Guest Kimo January 31, 2003 Share January 31, 2003 I'm currently designing the canopy/hood for my 180 Gallon Oceanic RR, and I'm looking for inspiration. Post your DIY canopy pictures here so we can try to get them all in the same place -- Also post why you designed it the way you did and what you would do differently. Thanks! Jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quazi January 31, 2003 Share January 31, 2003 Jim, I am going to build a DIY canopy for my 20 this weekend. It will be modeled after my 55 gallon top. I use VHOs and PCs. What kind of lights are you going to use? Incidently, if you need some help, let me know. I live in Sterling, and have a small wood shop. Believe me, I have more shop than talent :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelg January 31, 2003 Share January 31, 2003 Unfortunately we can only put the pics in the gallery- there was a reason for us doing this, believe me- but people can put descriptions/special mods here and post the pics there. One thing I am going to discuss doing is making archives for the forums, so that really usefull threads can be put together and easily looked through. My hood is a DIY that came with the new tank. It needs some reworking, and I am going to put an icecap fan on it. I will need to build one for the second tank that will house a 150W HQI and a 32watt PC actinic. Will post up some pics as they come together. Quazi- sounds like the makings of another building party Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofloors January 31, 2003 Share January 31, 2003 Here are the pics of the hood on my 120g. I modeled this off a hood I saw on Reef Central and modified it for my setup. I wouldn't change a thing and actually I will be building a second hood to match this one for my 75g once it warms up a little outside. http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=197713 George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquariareview February 1, 2003 Share February 1, 2003 I have pendent lighting now but I am getting ready to build a new hood and stand. here is a page from my site with a bunch of links to diy hood projects diy hoods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quazi February 3, 2003 Share February 3, 2003 George, I noticed that you do not have any glass between your MH and water. I thought glass was a requirement to protect the bulbs and the critters from UV? ??? I only have VHOs, so I am ignorant of how MH are setup and used. Incidently, I thought the cabinet motif for a canopy was excellent for a MH setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Grenier February 3, 2003 Share February 3, 2003 Good job George. One thought for your next project (the 75); you'll have a hard-time mounting the perpendicular reflectors and 2 VHOs. You may want to consider the PFO parallel reflectors. What is your plan for the 75? I have a 75 and I'm planning a new hood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kimo February 3, 2003 Share February 3, 2003 Quazi - I would love some help! All I have in the way of wood working tools is a drill and a hand saw. When I built the hood for my 58 I measured out everything and had a guy at Home Depot cut it out for me. He was happy to do it; It meant he didn't have to sweep the floor for about an hour or so! Just send me an email, my address is further down in the post. Here's a brief decscription of my design: I would like the hood to house 4 MH and 2 72" VHOs. I have perpindicular PFO reflectors. The hood will be 15" tall, and I do not want to have my ballasts, etc. above the tank - I'm too paranoid about them falling into the tank! They will be remote, placed next to the tank. It would be desirable to have a way to raise or lower the lights, but I haven't devised a mechanism yet (perhaps dowels and holes holding a shelf with the MH and VHO attached? Something like those shelves you buy at IKEA...Raise the canopy to allow for the additional clearance? That might work, but the canopy would have to be a lot taller!) The front third would flip up to rest on the top so that I can work inside. Ok, that wasn't so brief. George: Do you have any problems with access with the doors like that on your hood? It looks like that may be easier to build/less susceptible to moisture than what I have been planning. Can you pull out big pieces of rock or large corals? How do you like having your ballasts up like that - doesn't it worry you a little sometimes? Quazi: Glass is not necessay when you use mogul based bulbs - the glass that is on the outside of the bulb is a UV shield. Putting any more glass in between the bulb and the water will reduce the transmission of light and just give you another surface to clean. If you want to post pictures here just find a place that will host them - There are a few picture hosting sites. Then you can create a link within the post. I hope that with the new ISP we can start posting pics here. It makes a lot of sense to allow pics here, since may DIY projects require pictures for proper explanations. If anyone needs some pictures hosted I have some space I can upload them to for you, just send me an email: jamclau2@hotmail.com Thanks for the initial responses. I'm looking forward to much more, and when I get around to building my hood I will take lots of pictures and post them up here. Thanks! Jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofloors February 3, 2003 Share February 3, 2003 Quazi, Mogul style bulbs don't need a glass shield under the bulb. The outer case of the bulb already has the UV shield built in. Larry, I already had the PFO paralelle reflectors and personally hated them. I know Sanjays talk made them sound great but I already have 1st hand experience with them and they are not for me. The VHOs will fit on the 75g with the perpendicular reflectors. I will just have to mount them under the reflector rather then next to them. I will have the spider reflectors on the 75g unless gatortail or dgasmd can get those diamond reflectors. Thanks for the suggestion. Kimo, This hood has been on my tank for about a year and I have no moisture problems. There is a split shelf above the reflectors with an open top and back for ventilation/ evaporation. I can get the largest pieces out of the tank without a problem except the monster acro. That wouldn't come out anyway with out taking the top off but the piece takes up the whole back right corner of the tank. The ballasts being above the tank is best for me. They are mounted above the reflectors so there is no chance of water splashing. The heat also goes up and away from the water,those are 400 watters and they get quite hot. