DIY 29gal Biocube splash guard

[edikpok]

As many other may encounter a yellowing splash guard, I figured that I will post how I constructed a DIY splash guard for my 29g Oceanic Biocube, which is no longer supported by Oceanic (since they now make them under Coralife brand name and the splash guard is a little different).

After 4 years, my acrylic splash guard started yellowing and I had to come up with something, as even brand new lights would not support some of my corals. I contacted Oceanic, but they did not have a replacement. Following an advice on a different forum, I asked a local plastic shop (Industrial Plastic in PoCo) to cut the following sizes of acrylic (3mm thickness):

1 18.5in x 10.5in
2 18.5in x 1.5in
2 10.5in x 1.5in

Was ready within a day. Total $35 including labour – quite pricey but the corals are happy.

I aligned and glued the pieces together with cement glue (for acrylics). I added scotch tape at the corners for the time being. I only used a tiny amount of cement glue since it is toxic for the fish. An hour later I used Aquarium silicone to silicone all the cracks – both inside and outside of the splash guard (make sure all cement glue is coated with silicone). Waited for another 24h to dry – as per instructions, and until it stops smelling.

I drilled the holes with a Miliwaki wood drill bit (make sure acrylics is against flat surface (piece of wood) and tape the area that will be drilled. For the screws, I used 2” size 6. Worked really well.

Total cost was $55. The fit is not as snug as the original splash guard, but is pretty good. To prevent condensation inside the splash guard, the rear “door” has to remain a little open.

Good luck and let me know if you would like to see some photos...

Eddie

[byee]

Eddie,

Please share your photos of your splash guard.


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