Wood Canopies, How Did You Do It?

[darcy]

Ok I've seen some of you have made your own wood canopies. So can some of you who have done this give me some more info on how you did it? I can make metal stands but I don't think a metal canopy would be such a great idea!! ::) Thanks.
Darcy

[Steve_Warner]

Hi Darcy,
OK, first I found a tree and cut it down........J/K ;D I made my own canopy out of regular old 3/4" pine, and sealed the h3ll outta it with KILZ primer, paint and acrylic sealer. I made the entire front able to flip up, outta the way, so I could have access to the entire front of the tank. I used a piano hinge setup at the hinge-point and also wired in some high output lighting(4-85W bulbs) for my planted tank hopes(out the window after a few months). I then had a painter from my work do a crackle finish on it to match with my stand. "Viola", it was that easy.(actually, I must have measured and remeasured about a million times just to make sure I didn't make a mistake when cutting, etc.)

Steve

Steve

[darcy]

Thanks for the reply Steve!!!! I thought I would never get any! >:( >:( Your's looks fairly easy to make so I just might have to try it!!
Darcy

[NickK]

Darcy,
Here is the canopy I built for my 37g show tank. It is made of solid oak, so it was not cheap. However, it was cheaper than the crappy pine canopy the fish store had. ALSO - my cost included a circular saw which I bought at Lowes. I work for the world's largest lighting manufacturer, so I had our engineers retrofit the canopy with a 100+ Watt Compact Fluorescent system. IT IS VERY BRIGHT. My original intention was built around a planted tank. HTH

Nick

[Ralph]

Nice job, did you build the stand too? It matches perfectly.
Any chance on seeing it from the back? Are you going to retrofit it back to regular fluorescent tubes?

[NickK]

Ralph,
No, I did not build the stand. This was my first real wood-working project (furniture), so I only wanted to attempt the canopy. I just sat down with a pen, some paper, and a tape measure - and designed my canopy. The staining part was the worst. I used two different colors, since neither matched even remotely close. After about 6-7 applications, it looked SO BAD. I was so mad since I thought I was ruining my first masterpiece. After the final application (it was still wet), I decided to start over....so I wiped everything off in a rage of fury. Funny enough, IT MATCHED PERFECTLY! :o I haven't touched it since!

Here are some pics of the canopy. You can start to imagine how bright this thing is (since the auto-exposure darkened the rest of the pic). When I open the canopy (brass hinges), it's like looking at the sun. I have it wired to the wall switch, and use it to light the room! There are two lamps (bulbs) installed under the hood. The ballast is also located under the hood. I placed the hinge about 2/3 of the way of back on the cover, so you don't have to lift the ballast and extra weight.

Nick

[NickK]

Here is a quick look at the back of the canopy. I am very happy with the results of this project.

Nick

[NickK]

One last note, the engineers used a product called MIRO 4 to reflect the light back into the aquarium. It is a highly reflective (~ 95%) specular aluminum product my company uses in multiple lighting fixtures. This way, I can efficiently use more of the produced lumens (higher CU).

From what I read, discus probably won't like this amount of light. I will probably put some potted plants in there to give them some cover.

Nick

[farm41]

Nick,

How could I get some of that type reflector?

[Ralph]

NicKK,
I have tried to match stains before, that's why I asked, it was just too perfect.
After all that effort with the lighting, I hope you plan on putting plants in there eventually.

Hey Steve,
Where did you find the piano hinge, that doesn't sound like Home Depot?
Also the plants inside the hood (and growing out), one is a pothos but what was the other?

[NickK]

Ralph,
I will use the tank as a grow-out until they are adults. Then I will use some plants since I won't be feeding 4-5 times a day. Until then, I will use the 15W unit that came with the tank. Thankfully, this lighting setup was 100% free!


Farm41,
I have no idea where you could buy MIRO 4 (or any other product they make). I got mine from work, but you could try to search for Internet for it. AHsupply.com uses it for their retrofits, but they probably buy it bent/formed.

Nick

[farm41]

Thanks Nick, I'll try that

[Denny]

hre is one with a little curve appeal:

92 g corner tank

[Denny]

with the top up

[dm]

I am also interested in building a canopy. Anyone else have ideas?

[Denny]

dm

what questions do you have?

[Todd77357]

Nice hoods you guys, here's a pic of 1 I made. Its made of 1/2" berch ply wood and oak trim with 2 48" flur. lights mounted inside.

http://hometown.aol.com/todd77357/images/hoodangle.jpg

[Steve_Warner]

Hey Steve,
Where did you find the piano hinge, that doesn't sound like Home Depot?
Also the plants inside the hood (and growing out), one is a pothos but what was the other?


Hi all,
Ralph, sorry, I just read this message.....better late than never :-\ Anyway, I did find the hinge at H.D and I used a hacksaw to cut it down to my needed size on the canopy(very easy to cut down). It was on the aisle with all the door hinges, etc. The other plant is a Philodendron and they are HUGE now.

Steve

[venom_99]

Denny,

How did you you fabricate that nice, curved canopy for your 92 gal corner tank?

I plan to purchase a tank just like yours in a few months. However, I am not happy with the stand that All-Glass makes, nor the fact that there are no canopies commercially available.

Thanks!

[Chris]

Hey all:

If you want to build your own canopy, you need to seal it very well. I have found that a good 5 minute epoxy is the best.

What I do to seal the wood where the water is close is buy a small container of denatured alchohol, and the epoxy. I mix the epoxy, then add a little of the alchohol and dilute the epoxy to the consitancy of a heavy bodied paint. Then I paint the epoxy on the wood. This seals the wood, actually it makes the wood impervious to water. Make sure to let the epoxy dry for at least 24 hours.

later

Chris

PS: Where you screw your light fixture to the hood, put a dab of silicone on the screws so you don't give the wood a place to begin absorbing water.

[Denny]

Venom

I made a curved inner frame that sits on the tank and then bent 1/4" pine plywood around it with the help of some pipe clamps and a curved jig to pull it tight. The inside was coated with 3 coats of white epoxy paint.

the top was done in 3/4" knotty pine ply with a solid fron edge that was bent around the front and held with another jig while the glue dried.

[AFTICA]

Here is my Hood project (http://www.angelfish.net/yabbse/index.php?board=13;action=display;threadid=1973) that I have posted elsewhere... it's a bit of a DIY journal of the project... the full journal is being done at Plantedtank.net (http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3723) but you need to be a member of the board to view it due to bandwith issues (but worth it - it's a nice board)

Here is a shot of the finished unit... it's for a planted tank I am working on. its on a 77 gallon Hagen tank and has 4 compact fluorescent 55 watt lamps on 2 electronic ballasts.. you can see all that in the journal etc..