Finally finished canopy and lighting system!

[Arik]

I FINALLY finished this canopy over the weekend and got my lighting permanently setup. Here is the canopy (it is stained white oak, the pictures make it yellower):

Here it is with the two doors wide open. I built a frame to hold my MH pendants and T5 lights out of aluminum from a different project, and the caribiners let me easily move it up or down if needed:

The side panels are removable for easy maintenance (the left side panel is removed in this pic):

The Lights are attached to this movable cross beam, so I can easily slide the lights forward and back which makes it easy to work in the tank. Also the top is removable (shown without the top) for better airflow in the summer:

Thanks for looking!

 

[ReeferMac]

Very nice looking work! Far cleaner than anything I've ever made.

- Mac

 

[vitaldefect001]

are you available for hire... this makes mine look like a stack of wood LOL although mine is temporary

how long did that take you to build?

very nice work

 

[Arik]

Thanks for the kind words! I've been working on it off and on since February. I had a general idea of how it was going to be made before I started, but as I got going the design changed a LOT and that is why it took so long. Plus I switched my PC's for T5's half way through building because the PC's took up way too much room.

If I were to do it all over, I'd ditch the Halides and get an 8 bulb T5 setup. The 108w T5's I have now are at almost as bright as the 260w of PC's I had before.

 

[jstraka1]

Very nice work, looks like you put a lot of thought into the design.

 

[dalbrecht]

How are the carabiner clips working to maintain height, I'm considering something similar. How big of a hassle is it to raise or lower things?

 

[Arik]

They are working really well. The chain is 1" links, so it is easy to quantify how much higher or lower I'm making the lights. The whole setup can't weigh much more than a few pounds, so it is easily moved around.

I toyed around with making a winch, but decided it wasn't necessary since the caribiners are pretty easy to work with.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Nice job!

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah man, great job there... Looks really professional :beer:

 

[zanclus]

Looks Great, very nice work!!!!!