I bought a canopy for my 150 gal from Ty a couple months ago. My previous canopy was too short (top corals were getting burned) and only opened from the top. Ty worked with me quite a bit to come up with a custom design for a double-hinged canopy that was also taller. It opens from the front for easy access on a daily basis, but it's also hinged in the back so I can get big pieces of live rock, etc., in and out of the tank without having to take the canopy completely off.
The design works pretty well for a first-run. The hinges aren't as well supported as I would like when both are in use, but the truth is I almost always only open the front, and it works great for that. I had some of the same phone tag and took-longer-than-promised issues that others here have mentioned, but in my case it was more important that I got what I wanted than that it be done on time. There was also a small issue with the stain not matching my stand perfectly. I gave Ty the Minwax stain number for my stand, and I even mailed him the cover for the feeding hole on my old canopy so he could try to get the new canopy to match the existing stand. When the canopy was delivered, I put it side-by-side with the stand, and there was a definite, but small, mis-match. But I accepted delivery anyway, and by the time I got the lights installed and the canopy up on top of the tank, it was really hard to see that there was any difference at all.
So overall, I'm a very happy customer. I really felt like I got my money's worth - $250 for a custom-built 2x5' canopy seemed quite reasonable to me, especially considering the amount of back-and-forth time it required of Ty.
Jeff (vol_reefer)