BUILD OR BUY A CONOPY?

[mikey98]

I am a new reef guy and i am just starting out. I have a 55 gallon glass tank and I want to put 4 55w PC lights. I am considering just buying a prmade canopy(not hood) or building my own. Does anyone have any feeling on this. I have very good metal working tool and skill but no wood tools. So if i built one I was going to use alluminum. What do you think the cost diffrence would be. Sofar I have found no canopys that were set up with PCs.

Any suggestions would help

Thanks,

Mikey

 

[jchonline]

That is a tough call. I built my own, and in retrospect you need to ask yourself a few questions before you decide.
1. How important are looks?
2. Will I ever want to upgrade and add fans/lights?
3. Can I modify a bought canopy for cheaper?

I have a 75G with 4 96W PC's (AH Supply makes good kits, I recommend them). I decided to make my canopy b/c I wanted it to be higher off the water than the storebought ones and I wanted the room to add MH if need be. If you build your own, I recommend if you want it to look good you need some experience with woodworking (furniture, etc). If you try to do it without the experience, make sure your answer to Q 1 above is NO. When I built mine, I saw one for $80 at a LFS. In retrospect, I should have bought it. I spent about $70 building mine, and it does not look quite as good (and I have woodworking experience). However, I am glad I built mine with 1x10's, b/c the lights are over 9 inches from the water. This makes cooling much easier and negates the need for a chiller in my case. It is a tough decision. Good luck.

 

[gt8448a]

I, too, am in the process of building a canopy, but on a much smaller scale. Coming from an Engineering family and background, wood is going to be the most cost-effective route you can take (as opposed to aluminum). It might, however, be possible to find some scrap aluminum from a local builder. I've been enquiring with some of the higher end wood shops here in the city regarding the best type of wood to use, and the consensus seems to be that it pretty much doesn't matter as long as it is very well protected. Hope this helps.

Harrell