GlassCages.com can provides quick and affordable custom glass tops

A custom glass lid, cut to my specifications, cutting down on salt creep and evaporation.

When a company does something right, I think Reef Builders readers ought to know about it. Case in point – you can probably get glass from many different places. I had a need for dozens of custom cut glass pieces; custom lids for the used tanks I had amassed over the years. Of course, I needed some different panels and some diagonal cuts (rather than using the plastic strip that many conventional glass tops come with, I wanted access points at corners where cords could pass through).

4 boxes of Glass, shipped to my door via UPS, from GlassCages.com

I searched locally for glass companies- the initial quote back was $1500+ a shocking price at first, since I hadn’t paid that much for the tanks. I never got a revised number from my local company, but I know that $1500 was for tempered glass and for probably more finish than I needed.

Meanwhile, enter GlassCages.com. To my door, the entire quote was $261.00 for 46 pieces of glass at 1/8″ thickness to cover ten 5.5 gallons, fourteen 40 gallons (double panels), and eight 30 & 40 breeders (leaving a large opening on one side). There were no frills, no extra stuff, just the functional glass I needed. When I gave this bid back to my local glass company, they told me to go buy it – which I did.

I should of course mention that over email, Glass Cages may be short with you, but that’s probably because they’re busy. Well that, and because I think they’d much rather talk to you on the phone. And they are wonderful on the phone. A total of 10 days later, the glass arrived in 4 boxes on my doorstep. Check out the packaging.

Heavy duty cardboard gives way to outer layers of styrofoam, bound with packing wrap.

First look at the glass, which was also bound with wrap, inside the styrofoam casing.

I should point out that according to Glass Cages, they cannot offer insurance on glass because UPS doesn’t cover glass in transit. That said, I had ONE panel come shattered – everything else was perfect (and yes, I ordered some extra panels because I figured I would break something).

Broken Glass in UPS shipment - looks worse than it was. Only one pane, in the middle, had shattered.

So in the end, I have to say, for anyone looking to purchase a large quantity of glass lids for your aquariums, you might want to give the folks at Glass Cages a call at (615)-446-8877. I can’t speak to their aquariums, but I know that I’m VERY pleased with the service and finished product I received.

Why do you need cover glass? This is 2 days of evaporation - note the salt drips too.

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Matt Pedersen

Matt Pedersen is an interactive software developer and part-time fly fishing guide originally from Chicago, IL and current living in Duluth, MN, USA. Additionally, Matt has experience as a professional orchid breeder and certified fly rod builder. Matt has been a marine aquarist for 23 years, and an aquarist for 28+. After spending time on every side of the aquarium industry (retail, commercial and private maintenance & installation, wholesale, hatchery), he currently considers himself a "professional hobbyist". Most recently, Matt has currently spawned 22 species of marine fish, successfully raising 8 of them to date including one worldwide first (the Harlequin Filefish, Oxymonacanthus longirostris), as well as attempted another 6 invertebrate species to date. Most all of this was accomplished with less than 100 gallons of total working capacity, and all in closed culture. In 2010, Matt Pedersen was selected as the breeder of choice to work with the now famous "PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish" from the SEASMART program, and chronicles the efforts to propagate this one-of-a-kind fish online at The Lightning Project. Matt Pedersen is credited with starting MOFIB (Marine Ornamental Fish & Invertebrate Breeder's Association) and writing for multiple publications including Coral, Koralle, Practical Fish Keeping, Reef Hobbyist Magazine and Reef Builders. Matt has spoken at numerous aquarium clubs and events from coast to coast. He currently sits on the MBI (Marine Breeding Initiative) Council, a project dedicated to bringing the concept of a unified Marine Breeder's Award Program to hobbyist organizations across the country and around the globe. In 2009, Matt was awarded "Aquarist of the Year" honors by both IMAC West and MASNA in recognition of his accomplishments and contributions to the marine aquarium hobby. Last updated October, 2010.