Good canopy / hood plans ?

[laxing22]

Any one have any good canopy / hood plans? Right now I just have my lights (Tek Light T5 4' 6 Lamp Fixture) on two wood blocks and hate it. Tank is 75 gals.
Over the years I have seen many nice ones, but I always hear people complain about how hard it is to do... with their hood. So - links or drawings or good idea's?

I think I may also like to add a set of powerbrites or the like, but I'm not sure if they all can fit - thoughts?

 

[Tonynlo]

It's very hard to add a fixture to a canopy. They are nearly impossible to work on.
My old light sat in a basic canopy and I had screwed a keyboard/drawer rail on to it and the fixture to slide it out from the front in order to perform routine cleaning and bulb changes. I thought I had it all figured out... The design worked better on paper beacuse the canopy would tip or want to fall off when I slid it out.

I ended up making a simple "top loader" which had a couple of pieces of wood on each side to let the fixture rest on. Open on the top, back and vented sides. Still nearly impossible to perform maintenance.

I have heard of people mounting their hanging kits inside of a canopy, but I wouldn't know where to start.

Sorry these are more what not to do than what to do but maybe helpful...

I now do not use a canopy. If I were in your situation, I would sell the light and go retro.

 

[laxing22]

What NOT to do is VERY helpful. I have the hanging mounts and stuff, so that may be a way to go.
I have thought about just going LED and selling the lights after.

 

[jcw]

Even LEDs need to be hung or mounted some way. I guess some have aluminum rails that just sit on the tank.

I was looking to do a canopy after pendant lighting just didn't do it for me. Too much glare from the lights when looking at the tank made it unacceptable.

I am currently planning to build a 2x3 frame around the top of the tank with the "roof" slanted toward the back. The top would be hinged so you could get easy access into the canopy. The front "panel" would open like drawers on drawer slides and you could put the fixtures on this. The drawers would be completely removable so you could have access to the tank.

I haven't started yet, but will be drawing it up soon.

 

[Tonynlo]

Take a look at this one.

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/mh.html

 

[laxing22]

Take a look at this one.

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/mh.html

Nice tank, but I don't like those "legs" I deff want to close off the front from glare

 

[jacksonpt]

Depending on how much room/access you need, they actually aren't as hard to build as you might think. Making a hinged/removable front panel isn't hard... it gets tricking when you need to move the lights out of the way for full open tank access.

 

[Tonynlo]

Nice tank, but I don't like those "legs" I deff want to close off the front from glare

Still better looking than a fixture IMO. Looking at the example, it appears as though his canopy lifts up and down, or can be modified slightly to lift up and down, on those wooden legs that are on each side.

 

[jacksonpt]

http://www.melevsreef.com/29g/canopy.html