Help Me Designa Hood For My Tank

[simonas]

As you may have seen on other threads I;ve emptied my 150g tank and painted back and sides etc

I;ve smashed the old hood up oops

I want sliding glass to cover the top then I want something to hold 2 t8 tubes over the tank. I;ve got no idea how to do it but my plan is the two tubes hung from a piece of wood that can have a reflector behind it/ possibly a 5ft by 10 inch piece of wood that somehow rests on top of the tank

any ideas to throw my way please

 

[Defiance]

Hiya,

I've just done one for my 150g tank

I made a faceboard (howto explain) , err, ok, about 1"x6" box around the top edges of the tank, to allow this to sit just lower than full water level i used small square pine pinned/glued from the inside

So the small square pine actually rests on the very top edges of the glass

At the top of the faceboarding i did the same so some ply could sit on as a lid

Between the now ply top and pine that holds the faceboarding on i added some struts across and used some terry light clips (metal stainless steel ones) to hold T5's

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Very simple as i needed a working light system fast, i can lift the ply top off, then pull apart 2 three pin mains connectors and lift the whole thing off, this is a pain on my own, not because of weight, because i'm anal about marking the tank with the power leads that hand from the back of the tank (the power mains for the T5 ballasts)

So i clean the tank with just the play off and alternate which lights are on, i take my time so no biggy really

If i want to go to town on the tank i get a foldaway set of steps out and remove the hood myself or wait for 'her who has to be obeyed' to help me (the ply i used for the top weighs way more than the canopy with ballasts/tubes lol)

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Now this is what i will eventually do (ohh i had plants that were suffering hence i needed lighting asap) .................

Make the faceboarding, same idea of it sitting ontop of the glass with square lengths of wood, same again for the ply to rest on as the top, BUT, the light system i will hinge as a seperate item so i can remove the ply, lift the whole light system up towards the rear (wall in this case) so i end up with a totally open area over the tank surface

The top ply though, i will piano hinge (those long brass hinges) down the centre long length of it, this will make it easier to lift off and store while messing in the tank

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Now to top it all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pffffffffffffffffff

'She' now says, why didn't i use those nice stainless steel wire hangers i have, and make it so it will lower/rise by pulley or motor !!!!!!!!!!!!! (why the heck tell me this months after i asked, dang woman he he)

Also, a variant would be to have a faceboard system nice and tight that will stay in situ, then make lid/lights hinged


Really i learned from doing a quick job, but for now i can live with it but i've put my setup down as a prototype

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With hindsight obviously i would of put my plants into my moms rio tank and really sat down and thought things through, but hindsight's a wonderful thing

So, just imagine how you need to get into the tank (is that a 6x2x2 ? looks the same as my one he he) For sure i would try and get an overhanging light system made up, or deffo go for a hinged/removable light system/top

Even though my faceboards only raise the tank height by 4" i sure find it slightly easier to reach inside to clean with the whole canopy removed

Can take some quick snaps on the phone if you like, as i say i'm calling this my 'prototype' lol

Tony

 

[Defiance]

I see what you mean now

1 piece of wood will droop over time

If i imagine it right, i would instead of having 1 piece of wood, make a box section from thinner wood, this will hold its own being hollow moreso than a solid piece of wood

So a box section of wood made to suit (hmm maybe alu but that's gonna cost)

Now the easiest reflector setup ever ............... you can get them in T8 and T5 sizes, i would search juwel/arcadia etc and go with the stainless steel ones, these simply attach to the tubes just like you would attach a tube to eg: the boxed wood via a terry type clip

A very simple effective design you've come up with

The glass cover if you mean you want to make one, i would use some hard wearing plastic L shaped for it to slide on and against, maybe 3 or 4 pieces of glass for easy lighter lift-off or moving over each other

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So am i right in thinking

A: Glass sliding evap cover/s

B: Lights hanging over attached to wood of some description with reflectors

C: No need for any fancy front/side trim ??

Tony

 

[mata]

Any Pics defiance? That would be great

 

[Defiance]

Hiya,

Here's some pics

Only phone pics, zipties are to keep cables in place, waste of time me 'sheeving' them as the canopy is getting redone

Once the new canopy is done, it will be stained and danish oiled

(that said, now i'm allowed (lol) to have a hanging system i might do a powered winch system )

Tony

 

[simonas]

cheers for that incredibly detailed response Tony and the pics. Thats given me an idea of what I can do now

My tank is 60x30x24. Its in the garage so notr that bothered as to how neat it looks just need it to be practical. Hanging lights aren;t an option as I want to move from this house so nothing permanent is planned

I;ll have a good look at your responses again and try and hatch a plan lol

 

[simonas]

I;ll leave making one saw one in my LFS today for £93 which will do the trick, only has two tubes but that will do for me