help building a canopy for a 125

prock

prock

Member
Building a canopy is pretty easy. Measure your tank
from the out side. Cut the boards (recomended like 12" tall
for lights). Nail them together. With wood pudy cover the
holes you left from the nails. It looks hard but its very easy
the first step is the hardest and thats starting it, after
that its down hill.
 
shep

shep

Member
I done mine with 1X12's for sides with 3.5 inch hang from top lip, and 1X6's across the top with vent holes in between. If you dont have acess to table saw or mitre saw, just use some corner molding to cover the imperfections. Also keep in mind if you place a nail or screw somewhere you have to cover it. I done mine by using finishing nails and covering with rope style corner moulding glued on to the nailed areas. Total cost was under 50 bucks and that's with my screw ups and the moulding.
I got my plans from Garf's DIY pages. They have a bunch of designs if they are all still there.
Mental note...always buy an extra board because you will screw one up no matter what.
 
zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
I built a frame out of 1x2's and then used screws and glue to hold my oak to the frame, this way there are NO exposed nails or screws, if you take a look at my post I have a pic of my canopy, the frame sit on top of the tank's trim and allows you to overlap the oak over the frame to cover the tank's trim
 
zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
I used Minwax brand cherry color stain and only 1 coat and then I used Minwax polyurethane semi-gloss sealant/clearcoat
 
offshore80

offshore80

Member
I took a stand from a 155 BF to use as a canopy for my 175 BF and it worked out really well. I spent $300 on the stand and couldn't find a canopy under $600. I have twice the room in the stand as I would in the canopy and it matches well too. Just an idea.
 
spyderreef

spyderreef

Member
Nice setup! Do you have access from the back to work on the tank? I am having a problem with fish jumping out and I need to make the sides higher. I am thinking of leaving my lights alone and keeping the top open, just wood on the sides.
 
zanemoseley

zanemoseley

Active Member
have you tried simply putting eggcrate material on the top of your tank, I think its sold at lowes and HD, it just looks like a white plastic grid
 
offshore80

offshore80

Member
This is where it gets crazy. I have 4, 5 gal fuges in the canopy along with 4 seperate lighting systems for each fuge & tank, a 36 watt UV sterilizer & a cooling fan. I have 2 rio 3100 pumps in the tank one on the Left side and one on the right side. they pump up to a fuge on each side of the canopy. Then gravity drain down to the next fuge on each side then gravity back down into the tank on each side. The canopy is open on the back. The wall behind the tank is my garage. I have a RO/DI mixing station, another 20 gal fuge and a chiller all piped through the wall. I used a 2-1/2" hole saw in 3 places to make pass throughs. I took a piece of 2" pipe to line the holes and it fit nice. there is a slop sink in the garage so water changes are a breeze just premix the water when ready turn a valve and 30 gallons automaticaly gravity drains into the slop sink then when that's done leave the valve open and pump the new water back into the main tank through that line. All in about 15 min. I use the 3 panes of glass for the lid. I just removed the hinged front piece on each. The cabnet doors are large enough to reach anything in the canopy with plenty room to access the back of the tank.
 
spyderreef

spyderreef

Member
Offshore80: It sounds like a very neat system. Do you have any other pics?
zanemoseley: I could use eggcrate for the time being. I don't care for the glare I get from the MH so I wouldn't mind having a shield all of the way around. Any idea how much the eggcrate reduces the light?
 
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