Canopy design

[AprilnWill]

I'm new on this board, and have been lurking for a little while now. Figured I'd ask on here as most people seem to know what they are talking about. I have a 75 gallon tank that has been set up for over a year now (heck may be closer to 2 actually) and finally will soon have enough money set aside for some decent lights. I recently added a sump/fuge in place of my old canister filter in hopes of setting up a reef system. Current light is the NO Flourescent tubes. I'm considering making my own canopy with a pair of 250w MH lights and a pair of T5 Actinics (all ballasts under the tank in the stand). My concern is heat. I don't want to get into the realm of a chiller and I really would prefer a canopy that won't let a lot of light out through the top. A completely open top would be best for the heat issue I understand but again, I want to block off as much light into the room as possible. I want this to be a clan looking tank. Would fans alone be enough to keep the tank cool or will I still need to have large holes in the top which will also bleed a lot of light out???

 

[Anonymous]

First of all

:welcome:

Now to your question. I built my own canopy for my tank. It is 54x26 so a bit bigger foot print than your tank. I cut two holes in the back and installed fans blowing in. I have two holes on the top over each pendant that was incase I would need two pulling out. I also have two fans blowing in my sump. One all the time and the other when the lights come on.

Here are a few shots of my canopy during construction and once installed.

 

[AprilnWill]

Thanks for the welcome.

Very nice setup there, I like the idea of having the entire front flip up as well for access. I could maybe do something like that with a heavy duty drawer slide to pull out the bulb setup for work when needed. It looks like you have a setup very close to what I'm thinking about. I'm guessing you don't have heat issues with all the fans. Since your using pendant lights, do you get much bleed through light from the top holes? I wouldn't mind a little at the back, just don't want to create a couple of spotlights shining straight up.

 

[Anonymous]

I would be cautious with using drawer slides. If you pull them out to far they may end up in your lap. With any MH you will need a reflector of some sort to get the full benifit so that will block the spot light effect. I do get some light on the wall behind the tank, but not alot. I do not have heat issues. Temp in the tank maxes out at 82F in the heat of the summer.

 

[Anonymous]

you could overlap some slats in the top, and it will create a light lock.

let me see if i can do this in ascii.

[- -- -- ]

imagine that crappy little drawing upside down. the top is slotted, but inside (about 1/4" below) each slot is another piece of wood. heat gets out, light doesn't.

B

 

[AprilnWill]

Thats actually what I was considering(well, something very similar at least), just never seen it and wasn't sure if it would work.

 

[AprilnWill]

update, I've decided to go strictly T5 on my lighting so the design of the canopy is a little clearer in my head now that I know what I'm going to be installing. April and I like taller canopies so it looks like the canopy will be 12-13 inches tall. I'm going to make it have a flat hinged top and figure I'll make a second lid essentially (or shelf) that will be hinged as well and closer to the water (3-4 inches). The bulbs will be mounted on the lower lid and it will be hinged as well so I can remove/replace the bulbs when needed. There will be doors in the front face as well for feeding and stuff that doesn't require full access the tank. If anyone else has pictures of their canopies I would appreciate it as this is still up in the air as far as designing the canopy goes. Canopy height is my biggest concern, we like taller canopies, but I don't want it to dwarf the 75 gallon tank it sits on and I'd like to keep maintenance as simple as possible so when I leave with the ship (USN) April will be able to handle it fairly easily.