canopy

[peregrinus]

So i'm thinking its time to build a canopy for my 150. I just have a few questions for those that have built their own.
1. What size wood did you use for the main structure?

2. How high did you make it from the water surface?

I'm sure i'll have more questions as i get into the construction.

[john90009]

i havent made my own but am going to because if everything goes fine i wll be buying my first metal halide system from dakar at a cheap price, but u can use any wood i think plywood would be best because it is light also make it so u can have like a foot or more room between ur halids and water or even more im not relle shure if this helps im not that smart with this stuff.

[carpenterwrasse]

plywood is great if you want to cut it from one sheet...if you draw it up with dimensions 1xs are available in different wideths and lenght it might be easier to just buy it that way if you don't waqnt to cut alot of wood with some waste...

[dakar]

I've aways just used whatever I had laying around... for longer tanks 3/4 plywood worked great for me (and I had it in the shop from other projects). But definately allow room for you lighting... 11-13" off the water is what I used for 250 & 400w halides.. I was able to fit 5 of them over the 180g tank without much crowding a little reflector trimming is all. (that was 3x400w 6500K daylight and 2x250w 20K actinic)

[peregrinus]

so would 1"X1" work for framing or would you use 2X4's

[carpenterwrasse]

that would depend how you design it and its function... but 1xs come in different wideth from 1x4 up 1x12 are you hanging the light from the top of the conapy. I would use 1xs

[melev]

2x4s are much too bulky for a canopy. What if you want to take it off the tank? LOL

You can build it with 1x2s and then skin the canopy, or you can just use plywood.

Here's an example of one on a 29g. Just make it bigger, but follow the guidelines and tailor it to your needs.

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/1204/evans_canopy.html

[peregrinus]

The weight was what i was thinking about mainly and structural integrity. i will house t5's. That canopy looks great Marc.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

Hey Marc.....Is there anything you DON'T have on your site???

Nice tank Peregrinus. I always loved xenia. Too bad I can't get any local and it is a bad shipper so ordering it online is not an option.

Angie

[peregrinus]

Thanks Angie. I would be willing to try a frag swap sometime and see how it works.