DIY Hood

[drewster]

I recently built my own stand for my new 55 gallon fish only tank. It looks pretty good I might say and I spent less than $50 on it. Now I need to build a hood for it and i don't even know where to start. I currently have 2 48" plastic lighting fixtures, each with 2 bulbs in it. I want to take the ballasts and bulbs out of those fixtures and attach them to my new hood. It would be nice to have a hood that is hinged so i can just flip half of it to access the top of the tank. Anybody have detailed instructions on how I should proceed?

 

[xavier]

If you built a stand the hood should be very easy.
Simply measure very accurate the top of the tank. Measure the lip of the tank. This is the measure your spacers to hold the hood need to be. Too fat and the glass cover will not open. Simply build a box with an open back the same lenght as your tank and the width that you prefer. Then find thin strips of wood to hold the canopy on top.
Hinges? Anyones you want
Lights? Simply bold them on to where you want them. You can even get fancy and install a fan on the hood. Very easy to do.