my new canopy

wangotango

wangotango

Active Member
no, the fixture is just sitting on top of those pieces and slides back and forth easily, it isnt attached to anything. those pieces of wood are attached to the canopy, which allows it to sit on top of the tank frame. as for support in the center, it really isnt needed, as the fixture is only 48" long, and aquactinics builds very strong stuff anyway.
-Justin
 
kevin34

kevin34

Active Member
Nice canopy.
Now I get what you mean by how it slides back and forth. I think I will make something like that. How far off the water are the lights? Also do canopies need an open back? I know that it must help with ventilation but I dont want any open areas where fish can get out. I was planning on installing fans on both sides instead of an open back. Do you think that would work out?
 
azaintcold

azaintcold

Member
Originally Posted by Kevin34
Nice canopy.
Now I get what you mean by how it slides back and forth. I think I will make something like that. How far off the water are the lights? Also do canopies need an open back? I know that it must help with ventilation but I dont want any open areas where fish can get out. I was planning on installing fans on both sides instead of an open back. Do you think that would work out?
To answer your question they don't need an open back. I did cross ventelation with 4 fans , two on each side. I have three metal halides and the temp actually went down! . Crazy.
And I agree, beautiful work on the canopy. Kudos.
 
kevin34

kevin34

Active Member
Originally Posted by azaintcold
To answer your question they don't need an open back. I did cross ventelation with 4 fans , two on each side. I have three metal halides and the temp actually went down! . Crazy.
And I agree, beautiful work on the canopy. Kudos.

Do you think I can get away with 2 fans with T5 lighting?
 
azaintcold

azaintcold

Member
Originally Posted by Kevin34
Do you think I can get away with 2 fans with T5 lighting?
Most likely. you can always try and add two more if you can't. My fans are 4" by the way.
 
wangotango

wangotango

Active Member
i was waiting for you to see this thread kevin! the lights are about 2" off of the water surface. the TX5 fixture has a 3" fan on the right side, so there is a 3" hole on the right side of the canopy, and the back is only open to slide the fixture back. im not 100% sure how the constellation is ventilated, but the fans are on the top right? if so you may want a vent there, but fans on either end will most likely work.
-Justin
 
drizcol

drizcol

Member
to tell you the truth when I saw your previous post of your in progress pictures I thought the stained glass looked a little cheesy. But now that Im seeing the finished product on the tank I really like it. They colors in the stained glass really complement the lights!
Nice work!
 
kevin34

kevin34

Active Member
Wango, since you know a lot about T5s can you tell me what the maximum height you can have them off the water while still getting a strong penetration (strong enough for all corals and anenomes)? I was thinking about putting mine 6-8 inches off the water. I was originally thinking about just attaching the light fixture to the top of the canopy and having the top lift up. The thing that I dont like about this is that the lights will not be shining on the water during feeding time and whatnot (they will be shining right into my face). So I recently saw a pic of a canopy that had the lights on top but the front opened up. So if I did this I would need plenty of height so I can work on the tank but I dont want the lights to be too high off the water. What would you suggest?
 
azfishgal

azfishgal

Active Member
Good question, I'm also interested. ***) I think I'm just going to roll the dice, odd # will be T-5 set up, even # will be MH. :hilarious
 
wangotango

wangotango

Active Member
i really like being able to open the canopy from the front. the only reason the top opens is to get the fixture out if needed. you could mount the lights to the top of the canopy on a light rail and still have doors in the front. then all you would have to do is slide it back to reach inside the tank. but i would still have the top removable for when you need to change the bulbs. or you could go with my design. the bottom of the front openings is level with the tank frame, so theres only about 2" of verticle clearance for my hand, but i can slide the fixture back. in the second pic you can see that the doors open right level with the fixture, not underneath it, so there is no glare at all. as for how high to hang the fixture, since the constellation can give you similar if not better par than some setups, i dont see why you couldnt hang it up 6", but since they run so cool, why do get it as close to the water and get the most light?
-Justin
 
wangotango

wangotango

Active Member
Originally Posted by DRIZCOL
to tell you the truth when I saw your previous post of your in progress pictures I thought the stained glass looked a little cheesy. But now that Im seeing the finished product on the tank I really like it. They colors in the stained glass really complement the lights!
Nice work!
thanks. the paint that i used takes a while to "cure" so until then the colors looked kind of drabby. i think it looks pretty authentic in person once it did cure.
-Justin
 
drizcol

drizcol

Member
I bet it looks great when the lights in the room are off and the tank lights are on. My guess is that the light "leaking" into the canopy makes that stained glass glow nicely!
again nice job!
Originally Posted by WangoTango
thanks. the paint that i used takes a while to "cure" so until then the colors looked kind of drabby. i think it looks pretty authentic in person once it did cure.
-Justin
 
kevin34

kevin34

Active Member
Originally Posted by WangoTango
i really like being able to open the canopy from the front. the only reason the top opens is to get the fixture out if needed. you could mount the lights to the top of the canopy on a light rail and still have doors in the front. then all you would have to do is slide it back to reach inside the tank. but i would still have the top removable for when you need to change the bulbs. or you could go with my design. the bottom of the front openings is level with the tank frame, so theres only about 2" of verticle clearance for my hand, but i can slide the fixture back. in the second pic you can see that the doors open right level with the fixture, not underneath it, so there is no glare at all. as for how high to hang the fixture, since the constellation can give you similar if not better par than some setups, i dont see why you couldnt hang it up 6", but since they run so cool, why do get it as close to the water and get the most light?
-Justin
I was planning on putting the lights about 3 inches off the water but was told that with the lights being that close I will have serious salt buildup on my fixture and it would need A LOT of cleaning. I would love to be able to slide the fixture back like yours but I really dont want an open back. Do you have any ideas of how I can slide it back with a closed back?
 
wangotango

wangotango

Active Member
Originally Posted by Kevin34
I was planning on putting the lights about 3 inches off the water but was told that with the lights being that close I will have serious salt buildup on my fixture and it would need A LOT of cleaning. I would love to be able to slide the fixture back like yours but I really dont want an open back. Do you have any ideas of how I can slide it back with a closed back?
salt buildup is a small problem, but i really only need to clean the cover off once a month or so. there is still some buildup in between, but nothing too serious. i cant really think of how to open the back of your canopy. you could use like a piano hinge or something, that way you can keep it closed when you want to, but the swing will take up a lot of space. im all out of ideas really
sorry
-Justin
 
bsmith219

bsmith219

Member
put some railing on the back so you can slide a thin piece of wood or acrylic in and out that way you can slide the back open when you need too.
 
sleasia

sleasia

Active Member
Ok Thanks WangoTango...guess what...my 72" aquatinics light fixture came today!!!!so I will try and get it set up for sure this weekend....My tank is 24" wide and I was planning on just sliding it back and forth too over two pieces of wood each attached to the inside sides of the canopy, like you are doing. I was only concerned because mine is a bit longer, whether it will need center support...but probably not.....we'll see this weekend. Also I might need help figuring out how to arrange the bulbs. the constellation has 14, 7 on each side....(I didn't buy all 14 yet, I think I bought 8 so far), but they can be arranged over 3 different switches.....
 
sleasia

sleasia

Active Member
Isistius...thanks for the link....saltnob has a great canopy idea. I'm not sure what I will decide to do yet...but I will definately do it this weekend!!!!!. Ok, I won't say anymore, I don't want to mess up this thread.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top