Wanted to show off my new hood!

[anna]

Just wanted to show off the new lighting canopy that I just finished. I have 2 250 Mh and 2 110 VHO (the MH are not on in the photo) retrofit fixture for lighting and two 4" fans for cooling.

Currently a lot of live rock but only 4 little blue headed damsels. Just waiting for the system to stabilize!

There is a picture of the hood in pieces as well.

construction is 3/4 oak faced plywood with oak molding to cover seams and oak laminate tape to cover the edges of the plywood. It has three coats of polyurethane to seal it. The lighting panel just sits on the top and can slide to give me full access to the front or back of the tank.


Anna

 

[Kabob]

Looks good Anna!

Jason

 

[Anonymous]

This is a nice looking hood I think it is the first time I have seen one that slides open instead of a lid type.I really like GREAT JOB!
David
_________________
Mercedes Simplex

 

[thekwah]

Anna, was just reading about ur hood... saw that u had damsels in your tank... Do you still have them?... I had 4 myself... Now Im down to 2... [got lucky and caught 2 of them...] So far the last 2 [1 velvet and 1 yellow tail] are not little demons... :twisted:

 

[Fish_man]

very blue... very nice. i still havent been able to catch my 3 damsels. im hoping my lion (very easy to catch) will get to them when he gets larger. all the other fish are atleast 3" long. the lion and damsels are 1.5 so no problems there. but nice hood. how much did it cost (not including the lights? im planning one but im a kid and need an estimate

 

[fungia]

great job. i wish i could woodwork that nicely. i am a aspiring diy'er.

 

[anna]

the hood was very easy. Just cut the four pieces using a table saw and then used a biscuit joiner to mate the pieces together. I have access to long clamps but you can use a belt clamp with four corner pieces. The trick is to keep it square.

The trim is just cut on a miter saw and nailed on with brad nails. 2 coats of mahogany stain and three coats of polyurethane.

I used iron on oak trim to cover the edges of the wood.

not including the lights...

~$70 for the 4x8 sheet of oak faced plywood ( I only used 1/2 of the sheet)
~$15 for the trim pieces
~$7 for the oak edging

If I amortized my wood working equipment it would be much more :wink:

My four damsels are doing great. I have since added two banggais and they leave each other alone. They are blue headed pink damsels and are very passive fish so I am not worried about them.

 

[thekwah]

I guess the kind of Damel is the most important thing. When one says damels most people seem to cringe... Its funny how the same person who sold you the fish 2 months ago tells you that damsels are evil, and good luck removing them.

I really like the colors of the damsels especially the velvet. If I only knew what little buggers they turn out to be. And had no idea they grew so fast or large [like 6"?]

Anyhow back to the canopy... could I be pointed to a place where I might find designs for canopys?

 

[anna]

I designed my own based on seeing several on the internet and in my LFS.

The basics are the box and the lighting connection. Some people get fancy with doors and hinges. I was in a rush so made it as simple and open as possible.