75g DIY Hood

[Jason F]

Since I set this tank up about 2 years ago I've wanted to get a hood built for it but I kept putting it off. Now that we got a pair of kittens a few months ago, who both like getting on top of this tank every time I'm not looking, the time has come to build it. I've already pretty much got it built but I have a question to anyone who has done this. Seeing as this is on a discus tank and temps are a little higher than other tanks I'm going to have more evaporation. Whats the best way to treat the wood to protect it from the moisture?

[rickztahone]

Since I set this tank up about 2 years ago I've wanted to get a hood built for it but I kept putting it off. Now that we got a pair of kittens a few months ago, who both like getting on top of this tank every time I'm not looking, the time has come to build it. I've already pretty much got it built but I have a question to anyone who has done this. Seeing as this is on a discus tank and temps are a little higher than other tanks I'm going to have more evaporation. Whats the best way to treat the wood to protect it from the moisture?

Epoxy paint is water resistant.

[Jason F]

I painted the stand black with a latex semi-gloss and I want the hood to match. Will that paint work or do I need to go get new paint?

[rickztahone]

I painted the stand black with a latex semi-gloss and I want the hood to match. Will that paint work or do I need to go get new paint?

You can get epoxy paint in any color. However, I will say this, the inside of your hood is best if painted white. It reflects light and gets it in to the tank better, IME. The outside of the hood you can paint ANY color you want.

[Jason F]

You can get epoxy paint in any color. However, I will say this, the inside of your hood is best if painted white. It reflects light and gets it in to the tank better, IME. The outside of the hood you can paint ANY color you want.

Thanks! I was thinking about doing the inside a different color than black, mostly because I just stripped black off the back of my tank and repainted it light blue yesterday. I have PB's in there and I'm hoping the lighter background, and a light top, will make some of the peppering go away.

[rickztahone]

Lighter tank bottom affects pb's in a much more positive way than background, just in case your tank is BB

[Jason F]

I was wondering about that. The tank is bb and right now the bottom is not painted so if you look from above you see right into the stand. It's not really the way I would like to have it but I don't really have the time or the help to tear the tank down and flip it so I can paint the bottom right now.

[Jason F]

I think while I'm out getting pain tomorrow I may pick up a couple sheets of that big thick white paper my kids use to do school projects on. Figure I could cut them out to size and probably slide them into place. It wont look as good as painting but if you don't look from above you probably won't notice it.