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty February 3, 2003 Share February 3, 2003 kimo, what type of 180 are you using? 4MH's may be difficult to get into a standard 180 (at least oceanic) with the two braces evenly spaced 1/3 of the way along the tank. Don't most people use 3 MH's? Unless you're using an acrylic tank or some other type that I'm ignorant about (highly likely :D ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kimo February 3, 2003 Share February 3, 2003 Marty - I'm using the Oceanic RR Tank - It has a HUGE glass brace in the center with a black plastic strip down the middle of the brace - Hence the 2 MH, one on either side of the black strip. I believe that the AGA is the one with the 2 braces in the configuration you mentioned. Jamie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pez February 3, 2003 Share February 3, 2003 I think I have some pictures on my site. If not, shoot me an email and I can send you some. -T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quazi February 5, 2003 Share February 5, 2003 George, Do you have a picture of the canopy with out the tank lights on, so we can see the hood? Also, how did you make it? Did you buy door panels and then add the back pieces? What type of hinges are you using? I really like the design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Grenier February 5, 2003 Share February 5, 2003 Kimo, Jose at Marine Depot sent this in response to a few questions. Maybe useful. The Spider light reflector, when mounted perpendicular to the tank, and 6" to 12" away from the water, will give you a light coverage of about three feet. If you mount the reflector parallel, it will give you between two and 2.5 feet of light coverage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofloors February 5, 2003 Share February 5, 2003 Quazi, I'll take a few pic tonight without the lights on. I build the hood from AC grade plywood ($25 at Home Depot). The doors are a piece of 1X12 clear white pine ($20-25 at Home Depot). I cut a bevel on the doors with a router and I'm not sure what the hinges are called but they mount the door flush to the plywood. I built the hood in about 3 hours. Put 4 coats of paint on the inside and 1 coat of stain and 3 coats of water based polyurethane on the outside. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofloors February 7, 2003 Share February 7, 2003 There are 4 more pics of my hood with the lights off. http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder.tcl?folder_id=197713 They're at the bottom of the page. The first pics were taken about a year ago, so now you see it finished with door handles. If you want to see more just let me know. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quazi February 10, 2003 Share February 10, 2003 George, Thanks for the new pics. What paint did you use for the inside? Thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelg February 10, 2003 Share February 10, 2003 Personally, I have experimented with a couple differnt types of spraypaints for the inside of the hood. The current drawer/hood has a blue enamel glossy paint, with several layers of glossy clear. I chose the blue from reading that this can help with the yellow color of iwasaki bulbs which I used to use. In the current hood, I found a "chrome" spraypaint. I think it should give a decent reflection from looking at it. I put 2 layers of clear glossy on top of this as well. Not sure what it will look like yet though as there is no light in it yet. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofloors February 10, 2003 Share February 10, 2003 As funny as this might sound, I used Martha Stewart bright white interior latex satin paint from Sears. My wife used it for the trim in our house or somewhere and I used what was leftover. I put 4 coats of this stuff inside the hood and in over a year you can't tell it's ever been touched by saltwater. I painted the hood on my 55 with the same paint almost 2 years ago and it still looks like the day I painted it. I highly recommend this paint. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salmon alley February 11, 2003 Share February 11, 2003 Hi George, I'm also thinking about building a canopy modeled after the one on your 120. Two questions: 1- How far above the water are the MH bulbs mounted? and 2- Could you describe or take a pic of the top of the canopy, so I can see how you dissipate the heat? Thanks Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geofloors February 11, 2003 Share February 11, 2003 Jeff, The shelf is about 12" off the water which places the bulb with a spider reflector and it's spacers at about 8" I added another pic to the above link, which shows the split shelf and the fan for ventilation. The fan blows straight to the water between the reflectors. That fan moves alot of air on high speed. George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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