Pictures of the inside of your canopy?

[schubert]

I'm building a modest canopy to house my hetal halide and PC's for my 40 gallon tank. The tank is about 15" tall and I already have overheating problems with basic flourescents. I was wondering how far from the surface the MH and PC's should be and in general was looking for some pics of your canopies? thanks

 

[murph145]

i dont know if this will help u at all since i have a 100G tank....
i would suggest a minimum of 12-15" from the lights to the top of your water....
then i would install a PC fan on each side of the canopy one to blow air in the other to suck air out....this usually helps out really good.... i have 470W of PC over my tank and with the fans and 12" clearance my tank stays at a stable 80 throughout the day....
heres a few pics of my canopy its a basic flat black made of press board the top is split down the middle so i can life each side independentaly of the other for feeding and cleaning purposes..... over all it was cheap and does the job really well..

 

[schubert]

I'm going to using 250W MH and 2x65W PC's...I have no idea how to actually build the canopy. Do you just set it on the top b/c my tank actually has a good 2-4 inches of acrylic on the top? Or do you put some sort of ridge around the eges that supports the rest of the canopy...I suck at this DIY woodwork...any site that has the basics for idiots like me?

 

[schubert]

Nice tank by the way. Haha...is that one of those R/O water jugs you get at Wal-Mart. I use those to mix my water, I haven't yet bought an R/O unit myself...just head over to Wal-Mart once a week or so...good times.

 

[benter]

I do the same as schubert, except I added a third fan over the 400 watt MH, and I have 780 watts of PC's..The fan on top blows out and the two on the end blow in..heres a pic of the right side

 

[murph145]

thats a lot of lighting benter.... what exactly do u keep under all that :joy:
schubert.... as for the canopy heres a few pics of the inside u might be able to see how it works.... u make the canopy a slight bigger than your tanks exact measurments then u put some supports to hold the canopy on the lip of your tank.... usually u make the canopy hide the 1st1-2" of the top of your tank....
mine has hinges along the back lids with one locking hinge on each side to hold the top open without having to use your hands.... im going to add some pics for you to kinda see what im talking about...
as for the 5g jug lol thats where i keep my fresh ro/di water for the automatic top off system i just hooked up to the tank....

 

[mobikobeyob]

Her ya go!
Mobi

 

[benter]

Hey murph, just got it all together about 2 weeks ago..moved everything from my 55..as of right now, just got a lobophyllia brain, a pineapple brain, gorgonians, and a large piece of blue ridge...next is a n anemone of some type..maybe or a clam... not much of an sps freak "yet"..but who knows..I am trying to acclimate all of the softies slowly to the new lighting...

 

[murph145]

wow thats cool thats a lot of light .... so what size tank do u have now??
im not sure if i misunderstood that u have a 55 now or that was your tank before....
well with that type of lighting i think i would be an everything freak id try anything lol...

 

[benter]

its a 125, kept the 55 as a fuge...working great so far...oh yeah, I did get a really nice piece of montipora the other day...can't help but wonder how much my electric bill may go up!!!!

 

[murph145]

yeah i would think it would probably cost a pretty penny for all that power....
im not sure what my tank runs me a month never really tried to figure it out probably like $25 or so i would venture to guess....
u have any pics of the inside of the tank with what u have in it...??

 

[benter]

there is a thread somewhere on here with all the details on there...I think it is titled " finally got the 125 started" check it out and let me know if you like it!!

 

[murph145]

:happy: thats a pretty cool tank.... lots of work went into that one i can tell... i like the whole system ....
nice work man!!!! :joy:

 

[schubert]

Thanks for all the advice and pics guys. I have some hang-on-the-back equipment...how does that factor into the whole thing? I would like to put something over the back, but am not sure how to do so with the hang on parts.

 

[murph145]

u just have to make it so that it does not touch on the back part of the tank only on the sides and the front is where the support braces are located.... levae the back open so your returns, wiring, skimmer and such can have a place to fit.....
leave a couple incha gap for tubings and stuff like that.... heres a pic of the back of my canopy where is stops flat so that my skimmer fits exactly behind the tank ... i have about a 3-4" gap where all wires and etc come through to the tank....

 

[schubert]

Good point. Is there some site or something I should read for putting these things together. I have no DIY-hanyman-black-and-decker-tim-the-toolman genius in me. Do you guys just buy all the wood at home depot or something, for those of you who built your own? It started to be just a plain old rectangular box in my mind, but then you have to start figuring in the openings at the back, the holes for the fans, possible an additional screen like Mobi had, the doors or lids at the top/front, holes for wires, ridges for support, etc. I would ask the woodwork people at school to do it but...we are out of school...which is good, but nevertheless...I need to figure out the easiest and cheapest way to make a good-looking and adequate canopy...this is going to be interesting

 

[murph145]

im sure u could probably start out looking on this site and run a search to see if anyone has a diagram or description of how they made there canopy... i dont have one right here... but u can get everything at depot .... depending on the look your going for you can domething stained such as oak maple etc but that cost a lot more for nice wood or the vaneer... i decided on just some press board that was1/2" thick and painted it a matte black .... its not too difficult just depends on how detail oriented u wanna get....
u can also have your LFS recommend someone for u to go to to have one built for you....
just start sketching things out on a note sheet and see what u might need how many hinges, screws amount of wood and etc.... even if u make a mistake here and there its not the end of the world and its not that much money outta your pocket...
the only thing u need is to have to correct tools..... u will most likely need a table saw, jig saw, drill, & screw driver to make a canopy .... other things might be a belt sander to bevel the edges to give the edges a nice smooth finish instead of a square edged look
good luck any more questions please ask

 

[schubert]

Thanks for all the help. Once I get my MH, PC's, and fans in, I should be able to start getting a feel for how to set this thing up.

 

[farmboy]

Hello Mr. Shubert,
Glad to see you have overcome the insomnia. :happy:
Insomnia can lead to a lot of good research, however. . . .

 

[maurice]

This is my hood pic,6-60" VHO's