DIY Hood Concepts

[RocketEngineer]

With lots of folks asking if anyone has plans for DIY hoods, I figured I would start a thread where folks can add their design and finished products for others to reference.

My first hood was for a 75g tank and held a (4) T5 bulb fixture. It was fairly simple: a back with fans, the front panel, an air deflector to direct the fan flow, and the T5 fixture. The fans are positioned to blow across the end caps of the T5s.

Design:

Open:

Back Only:

This is what it looked like when it was finished:

The front panel removed:

Light rack pushed back:

 

[RocketEngineer]

Hood in place:

Hood in place with front panel removed:

The back frame is held together using pocket screws and glue. The oak panels mount to the back using just pocket screws. The light rack slides on a pair of plastic runners rather than on the wood.

Overall this design is simple to make and looks decent. While it's not as detailed as my stand, looking at the two together, they match. The only issue I have had is the fans move a lot of air across the surface of the water, driving evaporation. I have since put a pair of spacers under the air deflector to let air go above and below the light rack which has somewhat decreased the evaporation issue.

 

[RocketEngineer]

DIY 125g Hood (in progress)

DIY 125g Hood (in progress)

Last march I purchased a 125g from a local hobbyist and started planning my upgrade. With the longer tank I needed a bigger hood and I didn't want to go with T5 as the bulb replacement would kill my budget. Instead, I decided to go LED and have designed the hood to better match the stand.

Design:

Open:

Back Assembly:

LED frame assembly:

As you can see, the two designs are similar. For this design I used a taller back panel and the ends are designed to match the stand details. In addition, the LED drivers, dimming control box, and a controllable power strip all mount on the back panel. When its all wired, only two cables (one power, one data) exit the hood.

The frame assembly supports the heatsink and also has a splash guard to prevent issues.

 

[RocketEngineer]

And here is the 125g hood in process:

Hood back and LED frames:

Another View:

Extent of the opening with the frame pushed back:

Oh, hi cat....

LED frame removed:

The board in the middle keeps the two LED frames from being able to fall into the tank and supports the upright. The upright in the middle is where the center magnets will mount to hold the front panels. The magnets on either end will mount to the oak pieces that form the ends.

LED Frame rotated:

The heat sinks will sit on the lip and a splash guard will mount under the rails.

 

[RocketEngineer]

If anyone has pictures of their hood designs, construction photos, or ideas feel free to add them to this thread. If you have ideas for mounting lights without a hood or even floating hoods, provide details and pictures.

RocketEngineer

 

[fetta]

great thread, seeing how im gonna be starting my build soon.

 

[Budde]

Looks amazing, and I too am going to be building my own hood, as well as stand for my system that will be setup sometime in the next 2-6 months. Money plays a large role in this, as I am a full-time college student, working 30-35 hours a week at a convenience store.

Subscribing.

 

[peppie]

This is my DIY light mount of r my 90gal AIO.
It mounts to the wall behind the tank.

mylar reflecting material glued to the under side

A wood frame to mount a panel to keep lite in

 

[stacy_vennes]

heres our hood hope yall like it

that is all of them anyways any questions just let me know

 

[Mussin]

Impressive.. I like the struts, did they come off a hood or hatch from a car?

 

[sirreal63]

Here is an old one I built back in 2005 or 2006, it is a simple 2x2 clear cedar with grooves cut for removable panels with KDAT 2x2's where strength was needed and the light bar was made from 2-1x2 hard maple, glued and screwed. All three front panels and both end panels were removable to allow complete access.

The frame, the bar the lights are hanging from could be removed by lifting it out.

A shot of the inside.

Removing a panel was as easy as just lifting it out. This worked very well.

All panels in.

Over all I was happy with the design, the top and back were open for ventilation

 

[stacy_vennes]

Impressive.. I like the struts, did they come off a hood or hatch from a car?

yes they came off a trunk lid from a audi a4 at a pick n pull in colorado where we built the hood but you need mounting points from napa it was about 30 bucks total for everything and it works well and when its closed there is no latch holding it closed so anyways good luck and have fun

 

[Misled]

Mine falls into the "other" category.

 

[kirdro]

I've been thinking of building a floating hood that rather than hanging from the ceiling is supported by a cantilever connected to the stand.

 

[peppie]

Mine falls into the "other" category.

Sometimes the KISS method works best.
Looks clean and well planned.

 

[Misled]

Thanks. That was 5 years ago. The tank is getting overgrown now and is beginning a re-do as we speak. Here it is now.

 

[cdrewferd]

Rocket, on your plans you don't have a top cover that covers the whole thing. did you just leave that out in the plans, or are you just going to do the half cover? Also, how are the front panels going to be either removeable or open for feeding and basic stuff?

 

[RocketEngineer]

Thanks everyone for posting their hoods. Several really nice builds for folks to borrow from. Keep them coming.

Rocket, on your plans you don't have a top cover that covers the whole thing. did you just leave that out in the plans, or are you just going to do the half cover? Also, how are the front panels going to be either removeable or open for feeding and basic stuff?

From my standpoint, having an enclosed hood is more trouble than solution as we want our tanks to breath. With lights in the hood, you can add excessive heat to the tank if you're not careful. In my setups the hoods are fairly open to allow air movement plus I use a pair of 120mm fans blowing across the water surface for cooling. I will say that my cat has walked across the top of the 75g hood. The hood sirreal63 built has a totally open top while the hood by stacy_vennes is totally closed. Your circumstances may push your build one way or another.

For the 75g hood, the front panel mounts using a pair of ball catches. The catches each have an upper and lower ball that pinches the catch and supports it while keeping it in place. The 125g hood will use sealed magnets to hold the panels in while rest blocks on the bottom of the panel to support the weight.

RocketEngineer

 

[mginn]

Where can I find the magnets you use to hold the doors on with ? Also do you water proof the inside ? Great ideas, thanks

 

[vader88]

heres our hood hope yall like it

that is all of them anyways any questions just let me know

I'm interested in using shocks on mine, the locking latches I have now are failing, where did you get those and about how much ?

Thanks