Thanks everyone,
xvart and vraev - if you look at the last pic of the three maxima pictures you can see a small radio shack fan 115vac that blows when the lights are on (do you think this is enough?), I might have to upgrade especially when it gets hot in the summer.
ilbasso and wmgorum - The glass and mirror in the first pic that forms the basic structure is all 1/4". It's solid stuff but I wanted to include the frame for extra strength. I had it custom cut and then used non toxic aquarium sealant to bind and seal it. For the adjustable top I used cheapo home depot 3/32 replacement glass, I already broke it once during installation so not a bad idea to go thicker. The doors are 1/8th tempered, any thicker wouldn't have worked with the hinges. Altogether glass costs were around $300 I may have been able to cut it myself for much cheaper but cutting glass is a lot harder then I thought and I broke plenty of it cutting the glass for the lid.
JB_OrchidGuy - ask away, I used crushed lava sand for the bottom. Good luck with your ultra highland tank I can't wait to see how that turns out.
LLeopardGGecko - thanks, it has made me a very happy camper indeed, I can't walk by it without staring and drooling.
jm82792 - keep after her, she'll come around.
Nepenthes and elgecko - thanks a lot
Blazeddayz - Yes! they are hot, I'm worried about summer when the temp hits 100. Even with the fan on the upper third of the tank gets to about 20F hotter then room temp with 50%H while the bottom third is about 7F hotter than room with 80%H. I've thought about raising the lights an inch or so and then mounting a fan between the lights and upper glass to blow off some heat. any ideas? I also drilled about 200 1" holes in hood as the Lamp was wayyyy to hot, couldn't even touch the sides, it's much better now. These things cook!
D_muscipula - I think I remember looking at a picture of your custom tank, very nice work it looks like we used the same hinges and magnetic closing system which I think works great. My tank can also hold about 6 inches of water which really helps with the humidity. Congrats on your new tank! Get some plastic friendly spray paint and then turn your white egg crate into green egg crate. oh and 231 square inches per gallon.
Thanks for all the compliments, happy to give more detail and help anyone with their projects!
cheers
