Final results of my DIY canopy....

[oneflysi]

well, here are some final pics of my canopy with my PC & MH's mounted on the lid. overall was a very easy project and i am very pleased:
before mounting lights:

lights mounted:

when i have all the lights and and pop the hood...i could land airplanes in my living room...whew thats some bright light:

ballasts and powerstrip mounted on the back:

shot of my built in cooling fan:

whatta ya think?
-One

 

[bammbamm74]

Very nicely done. Looks good. Now show some pics of what the reef looks like with the new lights.

 

[dirtybilge]

Very nice, I am impressed! Now buld 20 unit and sell them on <a href="http://WWW.----.COM" target="_blank">WWW.----.COM</a>
ED

 

[oneflysi]

haha....yea, it was fun to build, but i don't think i would like to do 20 of them
as for the pics of the reef. i'm getting there. still acclimating the halides so i don't get an algae outbreak. hopefully within a couple weeks i can get my first couple corals. i'm figuring with 450watts in my 55 gallon i should be ok with whatever i get
also, the halides are just 6500K. i ordered 12000K with my retrofits, but they were sold out of those bulbs so for now its a little more yellow than i would like, but eventually i'll pick up some 12000 or 20000K bulbs
here is a pic with halides and pc on. if you could see the shimmer on everything....whew! the sand, rocks, fish, wall, my floor, everything is shimmering like the ocean. pretty sweet.

a shot of the good coralline growth on my back glass. (also a good show of my yellowtail and emerald) keep in mind the tank has only been going since the first of jan. so its doing ok. and i'm taking everything slow so i don't run into problems very much.

thanks for the compliments!
-One

 

[oneflysi]

the heat disperses quite well actually. that little fan blows a fair amount of air through the canopy pretty quickly. and with the back of the canopy open, air flows through and around the ballasts also. they are really about 1-2 inches from the wall, but it is hard to tell from the angle of the pics.
as far as the electrical box...it was coated with a few coats of urethane also. i just used what i had, already spent enough on things to build the canopy, and figured the metal box would work. if it starts to decay down the road, then i might upgrade good point though.
-One

 

[six line wrasse]

That looks really nice. Say how tall did you build that canopy? I am debating on adding 2 MH to my setup. I already have 4 PC's, but thinking about dumping the 2 10K and adding 2 175 MH 10K.
If you get this message email me with the name of the store you got the MH setup from if you don't mind.
Thanks,
Andy <img src="graemlins//yeahright.gif" border="0" alt="[yeahright]" />

 

[david s]

Nice work i like the they way its put together nicely ) i see u used the glass tank tops rather than plexi on bottom of light hood is it easy to accsess tank like that ??? looks good tho

 

[oneflysi]

well, the canopy is 10 inches tall. but you have to take away about an inch and a half because of how far the canopy comes down over the front glass of the tank. but the lid is also about an inch thick so that adds a little height to it. the lights are approx. 7-9 inches off the water. but, as long as i keep my house fairly cool, i have no trouble whatsoever keeping the water at a constant 80 degrees.
as for the halides. you can't beat pricing from:
<a href="http://www.aquaticlight.com" target="_blank">www.aquaticlight.com</a>
i bought 2 of the 175watt retro's with 12000K bulbs for $295 shipped. though i got over a $100 back because they had to give me 6500K bulbs instead of 12000K because they were sold out at the time. no biggie to me really.
as for the glass tank tops....yea they are super easy to access. for feeding i just open the canopy lid, the open the glass top and voila!
they are really easy to take out also to clean off salt and water spots.
-One

 

[tru conch]

oneflysi-- very nice hood. similar to the design that i am thinking of buildning (once i get the funds) looks good though, makes me motiviated to build mine.

 

[six line wrasse]

Thanks for the link OneFlySi!!!! Say that's an awesome price on the retro-kit. How does the bulbs look compared to the bluer ones? I'm thinking about getting the 12,000K's for a bluer tint. All in all your tank and canopy looks really good. Your right about the lighting. I believe the airport could use your living room for a landing strip.
Andy

 

[oneflysi]

no problem man, glad i can help.
as for the 6500K bulbs...ahh, they give off ALOT of light, but definetely are yellow. with my 50/50 PC on it helps it out and adds some blue, but still very yellow. that's why i ordered the 12000K's at the time....but they were sold out of the 175watters at the time. oh well, down the line i will pick up some 12K's.
-One