definitely an option, and probably a good idea simply for a backup. Found one on amazon for 11$ but it's only rated for 75w.

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Originally Posted by Foxton

1/8" and it is spread out over the mesh itself not along the edges. I am considering doubling it up in parts and using some flaps to overlap the cage top itself.


Definitely an option, and probably a good idea simply for a backup. Found one on amazon for 11$ but it's only rated for 75w.

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The ones I get are rated for 100w. I got a few from petco.com when they have 20% off online sales.

It will still sag or bow even laying on top of a metal mesh screen top. I came up with the same idea years ago and it did this every few days or so with 1/8th of an inch. Had to keep flipping over the top. The more you can reinforce it and attach it to the top of the tank the better. It will save you the frustration.

New to the forum but here is what ive done to help with the humidity in my mesh topped tanks, i covered the top in aluminum foil, cut out a hole a little bigger then the hood of my lamp and another rectangle shaped one at the opposite end, i cover the rectangle one up and adjust it as need be depending on the rooms temps.... with the lamp down and a water bowl within the heating area my humidity stays around 50-60% with a little misting here and there, but i want to add some type off moss to the cages to hopefully eliminate the mistings

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